Toxic Leaves

“Splendid, don’t you think?” Charles says, as he inhales the warm night air.

“That fragrance perfuming the breeze?” Francis asks.

“Yes, it smells tangy, like vanilla with a waft of citrus.”

“I’m not enjoying it.” Francis says. “It smells musty, like almonds, but you’re right, I can smell vanilla too.”

Charles turns, facing the vine-covered brick wall that encloses the College of Nicolet.

“It’s these gorgeous white flowers,” he says, plunging his nose inside the petals of the creeping vine. “My late mother called them Virgin’s Bower.”

“Charles, you can’t do that,” Francis remonstrates, as he pulls on Charles’ shoulder. “My uncle called them Devil’s Darning Needles because the leaves can kill you if you touch them.”

“Oh, of course,” Charles says, stepping backwards. “Now, I remember. Toxic to humans, cats, dogs and horses.”

Francis smiles.

“That’s right but viewing the gardens of Nicolet? That’s not what you’ve come here for. We must discuss the drunken feasts our nuns and monks indulge in. How will we ever reign this behaviour in?”

A Stumbling Block

And that’s how many Christians view the dizzying number of denominations that Protestant Christianity consists of. They view them as toxic as the leaves of the Clematis virginiana, otherwise known as Virgin’s Bower. They believe that its 40,000 denominations will function as an obstacle for those considering the truthfulness of the claims made by Protestant Christianity. Charles Paschal Telesphore Chiniquy, a former Catholic priest of the 1800s, states he used it as a reason for not converting from Roman Catholicism to Protestant Christianity sooner. He says, in his book Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, that although he saw great hypocrisy in the Roman Catholic church of his day and noticed that its teachings didn’t line up with the teachings of the Bible, he veered away from Protestant Christianity because it seemed divided, having so many denominations found within it.

Mrs Marcus B. Fuller, author of a book called The Wrongs of Indian Womanhood, states that readers often quizzed her about this also.

“Doesn’t the number of Christian denominations confuse the people of India?” they would say. “When you evangelise them, don’t they look at all the schisms and divisions within Christianity and think, ‘Well, Christianity can’t be true?’”

“No,” Mrs Marcus B. Fuller would reply because Buddhists and Hindus also have their subdivisions. So many, in fact, she couldn’t count them, and even Muslims classify themselves in multiple categories under the names of either Shi’ah or Sunni, so don’t allow non-believers to use the red herring of multiple denominations. The claims of Christianity are clearly true, and anyone who can’t see that, is showing intentional blindness.

Glossing Over Differences

There’s a trend amongst Christian churches of discarding the denomination they adhere to from the sign that stands along the roadside of their buildings. Instead of their sign saying Alstonville Uniting/Anglican/Baptist or Presbyterian church, it simply says Alstonville Christian Church. This, they believe, will create an image of unity between Christian churches amongst non-believers, but knowing that the major religions of the world have categories of their own, is this really necessary and is creating an image of unity even possible?

Because there’s at least five churches within walking distance of my house, but I don’t attend them? Why not? That’s what non-believers will ask, won’t they? I also attend a different church from that of my family members. Why’s that, won’t they ask? So, I believe, replacing the word Uniting, Anglican, Baptist or Presbyterian with merely the word Christian, rather than giving a semblance of agreement may instead give an illusion of unity and the fact that many denominations exist within Protestant Christianity will eventually come out in the wash.

Denominations Provide Protection From Cults

Therefore, rather than fearing the appearance of looking divided, I think our segmentations can provide further proof that Protestant Christianity is the only faith that leads to the one true God. Charles Chiniquy says that, in his day, if you didn’t agree with every teaching of the Roman Catholic church, you could get disciplined, excommunicated or even martyred. It’s the reason why Galileo and Copernicus suffered persecution. It’s also known that other religions also have a history of violently persecuting fellow members if they don’t share an exact understanding of their tenants. Protestant Christians, on the other hand, have strong debates about how certain passages of the Bible should be interpreted but still remain united in peaceful patience with each other. 

