do you have to be Catholic to get into Heaven??

[emseguin]

Dear ronin,

You are correct, but the action is the result of accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior. Our actions are dictated from our core (The Holy Bible). I agree with you 100%. I am sick of the “I accept Christ as my Lord and Savior”, but don’t bother me to help out at the homeless soup kitchen to feed the poor and homeless. Oh, and don’t expect me to share the Gospel with other people (If they aren’t Catholic already, they’re lost). Yeah, I know exactly where you are coming from. Actions are required, but actions alone don’t= Salvation. Remember our good works are like filthy rags before the Lord our God. Without Christ as our savior, the actions are all for nothing.

You are correct, but the action is the result of accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior. Our actions are dictated from our core (The Holy Bible).

Yes ronin, I dont think any of the saints did all that they did , which you skipped over by the way, why is that?, without accepting Christ for who he was.
Please explain to me how saying and believing that Christ is my Lord and Saviour is enough? OBVIOUSLY there needs to be faith, Protestants are SO repetitive, but please explain to me, why all the Saints did what they did, on top of their faith - BECAUSE of their faith, for Christ?

Please answer.

Faith and action…
Sacraments, penance, mortification, sacrifices, these all make us more and more into the person God created us to me. We are full, FULL of sin, accepting and preaching the Gospel is not enough. It doesnt make sense.
If someone truly loved someone, neyond all measure and explaination, I think they would go to as far lengths as they could to show it and prove it - ie) The saints, who we are strive to imitate everyday (I do anyway)
I do not think that St Anthony of Egypt flew to the dessert for the rest of his life to practice mortifications and penance and preach to whoever was there, with his interpretations of the Bible and proclaiming Christ as his Saviour.
he could do that from his room, like many Protestants.

Please answer my above questions.

Peace of Christ

 

[fhansen]

Martin Luther questioned the actions of the Catholic Church, they refused to answer (pride thinking they are doing right all the time and never wrong), thus the lack of response caused the reformation and now we have the Protestant church (thanks to the Catholic Church). So, these 40,000+ Protestant denominations are all from the lack of response from the Catholic Church. The true church created us, so therefore we are a creation of the true church, thus we are part of the true church.

A lessen to be learned from the Reformation is that hypocrisy is an all-too-easy-to-acquire human trait. In fact it’s one we’re all guaranteed at least some share in, due to the fall. But the Church should be held to a higher account and she was definitely responsible for not reigning in abuses during Luther’s time-as she has been in recent times for other reasons as well. But this merely means that she hasn’t always learned from-or heeded-her own gospel so well-not that her gospel message itself is in error.

And to imply that human rebellion from the other side (pride on the Reformer’s and their follower’s part) had nothing to do with the Reformation is to misinterpret the event. The Reformers ended up throwing the baby out with the bath water. So now the CC considers Protestants to be “separated brethern”: Christians, but imperfectly united to the true Church (and true doctrine) from which they separated. The CC is in continuous need of reform and renewal, like us all-because we’re her Body.

 

[2nd_Adam]

**Do you have to be Catholic to get into Heaven?? **

According to Jesus, the answer is no… Listen to the Word of Jesus as His requirment to be able to even see the kingdom of God before entering Heaven. You must be able to see the kingdom of God before entering it.

You Must Be Born Again

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, **“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” **Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life

After you read the words of Jesus, how can you proclaim that you must be Catholic to enter Heaven?

 

[emseguin]

2ndAdam,

I do not think those full of sin, who proclaim they believe in Jesus Christ, will get into Heaven. Heaven is for the pure and I do not think your interpretation of the Bible is infallible nor correct.
The Bible cannot talk back and so cannot be The Source.

