Upon "Non-denominationalism"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kyle_G
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Kyle_G

Guest
It has come to my attention in the past 5 years or so that an abundance of our youth has branched away from the Catholic church to join a “non-denominational” or what I like to call, power-point church. Am I wrong when someone considers themselves “non-denominational” that they are indeed giving themselves a “denomination”? I would love to hear all the comments to this regard.

God Bless.
 
Kyle_G said:
It has come to my attention in the past 5 years or so that an abundance of our youth has branched away from the Catholic church to join a “non-denominational” or what I like to call, power-point church. Am I wrong when someone considers themselves “non-denominational” that they are indeed giving themselves a “denomination”? I would love to hear all the comments to this regard.

God Bless.
Click to expand...
My personal view on the matter is that if you believe that the Christ is the Son of God, that He died on the cross to bring salvation to the world, and that He rose from the dead and is today seated at the right hand of the Father, you are a Christian. From there, you are either Catholic or Protestant. Catholicism is not a denomination; however Protestantism has many denominations due to disagreements concerning particular beliefs outside of the above mentioned universal belief. Whether a person attends a Lutheran Church, a Methodist, a Baptist, etc… all the way to the newer “Non-denominational” Churches they are still outside the Catholic faith and are therefore Protestant… and that is how I see them.
 
I couldn’t number the people I’ve known in the last few years who have left to join non-denominational churches, and I was Baptist. I think they’re leaving because they want to belong to something that allows them to act without being “restricted” by rules. I’d say that of those that have gone to non-denominational, 25% have announced being gay/lesbian, and at least 50% have had children out of wedlock or at a young age. Non-denominational churches allow people to feel saved through belief in Jesus, pretty much like Baptists. I’ve known very strong Christians that belong to ND, but I personally don’t feel that it’s a complete way of worshiping.

(I have to agree that being Non-Denominational is a denomination…and now I’m sick of the word denomination:hypno: )
 
I think it all boils down to one of two things: We either choose to follow Christ according to His will (i.e., by belonging to the Church He founded, the Catholic Church), or like Adam and Eve, we want to follow God according to our own rules and, basically, try to be our own gods.

The truths of Christ are an integrated whole, which cannot be separated. I like to give a couple of examples when I explain this.
  1. If I gave you a glass of sewerage with a spoonful of the finest wine stirred in, would you drink it? Noooo! :eek: On the other hand, if I gave you a glass of the finest wine with a spoonful of sewerage stirred in, would you drink that? Noooo! :eek: Why? Because both are glasses of sewerage.
  2. If I told you that I absolutely LOVED mathematics. I loved subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, etc. But, to be honest, I have a problem with addition. I just can’t accept the concept of addition. What would I have? Nothing! Why? Because without addition, you don’t have any of the rest of it! Same goes true for the deposit of faith that Christ handed down to the Apostles and their successors in the Church.
 
Being_Brave said:
I couldn’t number the people I’ve known in the last few years who have left to join non-denominational churches, and I was Baptist. I think they’re leaving because they want to belong to something that allows them to act without being “restricted” by rules. I’d say that of those that have gone to non-denominational, 25% have announced being gay/lesbian, and at least 50% have had children out of wedlock or at a young age. Non-denominational churches allow people to feel saved through belief in Jesus, pretty much like Baptists. I’ve known very strong Christians that belong to ND, but I personally don’t feel that it’s a complete way of worshiping.

(I have to agree that being Non-Denominational is a denomination…and now I’m sick of the word denomination:hypno: )
Click to expand...
The concept of “non-denomination” is a dishonest one, if you think about it. It means that although they are a denomination, a separation from the true Church established by Christ, they want to hide the fact by not giving themselves a name. 😦
 
Kyle_G said:
It has come to my attention in the past 5 years or so that an abundance of our youth has branched away from the Catholic church to join a “non-denominational” or what I like to call, power-point church. Am I wrong when someone considers themselves “non-denominational” that they are indeed giving themselves a “denomination”? I would love to hear all the comments to this regard.

God Bless.
Click to expand...
People who refuse to live as Jesus instructed them always want to rationalize their sin and find others who will likewise accept their sinful ways and act like it’s all just “okay” while they sit around the campfire singing Kumbaya. It’s just escapism, I think. They want to do THEIR thing, rather than God’s thing.
 
Kyle_G said:
It has come to my attention in the past 5 years or so that an abundance of our youth has branched away from the Catholic church to join a “non-denominational” or what I like to call, power-point church. Am I wrong when someone considers themselves “non-denominational” that they are indeed giving themselves a “denomination”? I would love to hear all the comments to this regard.

God Bless.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. Even if it’s a denomination of one it’s still a denomination. As far as I’m concerned being a non-dom makes about as much sense as being “spiritual but not religous”. kind of like saying to our Lord “come follow me” rather than listening to him say it to us.
 
Webster New World College Dictionary - 4th Edition

Denomination -
Definition # 4 - a particular religious body , with a specific name. organization, etc.

Base on the above definition, ND’s have denominations. I think that they are just trying to say that they are not Mainline Protestant.
 
