A Lesson In Non-Denominationalism

A friend sent me the YouTube Short video below. To put it in quick context, my friend is born and raised Roman Catholic. I do not believe in denominations. The man in the video is Taylor Reed Marshall (born March 29, 1978) is an American Catholic YouTube commentator, former Episcopal Church priest, and former academic, now known for his advocacy of traditionalist Catholicism. Watch the short video or read the transcript below the video. See if you can tell when Taylor goes off the mark.

[00:00.000 –> 00:02.240] Jesus was non-denominational.
[00:02.240 –> 00:05.760] Well, he was anti-denominational, actually.
[00:05.760 –> 00:07.520] He was against denominations.
[00:07.520 –> 00:09.000] Paul says we’re not supposed to have
[00:09.000 –> 00:12.040] Pauline Christians or Petriene Christian.
[00:12.040 –> 00:13.840] We’re supposed to have Christians
[00:13.840 –> 00:17.120] that are all part of one flock submitted
[00:17.120 –> 00:20.920] to the jurisdiction of St. Peter and his successors on earth.
[00:20.920 –> 00:24.480] And that ecclesiastical earthly assembly
[00:24.480 –> 00:27.280] is called the universal ecclesia
[00:27.280 –> 00:29.240] or the Catholic Church.
[00:29.240 –> 00:31.000] There’s only one church, it’s the Catholic Church.
[00:31.000 –> 00:33.040] There aren’t many denominations, those are all fake.
[00:33.040 –> 00:34.920] So Jesus is not non-denominational,
[00:34.920 –> 00:36.600] he’s anti-denominational.
[00:36.600 –> 00:38.940] He wants everyone in the one true church.

So, we have a man who moved from one denomination to another, Episcopalian to Roman Catholic. This is not uncommon at all. People switch denominations all the time.  As a matter of fact, this is similar to the path my life took after becoming a believer in Jesus Christ at 29 years of age. My father’s side of the family was Roman Catholic. My mother’s side was Episcopalian. I was not raised in either denomination but I was familiar with both. I ended up non-denominational.

Back to Taylor. He says Jesus was anti-denominational and then goes on to quote Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:11-13. Paul is certainly speaking against the idea of following him, Apollos or Peter called Cepahs. Paul then goes on to point out that none of them were crucified for their sins, only Jesus. However, Taylor then states:

We’re supposed to have Christians that are all part of one flock submitted to the jurisdiction of St. Peter and his successors on earth.

Wow, talk about giving someone whiplash! He just quoted Paul saying not to follow Peter and then Taylor says we are to be submitted to the jurisdiction of St. Peter and his successors on earth. I could have titled this post “A Lesson In Contradiction”. If he would have simply stuck to the word catholic, meaning universal, there would be no contradiction. However, he points to Roman Catholicism as the one true church.

I do not know the man so I will not call him an intentional deceiver. He may simply be blinded to the truth that a child can see. Taylor is not alone. I have heard many preachers and teachers make these types of contradictory statements. That is what led me to be non-denominational in my view of the Christian faith. Taylor is the type of person Paul would be addressing in 1 Corinthians.