1. Jesus says believe and be baptized you will be saved (Mk. 16:16). YOU say the baptism part is not necessary.
2. Jesus says one must be born of water and Spirit (Jn. 3:5). YOU say the water part is not necessary.
3. *Jesus says, 'because you have fed me, you can inherit the kingdom of heaven’ (Mt. 25:34). *YOU say because you believed in me alone is the way you are saved.
4. *Jesus says to the apostles that He will forgive sins if they forgive sins, (Jn. 20:23). *YOU say that no mediators are necessary, and no man can forgive sins.
5. *Jesus says My flesh is true food, and My Blood is true drink (Jn. 6:54). *You give your own interpretations saying He didnt mean that literally - oh He didnt? Did Christ reveal that to you?
6. *Jesus says that in order for those who have already been justified to be saved, they must repent of their lack of good works or else their lampstand would be removed (Rev. 2:3-6, and thus lose their salvation), *YOU say good works can never be the grounds of justification.
7. Jesus says that those who do good will get rewarded with the resurrection of life (Jn. 5:28-29), those who do bad will get the resurrection of judgment. YOU say that those who do bad (that would include us, as after all, all our works are filthy rags) get the resurrection of life.

Thus, YOU are trying to say that you abide by Jesus‘ teachings, yet seem to reject quite a few things that Jesus says on the issue of salvation

Those who seek other mediators and other sources for truth should heed the warning of John: “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teachings of Christ does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).

I dont think Jesus said "2ndAdam or Martin Luther, here are the keys, and upon this rock I will build my Church.

Peace of Christ!
JMJ

 

[BobZ]

As a previous responder said. “… when I see Jesus it will be so wonderous I won’t care who was right and who was wrong. That will be a glorious day.”

Amen !! Please pray that this is the end of this CA Forum thread.
.
.
.

Let’s just follow His Truth to heaven by whatever means He leads us: via the CC or by some other path.

Let’s just Trust in Him, that He knows the way regardless of where we are coming from.

Let’s follow our path with
open eyes to SEE His living message (not buried in scripture to prove a verse),
an open heart to LOVE His people (not deciding who get His love or who doesn’t),
and open arms to WELCOME His people (not shouting or putting them down).

Let’s “read between the lines of scripture” and HEAR God’s message for ME.
Just for ME, NOT telling each other what THEY have to DO to be saved.
It’s what I have to DO.

Sure, we can point out the Truth in the CC and the Bible and whatever of Christ’s Truths we find in other religions too. But, concentrate on what is GOOD in another’s belief FIRST. Find COMMON GROUND before we risk losing our Firm Foundation too.

Let’s not use our Faith, our Bible, and our knowledge as a CLUB.
That doesn’t seem like the GOOD NEWS: believe it or DIE (spiritually, that is) ??

Reading this lengthy debate over words while missing the ONE True Word convinces me of one good reason why JESUS NEVER WROTE A BOOK. We would find a way to use that as a BIGGER weapon against each other. I think that He wants us to follow Him in Flesh and Blood by respecting those around us in flesh and blood. He uses US to spread His Word just like the Apostles: by doing good works and giving good example.

Can we “put down” the Bible as a weapon to punish other Christians and just do what we hear the Lord saying to us. Sure we need guidance too, but not coercion. Let our Catechism be its own champion. Invite others to read it, consider it and even meditate on it BEFORE they throw it out the window. If they truly are “seeking the Truth” few will discard it. If they do. They’ll find it again. They’ll see the Wisdom of Christ in its 2000 year old pages.

As for the past inhumanities of members of one religion against another ???

Let’s just BURY the past sins of our fathers in faith (both in the CC and outside) and remember the simple words of our One Father, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I Am well pleased.”

Let’s NOT FORGET the past, but learn from it: religious debates seldom SOLVE problems, they often CREATE them. You know the history. Martin Luther NEVER wanted to start a new church, just reform the old one. But we are still separated and fighting about it over 500 years later. Even AFTER the Counter-Reformation corrected many of the abuses that Fr Martin complained about.

It EASY to debate scripture and if you study long enough you can always find a reason why YOU are RIGHT and everyone else is WRONG. And, you can even sound smart doing it.

I know it’s not sexy, or intelligent sounding, or impressive, or awe inspiring; but DOING His Word is far more important than KNOWING or SPEAKING His Word. By the way, it also HARDER.

As an older catechism paraphrased might simply put it: “May we come to know, love, and SERVE Him in this world; and thus be HAPPY with Him forever, in the next.” I need to remember this more than most.

