I have not listened to Mr. White’s webcast and so cannot and will not comment on it. Here is a link though to
another, written discussion of his concern about the claim of 33,000 Protestant denominations.
In this discussion, Mr. White does all that he can to drive down the number, but by his own count there still are thousands of Protestant denominations. It should be noted too that many groups, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, he dismisses from his total of Protestants simply on the basis that they do not adhere to his understanding of what constitutes “authentic” Protestantism.
What is left unaddressed is what should be the most significant point: Why are there so many Christian denominations in the first place – however many scores, hundreds, or thousands are granted for the sake of argument – the vast majority of which sprang from the Protestant Reformation and its doctrine of
sola scriptura? If the Bible alone is sufficient in and of itself, and without an authoritative teaching magisterium, to guide all Christians into “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (
Eph. 4:5) and without being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (
Eph. 4:14), then why has there been
any splintering among Christian denominations (again, however much splintering one is willing to concede)?
To anyone concerned about the unity for which our Lord prayed on the night before his passion, death, and resurrection (
John 17), it is unfathomable that one should nitpick over exact numbers rather than be concerned that division and disunity exist among Christians to begin with.
