10 FEB 2015 :: Different interpretations of the same thing.

When we discover the world for the first time, it is usually through the eyes of those closest to us.  We trust that they will tell us the truth, teach us what we need to know, and protect us from harm.  Our first helpers in life are usually our parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and teachers.  If we are raised in the church, those we trust might include pastors and youth leaders.  In the years it takes to become an adult, we sometimes discover that our opinions are different than the ones we learned from those closest to us. 

This seems to be what happened with the church as it grew through the centuries.  As time passed, and people studied the message of Christ, the words of the Apostles, the history of the Jews, the Bible, and the people who believed, differing interpretations existed.  When these differences couldn't be resolved, the church divided into another denomination. 

This is my view, even though I haven't studied Biblical history.  I noticed that each denomination seems to have a central theme, and each theme is only part of the total picture the Bible shares with us. One is based on celibacy, another on the gift of tongues, another on baptism, another on the Sabbath, another on healing, another on separation from the world, another on the declaration of grace....

The Body of Christ is ONE being.  If we are divided into so many denominations, if we have both similar and differing views, how does that express GOD's view, the Biblical view? Who is right, and who is wrong?  And how do we decide which teachers have the real truth?

This is the ongoing problem.  How would you solve it?