God Bless, BobZ.

 

[2nd_Adam]

2ndAdam,

I do not think those full of sin, who proclaim they believe in Jesus Christ, will get into Heaven. Heaven is for the pure and I do not think your interpretation of the Bible is infallible nor correct.
The Bible cannot talk back and so cannot be The Source.

1. Jesus says believe and be baptized you will be saved (Mk. 16:16). YOU say the baptism part is not necessary.
2. Jesus says one must be born of water and Spirit (Jn. 3:5). YOU say the water part is not necessary.
3. *Jesus says, 'because you have fed me, you can inherit the kingdom of heaven’ (Mt. 25:34). *YOU say because you believed in me alone is the way you are saved.
4. *Jesus says to the apostles that He will forgive sins if they forgive sins, (Jn. 20:23). *YOU say that no mediators are necessary, and no man can forgive sins.
5. *Jesus says My flesh is true food, and My Blood is true

drink (Jn. 6:54). *You give your own interpretations saying He didnt mean that literally - oh He didnt? Did Christ reveal that to you?
6. *Jesus says that in order for those who have already been justified to be saved, they must repent of their lack of good works or else their lampstand would be removed (Rev. 2:3-6, and thus lose their salvation), *YOU say good works can never be the grounds of justification.
7. Jesus says that those who do good will get rewarded with the resurrection of life (Jn. 5:28-29), those who do bad will get the resurrection of judgment. YOU say that those who do bad (that would include us, as after all, all our works are filthy rags) get the resurrection of life.

Thus, YOU are trying to say that you abide by Jesus‘ teachings, yet seem to reject quite a few things that Jesus says on the issue of salvation

Those who seek other mediators and other sources for truth should heed the warning of John: “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teachings of Christ does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).

I dont think Jesus said "2ndAdam or Martin Luther, here are the keys, and upon this rock I will build my Church.

Peace of Christ!
JMJ

I think you have misrepresented my beliefs (unintentionally). Before you post something that you think I have stated, it’s good to reference the post in where you think I said something.

I too believe in One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church - 2nd Adam

reformed.org/documents/index.html

The Apostles’ Creed
(as usually recited today)

The basic creed of Reformed churches, as most familiarly known, is called the Apostles’ Creed. It has received this title because of its great antiquity; it dates from very early times in the Church, a half century or so from the last writings of the New Testament.

---

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell. [See Calvin]

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

reformed.org/documents/index.html

Calvin on descending into Hell above (click link to Apostles Creed, and link to Calvin)

 

[emseguin]

2ndAdam,

I think you have misrepresented my beliefs (unintentionally). Before you post something that you think I have stated, it’s good to reference the post in where you think I said something.

Please respond to that which was misinterpreted. I interpreted it that way, and if you could please confirm that would be great! And helpful!
Thanks

JMJ

 

[2nd_Adam]

2ndAdam,

Please respond to that which was misinterpreted. I interpreted it that way, and if you could please confirm that would be great! And helpful!
Thanks

JMJ

I don’t have the time this morning. I think my general beliefs are found on various threads on Catholic Answer.

 

[Hisalone]

Dear Hisalone

Those Catholics that leave the Catholic Church, and all the 40000+ Protestants divided FROM EACHOTHER, let alone Catholics, are responsible themselves, as they choose to run because they cannot accept the "tough love"teachings of the Catholic Church.

Many have left because the Catholic Church failed to meet that inner most need in mens souls to be filled with God Himself. Your theology does not permit you to belive that there is a lack in the Catholic Church. Some of us know better so can see past the “The Catholic Church is the One True Church” and have a fuller understanding of the nature of Church.

