MERGED: Where are these 40,000 plus Protestant denominations

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joe370 said:
Byzantine_Wolf could you send me the link that states that there are 242 Roman catholic denominations? Thanks Wolf! 🙂
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I was quoting the World Christian Encyclopedia 2001 publication, second edition. It’s the same one where the 33,000 number often gets taken. It likewise states there are over 700 Eastern Orthodox sects, which, again, most Orthodox would contest and which most rational minded Roman Catholics and Protestants would question as well.

Again, you can’t readily accept a number from a source while denying another.
 
John_Paul_Jones said:
There is One Church of Christ, Christians who claim to be a part of a “denomination” are still part of the Church of Christ (NB with a valid Baptism with the invocation of the Holy Trinity.) But the number of how many denominations should not be overlooked because it reveals the problem of disunity which is a problem of fully accepting the Faith.
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Are you claiming those who belong to the Catholic church have “actual unity” of belief…NO ONE believes differently than othe Catholics? Or are you asserting “unity” as members of a single ecclesiastical body…such as the Catholic church…determines “unity”…not necessarily “unity of belief”?

The denominational affiliation is the religious institution which the Church works through…there is as much “unity” of belief between Methodists, Episcopalians, Prebyterians in their various “denominations” as there is among Catholics in their particular “umbrella” organization.

Protestants believe in ONE CHURCH…it is Catholics that claim they don’t…not the Protestants…Protestants claim that even Catholics who live in Christ are members of His One Church.
Many of the denominational differences has to do with organizational procedures…certain doctrines “stressed” over others or mode of baptism…the "differences’ maybe as small as is baptism to be by pouring, sprinkling or immersion…most Protestant groups share communion with other denominations…their unity is based on their belief in Christ and His Work in their lives…not what bishop presides over a particular city.

Protestants…IMO…are as unified in belief as Catholics are…are you claiming all Catholics EVERYWHERE believe the exact same things? If they don’t…isn’t that “dis-unity” in a religious body that seeks “unity”?
 
GKC said:
Correct. As is noted in the quote from one of the encyclopedia’s editors, included in my 9:48 post, above.

GKC
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That is what I was thinking as well. The belief the RCC has denominations is beyond me.Sounds like a defense mechanism as a way of justifying the scores of different denominations.🤷
 
Byzantine_Wolf said:
I was quoting the World Christian Encyclopedia 2001 publication, second edition. It’s the same one where the 33,000 number often gets taken. It likewise states there are over 700 Eastern Orthodox sects, which, again, most Orthodox would contest and which most rational minded Roman Catholics and Protestants would question as well.

Again, you can’t readily accept a number from a source while denying another.
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According to the same Encyclopedia:

“However, since virtually all of these western and smaller eastern rites are in union with the Pope (I am not sure of some of them), **there is actually one Catholic Church, not 242 churches or denominations.” **
 
:love:Friends in Christ,

I had this discussion with some friends at church. There really aren’t 40,000 Protestant denominations. That’s misleading. What you have are many churches falling under the umbrella of about 12 movements. I am a convert to Roman Catholicism. Catholics, like Protestants must become educated on Christian history. We accomplish nothing by repeating stereotypes and half-truths about our separated brethren in Christ.
 
roveau said:
But this is my point. Can you name or locate those hundreds of ‘non-denominational bible churches’ that you know?
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If I really had to and wanted to waste the time to do so.
 
joe370 said:
According to the same Encyclopedia:

“However, since virtually all of these western and smaller eastern rites are in union with the Pope (I am not sure of some of them), **there is actually one Catholic Church, not 242 churches or denominations.” **
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Yes. Which is what I’ve been trying to get across, with dogged determination. But the encyclopedia treats each church, in a separate country, as a separate denomination.

GKC
 
roveau said:
As a Catholic I am bemused by the number of times I see this or even much higher figures than 40,000 denominations thrown in to bolster an argument about why sola scriptura is wrong. I think it unfair in debate if it can’t be substantiated.

I want to see a list of these 40,000 denominations. I personally know of perhaps 20 or 30.
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The link below is the most detailed list I have found. Look toward the bottom of the page. It breaks down by alphabetical order and it starts with “A”. If professes to have 43000+ entries.

adherents.com/
 
Nicea325 said:
That is what I was thinking as well. The belief the RCC has denominations is beyond me.Sounds like a defense mechanism as a way of justifying the scores of different denominations.🤷
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Perhaps. But not as far as the editors of that encylopedia are concerned. They treat all curches the same way. Every church, in a separate country, whether that church is Methodist, Assembly of God, or Roman Catholic, gets counted as a separate denomination, for each country it’s in. In 200 countries, counted as 200 denominations.

GKC
 
Like I’ve said before, come on CAF one day and a person claims there are 26,000 protestant groups, then the next day 44,000 then 32,000 then back to 28,000.

Looks more like a 401K than legitimate to me. Goofy that people care about the statistic anyway?
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
Like I’ve said before, come on CAF one day and a person claims there are 26,000 protestant groups, then the next day 44,000 then 32,000 then back to 28,000.

Looks more like a 401K than legitimate to me. Goofy that people care about the statistic anyway?
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If you are interested look at the link in post 48. There seems to be justification for the 44000 + number on this website.

