Over the course of history, religion has changed dramatically. Taking Christianity as an example, when the religion started over 2,000 years ago, it was not a religion; it was a way of life marked by faith in the Word of God and Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Adherents of the faith devoted their lives to spreading the Gospel and did not get sidetracked into making a name for themselves or seeking self-aggrandizement. Moreover, they applied their faith to every life situation; they did not keep it segregated into a separate part of their lives that was only to be revisited on the Sabbath. They lived their faith every day. Further, while there were multiple sects of Judaism during the first days of the early Church, there was only one Christianity.
Since that time, the Christian Church has changed profoundly. It has gone from being a way of life learned from believers to being a religion, just as 1st century Judaism was. Now there are multiple denominations and the accompanying conflict among them. Even worse, these denominations are base their religious beliefs on man's concepts, not on God's; this is why they spark disagreement. Instead of adhering to what the Bible teaches, Christians make up their own "rules" for their brand of Christianity. They do not apply their faith to every life situation, either. In most cases, they are nominal Christians who do not even think about God or open a Bible except when they are attending church. Unlike the first Christians, they have become the poster children for the modern philosophy that religion should be separated from all other aspects of life. This opens the way for them to lose their focus on Christ and focus more on themselves, seeking self-aggrandizement and serving their own needs.
Many complain that religion today fails to meet the needs of the people, but what has actually happened is that the people have changed and sh
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