Like I keep saying, praying in your room, and accepting the Christ as Lord and Saviour, while starting my own Church with the minister I want and the music I want to preach about my interpretations of the Bible, well, come on, it sounds like a ‘Convenience Store’ - can I also pick up some milk and cookies there too? Maybe a Marty Haugen song to go with it?
**
Christ is the same today as He was yesterday and teaches guides and transforms those that put their trust in Him. Christ is a reality that all can come to know and to let Him lead them. It is sad to me that you dont know this process and instead would rather condemn those that know Christ.**

The word of God IS the Catholic Church, the Truth is the Catholic Church, it is all the same Catholic Church, that does not divide, the PEOPLE divide.
**
The word of God is Christ, and His written word. The Catholic Church has been divisive in that it has demanded that it subjecty all to it. **

Peace of Christ, keep searching and asking questions

JMJ

 

[emseguin]

Dear 2nd Adam,

I will pray for you, as I cannot understand what you state, passages and words that do not answer our questions or speak from an infallible source but your own or Luther or whoever of the other 40000+. Luther was not one of the 12 Apostles, he was not St. Peter, none of us have spent time with Christ, the Apostles did, St. Peter did, and upon that rock, Jesus built His Church. Not upon 40000+ interpretations and Luther.

The be all and end all of salvation is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
It just occured to me that my love and devotion to Christ, His Church, and my relationship with him, is not to prove someone wrong who only quotes the Bible and interprets himself, who is missing the fullness of Truth and Love, that is Him in the Eucharist, that is his Life, Death, and Ressurection in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

The Mass, praise God, is the be all and end all, it is Him, it is His Church, it is Catholic, and it is Love. We have this, I pray more and more will have this, truly have this, and know what this is.
Mass that is truly for the glory of God primarily (and offered unapologetically I might add) as well as for the holiness and salvation of the faithful. Every aspect of the sacrifice, the
majesty, power, and love of God as well as the beauty and perfection of the Blessed Trinity and how in need we are of his grace and act of redemption, I am so unworthy of such a grace to be a part of the Mass. Thank you Christ, for leaving us this grace, this gift, this Calvary on earth.

May the peace of Christ be with you, and keep searching!
God bless

JMJ

 

[emseguin]

Dear all Protestants,

I will last leave you with a wonderful and loving apologist named Robert Sungenis.
you may find him at catholicintl.com/
You may also find many of his debates with fellow Protestant Apologists on you tube!
Check them out! They are great for all those that only quote Scripture, and Scripture is their only source.

God bless and keep searching and asking questions!

Peace of Christ.

JMJ

 

[emseguin]

An great read!

catholicintl.com/articles/James_White_on_Purgatory_and_SS.pdf

give it a read!
JMJ

 

[2nd_Adam]

2ndAdam,

Please respond to that which was misinterpreted. I interpreted it that way, and if you could please confirm that would be great! And helpful!
Thanks

JMJ

Dear JMJ,

Here is what I basically believe. You will find numerous Protestant apologists on this site and numerous great read about the Christian Faith.

monergism.com/

I would start with the link of “what is the gospel”.

monergism.com/directory/link_category/Gospel/

:juggle::coffeeread::hammering:

 

[guanophore]

The average protestant? I can asure you that the average protestant 9 times out of 10 will have a better working knowledge of the overall message of the bible when it comes to salvation through Christ by the Grace of God, then the average Catholic.

This is true, but that is not the point PR is making. He is saying that they don’t grasp the kerygma as the Apostles believed and taught it.

The “overall message of the bible” in this context is a misleading term. Jesus did not commit His gospel to writing, but to people. It is from those people that we are to receive the “overall message”. Scripture, as it testifies of itself, is profitable in this teaching.

I carry a bible when I go to church and to mass (Catholics look at me funny when I do this). What is truth??? This is the big reason I’m going to be a Catholic, got to get them in the bible so they not only hear the words at mass, but know them when they are spoken.

Such a gift and love of Scripture is very needed among Catholics. I know when I was brought up in the Catholic faith, I never cracked a bible. Baptists taught me how to read it.

Also, I will still maintain my memberships in my Baptist church and Lutheran church. To understand the Catholic experience, you have to live it, so that is what I’m going to do. So when a Catholic starts saying I don’t understand the Catholic view, I can guide him in the right direction of knowledge that I know from the Catholic experience. Lead by example. Jesus is the greatest example of this. A man or woman with the knowledge of the truth of Christ is armed with all they will ever need.

