This Church Sign Is Awesome {It's real, so don't even start with me.}

[antigone382]

50. Do you know anything about the history of how Christian doctrine developed?

There have always been multiple interpretations of the divinity of Christ, of his status as a human or a god, of the existence or non-existence of Hell, the status of women and slaves, and which books were or were not included in Christian doctrine, among other controversies. Look up the gnostics and some of their more important texts, such as the gospel of Mary Magdelene (more than likely not actually authored by her, as many of the works attributed to Paul were not authored by him; claiming that one's work was authored of a famous religious or philosophical writer was not considered deceitful, but was a way of doing honor to that person, and claiming that your own writing was in keeping with their wisdom).

"Christian doctrine" was only solidified around the time of the reign of Constantine, as Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and a specific type of Christianity that was compatible with the empire was supported, to the exclusion of all others, during a series of councils spanning centuries, such as the Nicene Council. While other Christian sects were oppressed after this point, they never entirely died out, and many of the modern alternatives to mainstream Christianity sprung out of them.

You are reifying religion--turning something abstract and amorphous into something concrete and clearly defined. To take another example, Theravada Buddhism is radically different from Zen, Pure Land, and Tantric Buddhism, which are all quite different from each other. They, like every sect of Christianity, evolve in different cultural, historical, and political realities, along different tracks, and in many cases contradicting each other--yet they are all fully Buddhist. Christianity is the same way. It is impossible for anyone with an accurate and comprehensive understanding of history, inside or outside, to define clearly what is or is not Christian.