Why Are There So Many Christian Denominations? And Do They Threaten the Church?

Christianity was never meant to exist as a divided faith. When Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17, he asked for his current and future disciples to be unified so the world would know that he was indeed sent by the Father (John 17:20–23). Addressing denominational differences and asking if the church is divided is key to understanding this prayer. Today, we have found the inverse is also true—when the church is divided, it appears that Christianity as a whole cannot be trusted. Of course, the internet is a horrendous place to measure Christian division since it operates as a filter and reward-based incubator for polarization. Even still, exhibit A for church division is often this: Denominational differences. Depending on how you count, there are thousands.

Don’t misunderstand me: division has its place in the church to protect it from false teachers and dangerous individuals. Even so, have we gone too far? Probably. But how bad is it, really? How much do denominational differences threaten Christianity? A deeper look at the data reveals a surprisingly encouraging reality.

The Myth of Endless Theological Disagreements

Why Are There So Many Denominations?

Most Christian denominations didn’t begin with doctrinal fights. Many grew out of revival movements, missionary churches that became independent, social and political conflicts, immigrant communities, and even mergers. Counting methods also inflate the total, since some tallies count the same denomination separately in every country where it operates.

Unfortunately, denominations are often perceived as if they all stem from theological disagreements. We may imagine a single, unified church that began from the apostles of Jesus, but the church disagreed about something, splitting them into two, and then those two streams had their own internal disagreements, splitting them into four. On and on it goes, until today, when we have thousands of denominations splitting hairs over which foot is meant to step first into the baptismal pool.

This picture of denominationalism is incorrect. Many denominations emerged from theological disagreements, but not all. When exploring why there are so many denominations, history reveals diverse origins beyond doctrine. For example:

Historical Factors Beyond Doctrine

• Christian revival movements across different eras of church history birthed several major denominations. Those movements grow; they build structure around themselves, a central office is developed, and before you know it, it’s a new denomination. The Methodist Church, for example, was a revival movement within the Anglican Church.
• Missionaries created the ECWA church in Africa by granting full independence to their Nigerian church plants. So they got their own denomination, and it’s basically Baptist.
• Social issues, rather than theological disputes, spawned several modern denominations. For example, the Southern Baptist Convention began from a pro-slavery stance. They’ve since retracted those views (praise God!) but remain as their own denomination.
• Some denominations, surprisingly, began from a denominational merge! Today’s Wesleyan church is a merge between the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Pilgrim Holiness Church. Likewise, the Evangelical Free Church of America is a merge between Swedish and Norwegian/Danish immigrant churches.
• Lastly, it’s important to recognize that examples of disagreement often overlap, so it would be wrong to think we can count disagreements by counting denominations born out of disagreements. Practically all of the main protestant denominations (Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, etc.) have experienced splits over the same theological issues. The most recent that we may be familiar with is the Global Methodist Church, which divided from the United Methodist Church over their conservative stance on same-sex marriage. Their motion certainly did not introduce a new disagreement in the global church!

Historically, ecumenical standards like the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed defined core Christian orthodoxy, separating essential doctrines from non-essential practices (adiaphora). Recognizing this distinction helps clarify why primary theological agreement exists even amidst structural and procedural differences.

Uncovering the Core Christian Beliefs Across Denominations

I was curious about the amount of agreement that exists across denominational differences. So I spent dozens of hours studying 30 of the largest denominations within Christendom—Anglican, Episcopal, Wesleyan, Methodist, Various branches of Pentecostal, Lutheran, Baptist, and others. I covered Conservative and more liberal or progressive denominations. Though technically not “denominations,” I included the Catholic and Orthodox churches as well, for good measure. I looked at their official belief statements. If they didn’t provide belief statements at the denominational level, I looked at a sample of their churches across the U.S.

Finding Denominational Unity

Here is what I found. Almost all of them agree that…

• God is good, powerful, loving, and exists as one in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• Humanity is sinful.
• Christ died and resurrected from the dead as an act of salvation to remedy our sin.
• Scripture is God’s inspired, supernatural Word.
• The local church is important for believers.
• Christians are called to love and good works for the betterment of society
• Our good works do not earn salvation but are a result of it.
• God’s Holy Spirit brings conviction and guidance.
• Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary.
• Jesus is fully God and fully man.
• Jesus is coming again to judge the world.

Obviously, there are exceptions, but this list has near-unanimous agreement between Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and even most Liberal Denominations according to their official positions. These shared doctrines form the core Christian beliefs across denominations that unite believers globally. If we were to remove liberal denominations, then we could add the infallibility of Scripture, the exclusivity of Jesus as the only one who saves, and two different destinies for the saved and unsaved (among other things).

Theologically, doctrines are often classified into primary, secondary, and tertiary tiers. Primary doctrines (e.g., Trinity,Resurrection) define Christian faith, while secondary and tertiary issues (e.g., baptism methods, end-times timelines) govern local church practices without breaking fundamental Christian denominational unity.

I understand we could easily run a similar study and compare denominational disagreements regarding baptism, church governance, gender roles, end-time events, marriage, etc. But not all differences are created equal. The most important issues in Christianity are (1) questions of how salvation works, (2) items essential for our ability to function as Christians, and (3) beliefs that help distinguish our identity as Christians against other beliefs and worldviews. Many denominational disagreements matter, but they do not belong to the highest level of importance. However, most of the denominational agreements listed above are indeed of highest importance. This is especially the case across conservative denominations, namely, those that try their best to conserve historical Christianity over the whims of culture.

How Denominational Differences Can Strengthen Faith

As we have seen, denominational differences are not as threatening to the church as we often think. There are debates, disagreements, splits, and schisms to be sure. But the overall picture is a testimony to how God brings unity across division.

Even where disagreements continue, the Bible itself recognizes that disagreement is a part of church life. God is speaking to people who are affected by sin. When God chooses to speak clearly and we still don’t get it, that’s not a problem on his end. Sin is in this world, and that includes a spiritual aspect that affects our ability to comprehend the things of God. Yet it seems to me that God can actually use this problem to help his people to grow in wisdom and love for one another (See Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8).

On that note, it wouldn’t hurt to share this article and make a call to a brother or sister in Christ who you may have had a strong theological disagreement with. If they truly are in Christ—trusting God, repenting of sin, and seeking to follow Scripture—then you have every motivation to press into unity, as Jesus prayed for. Remember this: In the first-century Jewish world, Zealots and Tax collectors were two extremely opposed groups. But if Simon the Zealot and Matthew the Tax Collector could both sit together as disciples of Jesus, we can do the same with brothers and sisters whom we disagree with today.