While I can support your goal, I think your methods may need some revision.

 

[guanophore]

 Styles are very different, but if the truth of Biblical Scripture is being taught, who cares about the man made formal proceding differences?  The whole thing reminds me of that Dr. Suess story about the star belly sneetches thinking they where better then the plain belly sneetchs.

Indeed it does! I was just talking to someone about those sneetches the other day! You cite the basis of the problem here, when you say “the truth of Biblical Scripture is being taught”. This is really one of the biggest roots of our division. The authority for teaching was committed to persons, not to books. The books are useful (profitable) in the role of teaching, but the Source is Christ. What happened during the reformation is that men tried to replace the appointed teachers with the book, when in fact, the book was never intended to function that way.

Why do denominations exist? Well, the bottom line is corruption and man made doctrine that started to take precidence of scriptural truth.

I agree with you, but the distinction needs to be made that the corrupt behavior of the clerics was not “doctrine”. What they taught was their own corruptions, and not the doctrine of the faith committed to the Church. The mistake made by the Reformers was that they thought it necessary to reform the doctrine, when it was men that needed reforming. In changing the doctrine, they departed from the Apostolic faith.

I had one person on this group say it was due to the protestants that division exists and they should repent, swallow their pride, and return to the Catholic church. Yes, this is true, however why did Martin Luther do it? Because he had nothing better to do? He saw the corruption that man’s pride can do and he asked question that those in charge refused to answer (so was the division the result of the Catholic church itself?).

One must distinguish between the Catholic Church, which is infallible, from the sinful and corrupt persons who have betrayed that faith.

Martin Luther himself didn’t want to break away from the Catholic Church. Man’s pride and greed caused the reformation.

Indeed, along with some copious assistance from the Father of Lies, who delights in separation and division. The fruit of his work can be clearly seen today in the continual and vast splintering among Christians.

 

[PRmerger]

Ed, could you please respond to posts in the usual manner, for when you text inside a quote, it does not appear in the response post.

I agree with this! But what of Mary having children after Christ? True or False per the scripture??

Mary did not have children after Christ. Her womb contained the Divine Word made Flesh–it would be unseemly to have it bear anything else. That would be like putting pretty rocks in the Ark of the Covenant after it contained the Word.

BTW, Do you think Michal, cited in 2 Samuel, had children after she died, Ed? For Scripture says that Michal had no chidlren “**until **the day of her death”.

See this thread for discussion on the use of the word “until” as it relates to Mary’s perpetual virginity.

No salvation without Baptism? I thought the act of salvation was accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior? What if for ever reason you can’t get Baptized? You are damned to hell? Show me where it says that in Scripture please?

Q.E.D., Ed. You read the same Scriptures yet come up with a totally different interpretation. If you believe everyone’s entitled to read and interpret Scripture for himself, why can’t Catholics believe what we believe?

the denominations that still preach that it is immoral to divorce and re-marry—linked to us!

Agree 100%

Great. Will your pastor refuse to marry someone who’s been divorced?

Perhaps
No perhaps about it.

Fair enough.

That is the funniest thing I ever heard. Did someone try to tell him that what he thought was not Biblical? I noticed that alot of Catholics don’t like to correct people when it is stated in scripture to assist a fellow brother or sister in Christ when they go astray (or make an attempt).

Of course he provided Scripture verses to support his view. That’s exactly my point, Ed.

I also notice that a lot of non-Catholics don’t like to correct people, either, especially as it pertains to divorce and re-marriage. People seem to get prickly about that issue in particular. I’ve never heard a non-Catholic Christian refer someone who’s divorced and remarried to Jesus very plain words about it.

Agreed. However, don’t roll up all Protestant denomination in the “Enroute to hell” catagory.

I believe I stated that there’s probably quite a few atheists, protestants, Muslims in heaven and not a few priests burning in hell, so I defintely don’t roll up all Protestant denominations in the “en route to hell” category.

However, I’m sure you agree that Satan is quite content with this 40,000+ denominations that have arisen because each person thinks “the Bible says _____”

They listen to the priest and when mass is over they go home and don’t even crack open a Bible.

