Over the two thousand years of the Christian Era, many people have introduced man-made teachings to Christianity and divided the church. In 1526 A.D., at a meeting called “the Diet of Speyer”, several rulers in Europe decided that each nation should be able to practice Christianity as they saw fit. This, perhaps inadvertently, caused the dividing of the church into “denominations”. Over time, this became accepted as normal. Denominated Christianity, however, did not come from the Bible.
The teachings of man, false religions, denominationalism, and a divided church is not good news. Rather, it is man’s failure to be true to God’s Word. When people depart from God’s instructions of belief, worship, Christian living, and purpose, we find ourselves broken and lost.