Sects? Click the following links (were have arranged them in alphabetical order): Calvary Open Hearts Fellowship, Church of England, First Evangelical Free Church, Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Church,
INTRODUCTION
Sects and denominations are not a part of God’s plan for saving mankind. This we have always believed. God in the eternal beginning had a plan to organize a people of His own, a people who should be holy and blameless before Him (EPH. 1:4).
Then His Son came and said He would build His church (MATT. 16:18). Since the church is now that people, a people who have been washed, justified and sanctified (1 COR. 6:11), it follows that the church has been a part of God’s plan for the ages. Since the church was an institution that would be purchased by the blood of His Son (ACTS 20:28), it also means that the crucifixion and death of His Son Jesus have been a part of God’s plan to choose a people of His own.
The church of Christ— God’s new chosen people–was built in the city of Jerusalem on that first Pentecost day after Jesus rose from the dead. Preaching the Good News of His death, burial and resurrection, persuading those who believe to repent and be baptized in order for their sins to be remitted—these are all included in God’s plan (LUKE 24:44-47). Three thousand souls were baptized on that day; then was fulfilled God’s purpose to choose a people, a kingdom, a church of His own. The church that began in AD 33 has continued to flourish in our time, ever-multiplying, ever-conquering, marching victoriously on to the beat of the Divine Drummer. And this is the church we are members of.
The church of the Lord came before there ever were sects and denominations in the world. If God was able to save a people, justify them, and sanctify them, without starting a sect or a denomination, what then is the need for these human institutions? PSALM 127:1 says, “Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” The house of God is the church of the living God (1 TIM. 3:15). “Except the Lord builds the church, they labor in vain who build it.”
Sectarian spirits, we believe, have contributed a great deal to religious division among men today. Jesus prayed for all believers to be one. “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (JOHN 17:20-21). The rise of the sects is contrary to God’s plan. Our plea to achieve religious unity is for all believers to go back to the Bible as the basis of our teaching and practice.
Sectarianism divides, as illustrated in the religious system we now know as Catholicism:
(1) The Catholics in the East (under the patriarch of Constantinople) and the Catholics in the West (under the bishop of Rome) had divided over the filioque issue, anathematizing each other, and finally separating in AD 1054. Eastern Catholics became the “ORTHODOX CHURCH”; those in the West, the “ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.”
(2) Martin Luther’s protest over the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church led to his group’s separation from the main Catholic body, and the founding of the “LUTHERAN CHURCH” in 1530. The Lutherans also call themselves German Catholics.
(3) Because the pope would not let him divorce his Catholic wife, Henry VIII split from Rome in 1534 and became the head of the English Catholic church, or the CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
(4) Half a million German Catholics, led by the theologian Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger, separated from the main Roman Catholic body over the disagreement on papal infallibility, in 1871, and became what is now known as “OLD CATHOLICS.”
(5) Filipino Catholics, led by Gregorio Aglipay, separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1902 and formed the “PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC CHURCH.” Sectarianism divides, and divides again. If we all agree to speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent, then we may put an end to this blight in Christendom.
Clicking the name of the sect (highlighted in red) will link you to the page itself. Try it.
LIST OF SOME SECTS FOUNDED BY MEN
NAME OF THE SECT – HEAD/ FOUNDER – YEAR – PLACE
1. “Roman Catholic Church” – Bishop of Rome – 607 – Rome, Italy
2. “Orthodox Church” – Patriarch of Istanbul- 1054 – Turkey
3. “Lutheran Church” – Martin Luther – 1530 – Germany
4. “Church of England” – Henry VIII – 1534 – London, England
5. “Presbyterian Church” – John Calvin – 1535 – Geneva, Switzerland
6. “Church of Scotland” – John Knox – 1560 – Scotland
7. “Baptist Church” – John Smith – 1609 – Amsterdam, Holland
8. “Quakers” – George Fox – 1647 – England
9. “Methodist Church” – John Wesley – 1729 – England
10. “Mormon Church” – Joseph Smith – 1830 – New York
11. “Adventist Church” – William Miller – 1844 – New York
12. Wesley Temple AME Zion Church – Black ministers – 1864 – Akron, Ohio
13. “Salvation Army” – William Booth – 1865 – England
14. “Jehovah’s Witnesses” – Charles T. Russell – 1872 – Pennsylvania
15. “Christian Scientist” – Mary B. Eddy – 1879 – Massachusetts
16. Evangelical Free Church – 17 Swedish Immigrants – 1880 – Chicago,Illinois
17. “Church of God” – Richard Spurling – 1886 – Tennessee
18. “The Nazarene Church” – Bresee & Widney – 1895 – California
19. “Church of God in Christ”- Jones & Mason – 1897 – Tennessee
20. “Independent Catholic” -Gregorio Aglipay – 1902 – Philippines
21. “Pentecostal Church” – (Azusa Street Church) – 1906 – California
22. “Iglesia ni Cristo” – Felix Y. Manalo – 1914 – Taguig, Rizal, Philippines
23. Assemblies of God – Group of Ministers – 1914 – Arkansas
24. African Othodox Church – Daniel William Alexander – 1924 – South Africa
25. “Unification Church” – Sun Myung Moon – 1946 – South Korea
26. Moncadista – Hilario Moncado – 1960 – Philippines
27. PBMA – Ruben Ecleo, Sr. – 1964 – Dinagat Island, Philippines
28. “Children of God” – David Berg – 1968 – California
29.“Dating Daan” – Eliseo Soriano – 1980 – Pampanga, Philippines
30.Calvary Open Hearts Fellowship- Founders unknown-
31.UCCP – Group of Ministers -Manila, Philippines