Well, the Mass is FULL of Scripture, so if they go to Mass even once a week they’re being immersed/bathed/plunged/ in Scripture.

 

[PRmerger]

The word of God is truth. Not the Catholic Church.

What is sad is that Catholics dont see their responsibility for church division.

Glad you’re back Hisalone!

Question: what is it that you think the CC teaches about the New Covenant?
I posted that we believe it’s the marital relationship between God and His people, in which our sublime consummation of our ONENESS with Christ is made manifest in the Eucharist.

And you claimed not.

So what do we actually teach?

 

[PRmerger]

And to the degree that we judge other people’s comittment to God and the road they take is the degree that we will be judged:thumbsup:

How does one judge other’s commitment to God?

What would that look like to you?

And, would that be judging someone else if you thought that?

 

[PRmerger]

eading this lengthy debate over words while missing the ONE True Word convinces me of one good reason why JESUS NEVER WROTE A BOOK. We would find a way to use that as a BIGGER weapon against each other. I think that He wants us to follow Him in Flesh and Blood by respecting those around us in flesh and blood. He uses US to spread His Word just like the Apostles: by doing good works and giving good example.

No disagreement with most of what you wrote, Bob.

Except to say that these discussions in the CAFS–sometimes about minutiae, sometimes about HUGE theological issues–are important indeed. We are called to love God with our entire heart, mind, soul and strength. I see these forums as helping us with the MIND part, helping us to understand and think about and love God and His Church, His Word.

**There is absolutely nothing wrong with having dialogues, debates, discussions about salvation, Scripture verses, end times, sacraments, moral theology, etc etc etc. In fact, it is good and we’re called to do this. **

 

[Janet1983]

Who guides your 30000+ churches?
What is the foundation built on? I mean truly built on? Faith in Christ? Well why are there 30000? Cant you have one with the faith in it fine?

How do you get these 30000?
Did you know that this is way too detailed?
Did you know that the same people who stratify the Protestant churches that detailed also go ahead and talk about over 200 Catholic denominations?
And even if you do not stratify all that far you’ll still find quite a few Catholic denominations among all denominations…

"When first published over 25 years ago, Barrett identified seven major ecclesiastical “blocs” into which 22,189 different denominations belonged (with the number growing exponentially each year). That is, he identified the 7 “blocs” as follows:

1. Roman Catholicism - 223 denominations
2. Protestant - 8,196 denominations
3. Orthodox - 580 denominations
4. Non-White Indigenous - 10,956
5. Anglican - 240
6. Marginal Protestant (of which includes Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, New Age Groups, and all cults) - 1,490
7. Catholic (Non-Roman) - 504" (SOURCE)

According to Barrett, a “distinct denomination” is ANY division, including style of music, location of church, and other things that really are NOT divisions associated with the standard “denomination”.
That’s how this very large number comes into being…
If you go ahead and put this kind of distinction on the Protestants you’ll end up with the CC not being one either…
This page got more information on “Table 1-3 Organized Christianity: Global totals in 1995 AD” (you’ll need to scroll down) with the following Source: David A. Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2001, p 12
Here is what the table tells us:

• Megabloc: Roman Catholic
  Denominations in 1995: 239
  Countries: 234
• Megabloc: Orthodox
  Denominations in 1995: 764
  Countries: 133
• Megabloc: Protestant
  Denominations in 1995: 8848
  Countries: 231
• Megabloc: Anglicans
  Denominations in 1995: 168
  Countries: 162
• Megabloc: Marginal
  Denominations in 1995: 1,488
  Countries: 215
• Megabloc: Independent
  Denominations in 1995: 21,582
  Countries: 220
• TOTAL
  Denominations in 1995: 33,089
  Countries: 237

As this is from the same source and the way the over 30000 denominations are stratified I can only say one thing: Those who say that there are over 30,000 denominations have to know that over 200 of these “denominations” are Catholic ones and that the criteria used are far too detailed. These numbers are not found using criteria that distinguish denominations…