An interesting point. It is interesting that even during Jesus' ministry there were those who acted in his name who were not part of his immediate circle of disciples. Jesus did not see this as a threat, where his disciples did. I didn't read Witmer's article but I wrote a paper against denominations myself when I was younger. The view that denominations are wrong by definition is probably a bit hasty or misguided. Denominationalism, perhaps so.ken_sylvania wrote:I think this suggests that Jesus isn't necessarily opposed to denominations within Christendom, provided we relate properly to Christians in other denominations.Mark 9:38-41 wrote:And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
Every group or association at some point will have a name, whether adopted by the group or imposed by others. It is similar in some ways to a person having a name. We need some way to identify what/whom we are talking about. I get the impression that Witmer smarts at the idea of being identified as part of a denomination. Many people who feel that way end up in so-called non-denominational or community churches. However these groups all end up having their own names anyway. Maybe it's just the denomination that they are in that they really have a problem with, because they just end up with a different nomenclature, is all.