It was either posted here by an Apologist or mentioned on EWTN that Non-denominationalism is a form of religious indifference and therefore considered by the Catholic Church to be a heresy. When you think about it, this makes sense because Christ calls us to be advocates of the Gospel, and you can’t advocate if you are indifferent. Here is a list of the types of indifferentism: newadvent.org/cathen/07759a.htm .
 
Tietjen said:
My personal view on the matter is that if you believe that the Christ is the Son of God, that He died on the cross to bring salvation to the world, and that He rose from the dead and is today seated at the right hand of the Father, you are a Christian. From there, you are either Catholic or Protestant. Catholicism is not a denomination; however Protestantism has many denominations due to disagreements concerning particular beliefs outside of the above mentioned universal belief. Whether a person attends a Lutheran Church, a Methodist, a Baptist, etc… all the way to the newer “Non-denominational” Churches they are still outside the Catholic faith and are therefore Protestant… and that is how I see them.
Click to expand...
This mostly works for me.

I am a Christian. I am a Protestant, but only by default since I’m neither Catholic nor Orthodox.

I’m not against Catholicism or Orthodoxy, and both have traditions I admire and theology I agree with; but I can’t convert to either since both demand I buy their whole package, and I don’t agree that much.

I’m non-denominational in that I don’t buy into the denominational distinctives of any particular denomination, but simply consider myself a Christian. That doesn’t mean I’m indifferent. I care a lot about doctrine. I just don’t think any denomination (at least, not that I’ve found yet) has all of it right.

But I belong to an Assemblies of God church, not an ND church. And no, I don’t totally agree with AG either, but it’s close enough.
 
Izdaari said:
I am a Christian. I am a Protestant, but only by default since I’m neither Catholic nor Orthodox.

I’m not against Catholicism or Orthodoxy, and both have traditions I admire and theology I agree with; but I can’t convert to either since both demand I buy their whole package, and I don’t agree that much.

I’m non-denominational in that I don’t buy into the denominational distinctives of any particular denomination, but simply consider myself a Christian. That doesn’t mean I’m indifferent. I care a lot about doctrine. I just don’t think any denomination (at least, not that I’ve found yet) has all of it right.

But I belong to an Assemblies of God church, not an ND church. And no, I don’t totally agree with AG either, but it’s close enough.
Click to expand...
What do you believe about salvation? Who do you believe gets saved and who do you think doesn’t get saved?
 
Being_Brave said:
I couldn’t number the people I’ve known in the last few years who have left to join non-denominational churches, and I was Baptist. I think they’re leaving because they want to belong to something that allows them to act without being “restricted” by rules. I’d say that of those that have gone to non-denominational, 25% have announced being gay/lesbian, and at least 50% have had children out of wedlock or at a young age. Non-denominational churches allow people to feel saved through belief in Jesus, pretty much like Baptists. I’ve known very strong Christians that belong to ND, but I personally don’t feel that it’s a complete way of worshiping.

(I have to agree that being Non-Denominational is a denomination…and now I’m sick of the word denomination:hypno: )
Click to expand...
I think the above mentioned is a fair assessment. I call those type of denominations “feel-good” sects because they sure involve a lot of entertainment.
 
Izdaari said:
This mostly works for me.

I am a Christian. I am a Protestant, but only by default since I’m neither Catholic nor Orthodox.

I’m not against Catholicism or Orthodoxy, and both have traditions I admire and theology I agree with; but I can’t convert to either since both demand I buy their whole package, and I don’t agree that much.

I’m non-denominational in that I don’t buy into the denominational distinctives of any particular denomination, but simply consider myself a Christian. That doesn’t mean I’m indifferent. I care a lot about doctrine. I just don’t think any denomination (at least, not that I’ve found yet) has all of it right.

But I belong to an Assemblies of God church, not an ND church. And no, I don’t totally agree with AG either, but it’s close enough.
Click to expand...
What exactly do you mean by:
but I can’t convert to either since both demand I buy their whole package, and I don’t agree that much.*
 
Nicea325 said:
What exactly do you mean by:
but I can’t convert to either since both demand I buy their whole package, and I don’t agree that* much.
Click to expand...
Seems to me he/she is honest enough to not to want to be a Cafeteria Catholic
 
Nicea325 said:
True,but that can be applicable to any faith/religion…😉
Click to expand...
Something else occurred to me. Isn’t somewhat antithetical to the Christian faith to fiand tha faith that matches your beliefs, istead of conforming yourself to the faith?
 
CWBetts said:
Something else occurred to me. Isn’t somewhat antithetical to the Christian faith to fiand tha faith that matches your beliefs, istead of conforming yourself to the faith?
Click to expand...
It is called obedience to God…obedience to God,my friend. It is never easy,but it is much easier to do as you stated: find that faith that matches your beliefs, istead of conforming yourself to the faith?
 
CWBetts said:
Seems to me he/she is honest enough to not to want to be a Cafeteria Catholic
Click to expand...
Exactly so! I probably do have enough agreement with the Catholic Church to be a “Cafeteria Catholic”… but that doesn’t seem right. If I don’t think the Catholic Church is right in all things, even though it claims to be, I don’t think I agree enough to join. The core issue is I don’t agree on its authority.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top