{"id":30327,"date":"2021-01-12T17:55:22","date_gmt":"2021-01-12T23:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=30327"},"modified":"2026-09-09T09:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:22:10","slug":"origins-of-denominations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/origins-of-denominations\/","title":{"rendered":"Origins of Denominations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, I&#8217;ve done lessons on various issues that caused the rise of the denominations we see today. Rather than leaving them scattered, I&#8217;m gathering them on a single page so they&#8217;re easier to find.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-they-all-come-from\/\">Where Did They All Come From?<\/a> (Overview)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/corruption-in-church-organization\/\">Corruption in Church Organization<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-apostles-creed\/\">The Apostles&#8217; Creed<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/infant-baptism-2\/\">Infant Baptism<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sovereignty-of-god-2\/\">The Sovereignty of God<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/apostolic-succession\/\">Apostolic Succession<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/music-in-worship\/\">Music in Worship<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-split-of-the-catholic-churches\/\">The Split of the Catholic Churches<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-other-side-of-church-history\/\">The Other Side of Church History<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pietism\/\">Pietism<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-holiness-movement\/\">The Holiness Movement<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-brief-history-of-mormonism\/\">A Brief History of Mormonism<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-charismatic-movement\/\">The Charismatic Movement<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A related series,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/church-and-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Church and State(opens in new tab)<\/a>, examines how attempts to make Christianity a state religion affect the practices of the state church.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Over the years, I&#8217;ve done lessons on various issues that caused the rise of the denominations we see today. Rather than leaving them scattered, I&#8217;m gathering them on a single page so they&#8217;re easier to find. Where Did They All Come From? (Overview) Corruption in Church Organization The Apostles&#8217; Creed Infant&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[726,300],"class_list":["post-30327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-church-history","tag-denominations"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15140,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-the-reason-denominations-want-married-preachers-is-because-they-confuse-the-office-of-an-elder-with-that-of-the-preacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":30327,"position":0},"title":"Isn&#8217;t the reason denominations want married preachers is because they confuse the office of an elder with that of the preacher?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted to make a comment about\u00a0requiring preachers to be married. I have taken note that the denominations do not generally adhere to scriptural church leadership, and instead of a plurality of elders, they have a board of deacons and one 'elder' or 'pastor,' who also serves as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7262,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-broadening-definition-of-racism\/","url_meta":{"origin":30327,"position":1},"title":"The Broadening Definition of Racism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton During the week leading up to the observance of the government's Martin Luther King Day, the local paper heralded the formation of a new group called Churches Uniting in Christ. Nine denominations joined to campaign against racism. The very development of these organizations which tie denominations\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87294,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-all-denominations-false\/","url_meta":{"origin":30327,"position":2},"title":"Are all denominations false?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are all denominations false? Did Jesus ever command anyone to create denominations? To me, it seems that denominations are man-made religions, not something the Lord initiated. I don't believe God leads people to follow a particular denomination or to find their identity in one. Many people proudly call themselves\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43041,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-be-scripturally-baptized-in-a-denomination\/","url_meta":{"origin":30327,"position":3},"title":"Can a person be scripturally baptized in a denomination?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the church of Christ and lately, an issue has arisen. A few of our members were baptized in denominations but have been allowed to join our congregation on the basis that their baptisms were valid or scriptural based on an investigation. According to these\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42577,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-it-divisive-to-claim-all-denominations-are-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":30327,"position":4},"title":"Isn&#8217;t it divisive to claim all denominations are wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2001","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read the article about why you left the Nazarene denomination. On the latter point of baptism, I will not comment now, but I think your first listed reason is a rational mistake. You said, \"yet the Nazarene Church exists, as does any denomination, because man disregards the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14844,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-wrong-with-the-baptists-methodists-etc\/","url_meta":{"origin":30327,"position":5},"title":"What is wrong with the Baptists, Methodists, etc.?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I think my main concern is: \"Is the Church of Christ the only way?\" What is wrong with the Baptists, Methodists, etc...? Am I going in the right direction to get to Heaven? I know I have a lot of doubts and questions. Answer: The question, \"Is the Church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30327\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}