Diversity in the Church and in Christianity

Maybe having all these denominations isn't an unjustified evil. Maybe having three major streams--Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant (with Protestants especially subdivided)--is expected. Most people are under the assumption that there was once a pristine time when there was only one Church, back in the good ol' days of the apostles. Well, sorry folks, but that's bogus. Early Christianity was a very diverse thing.

But what about the New Testament - surely, of all things, it must be about one unified Church! Sorry again folks. The different authors in the New Testament had very different understandings of the significance of Jesus: of who Jesus was, of what Jesus did, and of how he brought salvation. By reading the texts it is also quite clear that they reflect different Christian communities, each going about how to be Christian in a different way.

Yet, the New Testament is Scripture, authoritative for the Church's (and the believer's) faith and life. But between Matthew and Revelation, such a diversity exists. Perhaps we should stop with the wishful ignorance that early Christianity was one nice monolith. Perhaps we should recognize that there are different ways of being Christian, different ways enshrined and justified within the New Testament itself.

Maybe the New Testament sets the boundaries for Christian faith. Maybe it tells us that diversity within bounds is okay. This whole post is more of a freewrite, trying to tackle an issue fresh on my mind. I do not have an answer, I do not know a way forwards.

Oh, and if you were going to ask: Judaism preceding and during the New Testament time was also very diverse. Definitely no monolith there.

Back to the drawing board.