02 Why Study Denominationalism WWHHYY SSTTUUDDYY DDEENNOOMMIINNAATTIIOONNAALLIISSMM GGeenneerraall IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn Just what is denominationalism? It comes from the Latin denominatus, past participle of denominare, “to name completely.”1 The infinitive “to denominate” means “to give a specific name.”2 Microsoft Encarta Dictionary defines the word “denomination” as (a) “a name or designation given to a class, group or type”; (b) “a religious grouping within a faith, for example, a section of the Christian church that has specific beliefs and practices that differ from those of other groupings and its own system of organization.”3 On the other hand, Webster dictionary editors define the term “denomination” as “a particular religious group,”4 and “denominationalism” as the “denominational spirit, the sectarian policy,” or “the tendency to divide into sects.”5 The word has thus taken a negative connotation. I personally believe that denominationalism is evil and counterproductive to the spirit and purpose of Jesus’ coming to this world. Denominations or sects, which many in the world call “churches,” are puny efforts of men to comprehend an inscrutable God and to solve the puzzles of redemption. They show to the world a divided Christendom. And a divided Christendom is not fulfilling Jesus’ dying wish (John 17:11). So why the need to study denominationalism? I. FIRSTLY, BECAUSE WE ARE TO EXAMINE EVERY MESSAGE AND EVERY TEACHING THAT WE HEAR. A. Acts 17:10, 11. The Berean Jews to whom Paul preached were not just called “more noble”6 for no reason at all: they received the word “with all eagerness”7 “examining”8 1See also Microsoft Encarta Dictionary. “Mid-16th century. From Latin denominat- , the past participle stem of denominare, literally ‘to name completely’, from nominare ‘to name’” (Microsoft Encarta Dictionary, art. “Denominate.” Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2005. Copyright by Microsoft Corporation. Four CDs). Henceforth abbreviated as MEPS 2005. 2 Webster’s Desk Dictionary of the English Language. (New York: Gramercy Books, 1990). Based on The Random House Dictionary, Classic Edition. Copyright 1983 by Random House, Inc. 3 Microsoft Encarta Dictionary, art. “Denomination”. 4 Webster’s Desk Dictionary of the English Language, art. “Denomination.” 5 Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (New York, N.Y.: Portland House, 1989). Copyright 1989 by dilithium Press, Ltd. 6 Gr. eugenesteroi, “nobler,” comparative of eugenes, “noble birth, well-born, noble-minded.” “The word is used not only for noble birth, but also for noble sentiments, character, morals; thus the Jews of Berea were nobler than those of Thessalonica in their welcome and cordial treatment of the apostles” (Cleon Rogers Jr. & Cleon Rogers III, The New Linguistic & Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998], p. 274). 7 Gr. meta pases prothumias, “With all willingness, with all eagerness.” “It indicates a positive disposition, goodwill in the heightened sense of eagerness and ardor and is a compliment that honors its subject” (Rogers & Rogers, p. 274). 4 02 Why Study Denominationalism “the Scriptures daily if these things are so.” To us this is not an encouragement to disbelieve what we hear, but to investigate, to be on a constant daily watch, and to accept as truths teachings that have logical and scriptural support. B. 1 John 4:1. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (RSV). “Do not believe” 9 is a command. The other command is “test10 the spirits.” “Spirits,” plural form, “may indicate the spirit of error and spirit of truth.”11 “For many false prophets have gone out into the world.”12 The term “false prophets” translates the Gr. pseudoprophetai, plural noun, from pseudos, “lying” or deceiving, and prophetes, “one who tells forth a divine message,” hence a false messenger.13 The term includes not only those who make false predictions, but also those who proclaim false messages, those who preach false messiahs, and those who entertain people with false hopes. The passage is an admonition for us not to swallow everything that is proclaimed by these men, but to try every one of them, to see whether they are of God. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11). “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20). II. SECONDLY, BECAUSE WE ARE TO REJECT TRADITIONS, HUMAN DOCTRINES AND COUNTERFEIT GOSPELS. A. Mark 7:5-9; cf. Matthew 15:7-9. The passage is a reproof of traditionalists, those who teach and promote men’s tradition (Gr. paradosin ton anthropon), imposing it on the adherents as God’s commandments and will. They call this “tradition of the elders” (Mark 7:5; Matthew 15:2). By their question, “Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?” they have given this tradition an authority that it surely does not deserve. Why this authority? Because it comes from older men on whom they have showered honor and respect. 