Displaying denominational leanings can also function as an icebreaker for initiating discussions about true faith because anyone can call themselves a Christian. It’s not hard. I could say, “I’m an elephant,” or “I’m Bob Hope.” That’s easy but proving it? That’s another matter. Mormons often introduce themselves as Christians, then later reveal that they worship with The Church of Latter-Day Saints. That’s dishonest, and those who aren’t fully aware of the teachings of The Church of Latter-Day Saints, join up, then later on realise that they’re in the clutches of a cult, but Protestant churches shouldn’t deceive. So, let’s make people aware of who does and who doesn’t fall under the banner of a true Christian church by making it known that although Protestants disagree on secondary issues, we have written statements of belief, such as the Nicene creed and the Westminster Confession of Faith, which help seekers not only know if the church their attending adheres to orthodox Christian beliefs but which can also help individuals examine themselves, as the Bible says we should do, to see if we are, in fact, in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Denominations Preserve the Gospel Message

Displaying denominational leanings can also show how much Christians love God and each other. The Bible says,

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This verse predicts that there will be many groups all claiming that their way leads to God and warns us that not everyone who claims to be a Bible teacher really does teach the Bible. Some people teach their own thoughts, and some people teach outright heresy. Some religions teach that all belief systems lead to God and that we have numerous chances of getting to Heaven, but the Bible teaches there is one way to God and Heaven and we get one chance of finding it. That makes it imperative for us to obey God’s command of testing the spirits and warning people away from false prophets. Obeying this command shows that we love those still finding their way to Him and offers further proof that the predictions made by the Bible have all come true. 

Denominations Provide Protection From Hypocrisy

1 Corinthians says,

But now, I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolator or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner – not to even eat with them.

The Roman Catholic nuns, monks and priests of Charles Chiniquy’s day displayed a terrible propensity towards sexual immorality, idolatry, reviling, drunkenness and extortion, and in modern times, Australia’s Uniting and Anglican churches have now accepted homosexuality, with them no longer labelling it as a sin. That’s hypocrisy. Non-Christians hate hypocrisy. Having denominations points out the fact that God does too, and that He has made a way for the Christian church to remain pure rather. than growing sinful and heretical, by commanding Christians to come out of wayward groups.

Denominations Prevent New False Religions

And what if believers don’t come out of straying groups? That’s often disastrous. After the Tower of Babel, people of different language groups went their separate ways. All of them knew the truth of the Bible, but, overtime, some of those civilisations lost the true gospel, reverting to worshipping nature, idols and even animals. That didn’t happen overnight, I’m sure, but little by little, one person turned away, until we ended up with zillions of religions that look nothing like true Christianity and which have led millions of people to an eternity in Hell, but what if, instead, each time someone had noticed false teaching in their church, they had urged their community to stay loyal to God’s ways by splitting themselves off and forming a denomination? Perhaps, that would never have happened.

Denominations Promote Diversity

Many in the West, have fallen away from Christianity. Some say they no longer believe in God, but I find that doubtful. I believe many in the West have replaced worship of the one true God with worshipping a new god, the god of diversity, and in recent years we have discovered that the diversity that exists in the West is even more diverse than we had expected. Until recently we have believed that the West was divided between those on the left side of politics and those on the right, but we have since discovered that not everyone on the left side of politics agrees with everything the left side of politics promotes and not everyone on the right side of politics agrees with everything promoted by the right. Some even say the left and right side of politics consist of many factions with Australia’s left-leaning Labor party consisting of Left and Right Labor factions and also factions known as the Shoppies, the ShortCons and the Industrial Left. The usually more right-leaning Liberal party also consists of factions. They are known as the Moderate Liberals, the Modern Liberals, the ambition faction, the Prayer Group, the Monkey Pod Lunch Conservatives, the dries, the wets and the Hard Right. With such developments in politics, as long as a person or denomination isn’t outright heretical, understanding that a person can call themselves a Christian but belong to a multitude of denominations shouldn’t be too difficult for any modern day person to understand.

Denominations Prove the Bible

Charles Chiniquy states that while walking in his garden, he noticed a vine. The vine had one trunk but many branches. It reminded him of John 15:5 where Jesus says, “I am the vine. You are the branches." This walk in his garden helped settle his heart over leaving the corrupt Catholic church of his time and converting to Protestant Christianity because it showed him that the many denominations Protestant Christianity consists of were merely the fulfillment of Jesus’s prediction that although there is only one vine, many individuals and denominations will make up its branches. Although there are central tenants Christians must believe in, only cults require complete uniformity on every one of its secondary beliefs. So, this branching of Christianity gives believers freedom to think for themselves; preserves the gospel message, which is the one and only means of salvation; and allows Christians to leave so-called Christian groups Hell bent on the path of hypocrisy and heresy. Above all, the many branches of the vine of Jesus shows diversity, which we all, apparently, should be worshipping now.    

References:

Fifty Years In the Church of Rome by Charles Chiniquy

The Wrongs of Indian Womanhood by Mrs Marcus B. Fuller

The Ultimate Guide: How Many Christian Denominations Are There in the World? - Christian Educators Academy

Liberal Party factions: Who is in which faction inside the LNP? (smh.com.au)

Labor’s factions explained: Which ALP MPs belong to which party factions? (smh.com.au)

2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV

John 15:5 NKJV

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