Quote:
Originally Posted by MikhailianInception
The irony is that the Recovery Movement seems to denominate themselves as they separate from the rest of Christendom by saying they are the only true Church. They have "recovered" the truth of Christianity. That's the main issue with Christian Restorationism movements. Each restorationism leads to different churches saying they've restored what was lost, but it ends up being a superiority complex against the rest of Christianity.
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LCers love to declare that being a denomination is all about having the proper name, or not. As if only their names are the sanctioned, legitimate ones.
What really determines a denomination is not a name but a controlling centralized headquarters. In the N.T. the apostles with Paul established church assemblies which did fellowship with each other, but they never established a headquarters. Antioch, Ephesus, and Rome were all places where Paul taught and worked to train the disciples, but none was a headquarters.
The Judaizers, on the other hand, wanted Jerusalem to control the movements and the teachings of the apostles. They struggled to exert their control, using any and all means possible, to bring the Gentile assemblies under subjection to Jerusalem. If you were "from James," or "from headquarters," you garnered great control over others. Even oft-times courageous Peter was subdued however. (Gal 2.11-15)
Today's Blendeds work in the same spirit as those Judaizers of old. They have a form of godliness, but deny its power. 2 Tm 3.5)