8 “Examining,” Gr. anakrinontes, present active participle. “The kind of action in this tense is linear or progressive,” expressing continuous action. (cf. James Allen Hewett, New Testament Greek: A Beginning & Intermediate Grammar [Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 3rd printing 1992], p. 136). The verb anakrino means “to examine, to sift up and down, to make careful and exact research as in legal processes; to try to learn the nature or truth of something by the process of careful study, evaluation and judgment” (Rogers & Rogers, p. 274). 9 Gr. me pisteuete, present imperative active. “The present imperative with me, not, calls for the stopping of an action,” that of believing, “which is in progress” (Rogers & Rogers, p. 597). 10 Gr. dokimadzete, present imperative active. “Test, prove by trial.” (Rogers & Rogers, p. 597). 11 Rogers & Rogers, p. 597. 12 “Have gone out,” Gr. exeleluthasin, perfect active indicative. “Perfect expresses the continued agency, not the single fact, of their departure” (Rogers & Rogers, p. 597). 13 John Kohlenberger III, ed., The Expanded Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1984), pp. 405, 894. The singular form of this noun, pseudoprophetes, means “one who falsely claims to be a prophet of God,” or, one “who prophesies falsely.” (Walter Bauer, Wm F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2nd Edition, 1979], p. 892). Henceforth abbreviated as BAGD. 5 02 Why Study Denominationalism In condemning them, Jesus calls them “hypocrites” (Mark 7:6). The word is from Gr. hupokrites, literally, “one who speaks from under a mask.” Rogers and Rogers say, “The word comes from the theater where the actors were only men and wore masks to portray the character.”14 Says W. E. Vine, “It was a custom for Greek and Roman actors to speak in large masks with mechanical devices for augmenting the force of the voice; hence the word became used metaphorically of a dissembler, a hypocrite.”15 Jesus calls them “hypocrites” because they honor God with their lips but their heart is far from Him. (Mark 7:6). Their heart is far from Him because they have more respect for men’s traditions than for His Word. Jesus quotes scripture, written by an older man, even much older than the elders invoked by traditionalists, Isaiah himself. Now, the contrast here is between Isaiah’s written scripture and the elders’ unwritten tradition, between the objective and the subjective, between the inspired and the uninspired. Jesus says, “It is written” (Mark 7:6). The Gr. gegraptai literally means “It stands written.” The term is “often used to indicate the continuing authority of a binding document.”16 The book of Isaiah, as scripture, has binding authority. In Mark 7:7, Jesus calls their worship “vain,” from the Gr. maten, an adverb that means “in vain, to no purpose.”17 What makes their worship “vain, empty, ineffectual, worthless”? Because they “teach for doctrines the commandments of men.” The Gr. phrase didaskontes didaskalias entalmata anthropon literally means “teaching [for] teachings [the] commands of men.” B. Galatians 1:6-9. Paul here is saying, “I was astonished, I marveled, at the speed with which you responded to a counterfeit gospel.” The Gr. thaumadzo, “to wonder, to marvel, to be astonished” indicates irritation and rebuke.18 “You are so soon removed from him who called you.” The word “removed,” Gr. metatithesthe, “to transfer, to remove, to desert, to change one’s opinion, to change sides” “was used of desertion or revolt in a military or political defection and frequently had the idea of a change in religion, philosophy or morals.”19 “Unto another gospel.” What is the gospel? It means “good news.” But to define it simply as “the news of the death, burial and resurrection” of Jesus is quite restrictive. For example, Paul speaks about “obeying the gospel” (2 Thess. 1:8), which would mean that the gospel is more than just the “good news of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection”; it may include commands, so anyone who hears it could obey it. 14 Rogers & Rogers, p. 82. 15 W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 17th Impression 1966), p. 242. 16 Rogers & Rogers, p. 82. 17 Rogers & Rogers, p. 82. 18 Rogers & Rogers, p. 421. 19 Rogers & Rogers, p. 421. 6 02 Why Study Denominationalism The “other gospel” is not actually “another” but the gospel of Christ twisted and perverted (v.