But I do agree with you. In my opinion 2 are too many denominations for me. We have tore the Body of Christ into 1000s of pieces and we should be doing everything we can to bring about reconcillation. As Jesus prayed: “Let them be one as you (Father) and I are one.”
 
joe370 said:
According to the same Encyclopedia:

“However, since virtually all of these western and smaller eastern rites are in union with the Pope (I am not sure of some of them), **there is actually one Catholic Church, not 242 churches or denominations.” **
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See the previous discussion and the additional statement. Also, please cite which page that is said on. And if you’re going to say “The 242 denomination number is fudged,” or “The 242 denomination number does not reflect the actual number,” then you have to admit that the 33,000 number (or 40,000, whichever one a person is in the mood to use) is fudged or does not represent accurate numbers (especially since they consider groups like Mormons to be Protestants when they aren’t even considered real Christians). Otherwise, we would again be falling into double standards.
 
Being a Catholic I have thought about this whole argument and I don’t think that it is useful. My reason is that yes there are many Protestant denominations probably truly about 9000, which is enough in and of itself, but as Catholics we have many more effective arguments that refute Protestantism. Yes Protestants contain many differences with each other but so do Catholics. I think the argument is not a good one and really doesn’t prove that much other that people disagree alot. I think this subject should be put to bed.

Jack
Tietjen said:
Advent Christian Church
Adventists
African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Agapemone
Aglipayans
Amana Church Society
Amish Church
Anabaptists
Anglican Communion
Anglo-Catholic movement
Armenian Church
Arminianism
Assemblies of God
Baptists
Behmenites
Bereans
Beroeans
Bible Christians
Bible societies
Brethren in Christ
Brethren
Broad Church
Brotherhood of the New Life
Brownists
Burghers
Calixtines
Calvinism
Calvinistic Methodist Church
Camisards
Campbellites
Catholic Apostolic Church
Christadelphians
Christian Catholic Church
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Endeavor
Christian Reformed Church
Christian Science
Christian socialism
Christians
Church of Christ, Scientist
Church of England
Church of the Brethren
Church of the Nazarene
Churches of Christ
Churches of God, General Conference
Community of Christ
Confessing Church
Congregationalism
Covenanters
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Diggers
Disciples of Christ
dissenters
Doukhobors
Dukhobors
Dunkards
Dunkers
Dutch Reformed Church
England, Church of
Episcopal Church, Reformed
Episcopal Church
Ethical Culture movement
Evangelical Alliance
Evangelical and Reformed Church
Evangelical Church
Evangelical United Brethren Church
Familists
Fifth Monarchy Men
Foursquare Gospel, International Church of the
Free Church of Scotland
Freewill Baptist Church
Friends, Religious Society of
fundamentalism
German Baptist Brethren
German Catholics
German Reformed Church
Gideons
Glassites
Harmony Society
High Church
Huguenots
Hussites
Hutterian Brethren
Illuminati
Independents
Ireland, Church of
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Latter-day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of
Levelers
Lollardry
Low Church
Lutheranism
Mennonites
Methodism
Moral Re-Armament
Moravian Church
Mormons
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
New Church
New Jerusalem, Church of the
New Thought
nonconformists
Oxford Group
Oxford movement
Peculiar People
Pentecostalism
People’s Temple
Pietism
Plymouth Brethren
Presbyterianism
Protestant Episcopal Church
Protestantism
Puritanism
Quakers
quietism
Racovian Catechism
Ranters
Reformation
Reformed Church in America
Reformed Church in the United States
Reformed churches
Reformed Episcopal Church
Reformed Presbyterianism
Remonstrants
Renewed Church of the Brethren
River Brethren
Sabbatarians
Salvation Army
Scotland, Church of
Scotland, Free Church of
Second Adventists
separatists
Seventh-day Adventists
Seventh-Day Baptists
Shakers
Social Gospel
Socinianism
Solemn League and Covenant
South India, Church of
Southern Baptist Church
Taborites
Tractarian movement
Tunkers
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarianism
Unitas Fratrum
United Brethren in Christ
United Church of Canada
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church
United Presbyterian Church
United Zion Church
Unity
Universalist Church of America
Utraquists
Vaudois
Waldenses
World Council of Churches
Yorker Brethren
Zionites

This is a partial list… once you get past these, look at all the independant churchs, the non-demoninationals, etc. I don’t know that there is 40,000 but there are certainly thousands and growing.
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Also this list is a little misleading in that some differences are simply ethnic and in at least one case the same religion is named two times such as “Mormons and Latter days Saints.”" They are both the same exact religion by two different titles.

Jack
 
Byzantine_Wolf said:
That’s not how the source where this number stems from is reading it (see the conversation on the previous page, which explains it).

I think, unfortunately, what we’re seeing here is what I see when I discuss theology with Muslims: double standards. We take a source that gives a number for Protestants, and some Roman Catholics say, “Aha! Absolutely true!” Yet we go to that same source, done by the same people, and using the same standards get a number for Roman Catholicism and Roman Catholics say, “Oh, uh no wait, that’s totally different, that’s untrue.” You can’t handle facts that way.
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It has nothing to do with how the source defines anything. That’s irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, the very definition of what “Protestant” is makes the hundreds or possibly thousands of Protestant denominations actually exist as Protestant denominations. The very definition of what “Catholic” is makes the possibility of Catholic denominations a grand total of one.

And by “the very definition”, I’m using the definition that each describes themselves with. Who knows something better than itself?
 
I started 4 denominations just last week. We’re scheduled to have a couple schisms this weekend, and a “who is the True Church” fight in about 5 days. 😃
 
MarianD said:
It has nothing to do with how the source defines anything.
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It does when you use that source to prove your point.
Soldier_X said:
I started 4 denominations just last week. We’re scheduled to have a couple schisms this weekend, and a “who is the True Church” fight in about 5 days. 😃
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Jokes on you. I started 10 churches. All of them the true one. :cool:
 
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