the church, part 1

Many People often wonder why there are so many Christian denominations today. This is a legitimate question. As you take a drive through any American city you see Catholic Churches, Southern Baptist Churches, Baptist Churches, Lutheran Churches, Evangelical Lutheran Churches, Episcopalian, Reformed, Presbyterian, Greek Orthodox, Pentecostal and that is only to name a few. Where did all these churches come from when Christ promised that "the gates of hell will not overcome"(Matthew 16:18) the church? Is it not going against what Christ prayed for when he prays " that all of them may be one "(John 17:21) Christ also promised the Apostles that the Holy Spirit "will guide you into all truth."(John 16:13), yet today we have 100s or 1000s of different Christian groups saying that the Holy Spirit has shown them the "truth", yet that "truth" contradicts the "truth" of other groups. Has the Holy Spirit gone schizophrenic? Is each person their own decider in what is God's truth(that sounds awfully relativistic to me)?

Or did Christ found a Church that will be guided in deciding the truth, and in interpreting Scripture(After all, how did we get the Canon of Scripture)? Or did he leave us alone to our own devices?

In my next few Blogs, I will be looking at scripture, and the early church fathers, to see which Church is "the pillar and foundation of truth"(1 Timothy 3:15). As well as examining the origins of different denominations,and how many of them are following the traditions of man, instead of the authentic teaching of the church.