There were two categories of Jewish sects anciently: religious and political (McClintock and Strong). Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes were examples of Jewish, religious sects, whereas Zealots and Herodians were examples of Jewish, political sects. All together, “there were 24 sects in Israel” (qtd. by Weiss). It is no wonder that early on the Roman Empire mistakenly viewed Christianity as a Jewish sect (number 25) when Jews and Christians were expelled from Rome (Acts 18:2), and even the Jewish sects supposed that Christianity was the newest Jewish sect (Acts 24:5; 28:22). Incidentally, the Greek word translated “sect” is often translated “heresy” (Acts 24:14; 1 Corinthians 11:19; Galatians 5:20; 2 Peter 2:1), owing to the meaning of the word, “division.”
The sectarian or divisive mentality characteristic of first century Judaism likewise infected early Christianity, too (1 Corinthians 1:12-13). Sadly, the divisive attitude characteristic of Judaism at the time of our Lord’s ministry and later common during the time of the apostle Paul’s ministry is rampant among both denominational people (or sectarians) and God’s people today as well. The multiple sects or divisions within the churches of Christ in modern times is hardly a secret from any informed person, non-Christian or Christian.
My point is this. Passages in the New Testament that criticize sectarianism apply to God’s people or Christians first and before they apply to any other groups. Yes, Scripture that condemns sectarianism applies in principle to denominational churches, too, but those verses were spoken originally to God’s people. Therefore, they apply to God’s people today also, and by extension, they apply to non-Christians as well.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees, for instance, had made unauthorized alterations to God-given Judaism to correspond to their opinions. The seriousness of this sectarianism is evident in the context of one of our Lord’s discourses. “But in vain they do worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men… Every plant, which My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up” (Matthew 15:9, 13 NKJV). Do those words apply to denominations? Yes, they do. However, they apply to the churches of Christ first!
Christianity is difficult enough without anyone, irrespective of how sincerely, making any unauthorized alterations of this God-given religion (Galatians 1:6-9; Revelation 22:18-19). Unable to practice sinlessly and perfectly every precept of Christianity, nevertheless, we must obey the Gospel or the Faith (Romans 1:5; 16:26; Hebrews 5:8-9) and continue to obey the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Then, God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8) and mercy (Titus 3:5) will make up the difference between our imperfect obedience and the righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) we need to be greeted kindly at the Judgment (Matthew 25:21).
Works Cited
McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia. Electronic Database. Seattle: Biblesoft, 2000.
Weiss, R. A. Jewish Sects of the New Testament Era. Electronic Database. Cedar Hill, Texas: Cross Talk, 1994.
