In considering whether we need organized religion, we should take a few minutes to discuss why I have been wondering about this. I was born and raised as a Catholic. As I grew into adulthood, I drifted, or some might say ran, away from the church. Some forty years later, I found my way back to my Catholic roots by what I believe was a sign. I have discussed this previously and won’t get into it now; just know it affected my way of thinking. At this time, I find myself away from the church, although not as far or for the same reasons.

Read more: Interpreting the Bible: Who’s right, who’s wrong?

Being retired, I find myself with more time on my hands, and I spend a lot of it driving for a part-time job. I have started listening to podcasts and audiobooks. Many of them have to do with true crime, but also with other topics. I also consider myself a Netflix addict and have watched too many programs about the same subjects.

I have found that I am particularly drawn to shows that involve radical religious sects, cults based on religions, or crimes that are somehow connected to religion. Obviously, the big subject for me is the cases of Pedophilia in the Catholic Church (one of the reasons I have pulled away from my diocese, which I will explain at another time). There is the case of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a sect that broke off from the main branch of the LDS in the 1930s. They have been the subject of several investigations of child abuse, rape, incest, etc. Several others have also been plagued with scandals. On the radical Christian side of things, there is the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), perhaps best known as the home of the infamous Duggar Family of “19 Kids and Counting” fame. At least one of the Duggars, Josh, is serving time for child abuse and pornography charges. Two of his victims are his sisters. I also believe that another brother has recently found himself in similar trouble. The IBLP has some pretty radical beliefs on child rearing and corporal punishment.

I am not going to spend this whole post outlining all the different sects, and I will use the term “sects” instead of “cults” since there is no clear definition of “cults.” Two of the more recognizable would be the Branch Davidians and David Koresh, and the People’s Temple with Jim Jones. There is one thing they all seem to have in common, which is the point of this post. They all have leaders who seem to interpret the Bible in their own unique way. Warren Jeffs of the FLDS claims he is a prophet and speaks directly to God, so did David Koresh and Jim Jones. Again, I may get into more details about these sects, their leaders, and their teachings at a later time. The point is they all read scripture and interpret it in their own way, believing God has told them how it should be taught. Of course, in many of the cases it involves child abuse and sexual rituals.

Here is one example of what has me concerned. In reading about the history of Mormonism (a rabbit hole if there ever was one), I found that there were 3,913 changes made to the Book of Mormon from its publication in 1830 until 1965, when this article came out (see link here). True, many of them are minor, such as replacing “were” with “was”. But there are some which do change the doctrine somewhat. This is not the place to dive into that, and this isn’t a critique of the Mormon church’s teachings, although reading its history is fascinating. (We’ll get more into this when we discuss the topic of prophets. I guess what I am saying is that Joseph Smith interpreted it one way, and successive leaders, such as Brigham Young, interpreted it another.

This is true throughout Christianity as well. How many different versions of the Bible are there? According to most counts, there are 450 of them. Why so many? The simplest explanation is that it all depends on who is doing the translating. Over the centuries, the English language has changed, our knowledge of ancient languages has improved, and some translators have different philosophies and purposes. And therein lies the problem. You can pick and choose the one you like the best and will best fit your needs. I am sure (although I have no intention of doing this) I could find someplace in scripture where, if translated in a certain way, it would tell me that God says it is okay for me to have a houseful of female sex slaves. (What would an old guy like me do with that?)

Is this, then, proof that we need an organized body to explain God’s Word to us? Even that will, in fact, be a problem. If we look back at the LDS church, how many splinter groups are there? Depending on who’s doing the counting, there are over 400 groups that have split since Joseph Smith died in 1844. It seems obvious that having an organized body to interpret the scriptures isn’t working. Why not? I’m sure there are many reasons, including one very obvious one to me. All these splinter groups, whether Mormons, Protestants, or Catholic are led by someone who considers themselves a prophet. They believe that God, or one of his angels, has spoken directly to them with a new interpretation of God’s teachings. Who is the referee?

Next: Prophets – Who Decides?