by Tom Wacaster
I guess it was during those teen years that I began to grasp the magnitude of religious division, both in number and in the degrees of error embraced by the various denominations. The number of religious divisions within so-called “Christendom” was astonishing. The common number selected as a total of religious divisions was 250; but even then, I suspected there may have been more. Little did I imagine that within my lifetime that number would grow; in fact, it would multiply many times over. Investigation by the inquiring individual will reveal that the number of denominations in America now numbers into the thousands, and one figure being bandied about is in excess of 30,000. How has this come about? Why is it that people living in a country that has such deep roots in the Bible seem to care less about such division? The division in “Christendom” is bad enough. Let’s add to that the infiltration of Eastern religions, pantheism, humanism, agnosticism, and dozens of other “isms,” and the religious landscape in our country is more like the idolatrous situation that existed in Athens when Paul arrived into that city than what we might think characterizes a nation that has its roots in Christianity. Bobby Liddell made this astute observation:
One reason that current religions are where they are today is because many of their participants are the product of an educational system that has produced a generation (or two) of graduates who have been heavily influenced by atheistic Humanism and the false ideas of organic evolution, into thinking that there is no God and that truth is only relative, situational, and subjective…Bibles are looked upon as out of date oddities and are dusty and hidden from view, even in the homes of religious people. Knowledge of the Bible, that should have been learned at home, is woefully deficient, or entirely absent, and wolves in sheep’s clothing prey upon the biblically ignorant, spiritually weak, and defenseless. We have jumped off the cultural cliff and are falling headlong into the abyss of immorality. Yet every day the media assures us that there is a ‘new normal,’ far removed from the antiquated beliefs upon which our country was founded. Modern America boasts of its tolerance and progressive enlightenment, yet silences God, forbidding mention of His name and His Word and public prayer to Him, and vilifies those who cry out against the sins of a country our President proclaimed is “no longer a Christian nation” (Spiritual Sword, In Times Like These, page 168).
Some years ago, I gave thought to keeping a tablet in my automobile and every time I passed one of those new independent churches that has put some attention-getting name on their building, that I would add that to the list. I never started that list and have on many occasions regretted not having done so. A quick search on the internet lists an amazing array of churches in our city. Just to name a few of the denominations: Anglican churches (2); Apostolic churches (7); Bible churches (18); Evangelical churches (11); Pentecostals (20); and other churches (63). Other names include, but are not limited to “Calvary Cathedral,” “Morningside Episcopal,” “Celebration Fellowship,” “Gospel Kingdom Church,” “Beautiful Feet Church,” “Victory Outreach,” “Harvest Assembly,” “Journey Church,” “Seeking God First Church,” “Greater Progressive Church,” “Great Prayer Tower Holiness Church,” “Love Sanctuary,” “Pilgrim Rest Church,” “John 316 Temple,” and “Denny’s Friends.” It is enough to discourage even the most stouthearted in a search for some kind of stability and standard in matters of religion.
Most, if not all of the mainline Protestant denominations grew out of a background of deep-seated belief in a particular theological system. Though wrong in doctrine, those who came to the New World to seek freedom to practice their religious beliefs maintained a strong belief in the Bible and a sincere reverence for things spiritual in general and worship in particular. But somewhere in the mid to late 1800s, reverence for God and a desire to pay homage to the Almighty began to give way to a self-centered religion. In the mid-nineteenth century, the frontier “revival” form of worship started to take on a “circus atmosphere,” and the main function of the public assembly shifted from an occasion for worshiping God to a focus on brining in the “converts” and increasing the numbers. John McArthur noted that these churches “were not trying to hit at the core of biblical faith; they were simply trying to make Christianity more palatable to a cynical world.” Even the late and illustrious Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon sounded the warning of a shift away from a Biblical foundation to a “feel good” approach to religion. His cries went unheeded.