Quote:
Originally posted by Dave Stones
jehovah's witnesses anyone?
our house is in their black book, my mum and dad had a huge argument with them a while ago as my mum almost electrocuted herself cos of them... whoo for circuit breakers :D
and you say ur evangelical... can anyone explain to me whats different about all the chrisitanities? i never understood why there are so many, we only got taught about islam in RE...
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An irresistible invitation ... :D
First I ought to define 'force' ... I have done door-to-door work in the past but don't consider it 'forcing'. Forcing religion on people is making it illegal not to be a certain religion, as in some islamic countries, and as it was in this country in the middle ages. I can's speak for islam, but as Christianity is about a relationship between God and the believer, to force it on someone is pointless. You can force someone to recite prayers and rituals, but these outward things are not essentially what Christianity is.
As for the difference between 'Christianities', well, there is only one Christianity but the expression of it varies for all kinds of reasons.
Normally, a new denomination is formed when a group of people in a particular church read the Bible, think, 'hang on, we've drifted away from what the Bible actually teaches...' and go to their leaders about it. If the leaders refuse to budge, they go off and form a new church instead.
That is a hopelessly simplified account of how it happens, but to give some examples:
1. Although it was Henry VIII's political needs that gave the impetus for the formation of the Church of England, there was already a great deal of discontentment among Christians in England about the way Rome was running things. They were in favour of reform but didn't have the clout to do it until Henry found it to his advantage to support them (he wanted a divorce).
2. The Methodist church was founded when John Wesley, an Anglican cleric, complained that there was too little attention to Bible study and Godly living in the Church of England. He never wanted to form a new denomination, but he and his followers were eventually hounded out of the C of E. 'Methodist' was actually an insult coined by the Anglicans to disparage them for their habit of meeting in each other's homes for Bible study and prayers.
3. Other minor denominations - Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc etc etc etc - all formed when one or more folks felt challenged by God to get back to the fundamental teaching of the Bible. Sometimes named after that part of Biblical teaching that most obviously prompted them to form a new denomination. EG, Baptists are characterised by their emphasis on baptizing adults who have decided for themselves to become Christians, rather than babies.
4. Among the newer denominations, despite their names often focusing on one particular aspect of Christian belief or practice, they all tend to share a lot in common; they tend to baptise adults only, believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (first given during the Jewish festival of Pentecost), and have an evangelistic outlook (i.e. believe that the 'good news' should be actively shared and proclaimed).
