Why do some Protestants refuse to tell what their denominations are?

[Wannano]

To me as a Catholic, I don’t really care what denomination a Protestant is. I only became aware that the Protestants had significant differences between their Protestant churches when I was in my early 20s and started meeting some Protestants for pretty much the first time. I grew up in a very Catholic area, and as an adult I actually met Jewish people, Muslims, Hindus and even a Sikh before I met a significant number of practicing Protestants. I probably met some non-practicing Protestants who had a general belief in God/ Jesus, but they didn’t attend church or seem to have much of a religious identity compared to the Catholics and Jewish people marching off to services and the Sikh going around in his turban.

I became aware of the differences between Protestants only as a side effect of the Protestants themselves being very aware and discussing them. For example, if I compared my husband’s Presbyterian family to the Anglicans (to me there was no difference because both sects came from UK and didn’t like us Catholics in the past), I would get this huge lecture on how Presbyterians are nothing like Anglicans, and Anglicans are “practically Catholics” (to which I strenuously objected since my grandfather would not even step foot in the National Cathedral of USA because he considered it “Anglican”). Even now we get discussions like the person on Calvinism thread wanting to explain to me how some Protestant sects that come from churches originally founded by Calvin aren’t “Calvinist” anymore. I guess if I were a student of religion, I might care, but honestly I don’t care about the 5000 little splinter groups Protestants have formed or what they believe, and I get the sense many Protestants don’t care either. They are like the people who are “spiritual but not religious” except that they find some church to go to services in, sometimes not even every week. Whatever.

Your experience growing up was so different than mine. I had virtually no interaction with Catholics until after college. My recollection of Catholics from my public school years is being told they considered themselves to be Christians which confused me because they were able to swear, smoke, drink and carouse at the dances and bush parties that I was not allowed to attend “because I was a Christian.”

For my clarification who are the “they” in your last sentence?

 

[Wannano]

JonNC:

With the new format, and when people do not share their communion membership, it makes dialogue difficult

Why would it make any difference? You are talking to a person not a group of people of similar belief structure who may or may not believe exactly the same thing. Just one person.

Even among Catholics, we have different have different interpretations and different preferences within worship.

That is exactly how I feel. I work closely in my work with Catholics and I know they vary greatly. Thank you for being so honest.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

For my clarification who are the “they” in your last sentence?

Protestants who do not strongly identify with a denomination. Such as, some of my relatives who were brought up strongly Baptist (one was a minister’s child) but now go to some other Protestant church of uncertain denomination because they like it better or don’t like the current Baptist preacher or something. When you cut yourself loose from a strong affiliation, to me you’re pretty much like people who go out and talk to God under the trees somewhere. You’re still talking to God, which is good, but you’re missing some form and structure that I think is necessary.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Your experience growing up was so different than mine. I had virtually no interaction with Catholics until after college. My recollection of Catholics from my public school years is being told they considered themselves to be Christians which confused me because they were able to swear, smoke, drink and carouse at the dances and bush parties that I was not allowed to attend “because I was a Christian.”

Yeah, I became aware as an adult that there were entire geographic areas where Catholics were very few and people were obsessed with the whole don’t drink/ don’t smoke/ don’t swear mentality. I visited some of those areas of the country to see friends or do work. It was weird. I couldn’t live there. I wouldn’t want to live there.

 

[ltwin]

Just so people know, you can still list your affiliation in your profile. This will allow people to see it when reading a thread. They just have to click on the circle beside your name. The little blurb about you that pops up will tell your religion if you’ve filled that part of your profile out.

 

[Wannano]

Wannano:

For my clarification who are the “they” in your last sentence?

Protestants who do not strongly identify with a denomination. Such as, some of my relatives who were brought up strongly Baptist (one was a minister’s child) but now go to some other Protestant church of uncertain denomination because they like it better or don’t like the current Baptist preacher or something. When you cut yourself loose from a strong affiliation, to me you’re pretty much like people who go out and talk to God under the trees somewhere. You’re still talking to God, which is good, but you’re missing some form and structure that I think is necessary.

Ok, I was hoping you did not mean all Protestants.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Ok, I was hoping you did not mean all Protestants.

My idea of an “ideal Protestant” is something like that Scots guy in “Chariots of Fire”, Eric Liddell. It’s pretty easy to see why he is a Protestant, and see him living his faith.
These are the types of Protestants I wish would bring their gifts back to the Church because I feel like they mostly got separated due to events long in the past before they were born, and for political reasons.

 

[Wannano]

Wannano:

Your experience growing up was so different than mine. I had virtually no interaction with Catholics until after college. My recollection of Catholics from my public school years is being told they considered themselves to be Christians which confused me because they were able to swear, smoke, drink and carouse at the dances and bush parties that I was not allowed to attend “because I was a Christian.”

Yeah, I became aware as an adult that there were entire geographic areas where Catholics were very few and people were obsessed with the whole don’t drink/ don’t smoke/ don’t swear mentality. I visited some of those areas of the country to see friends or do work. It was weird. I couldn’t live there. I wouldn’t want to live there.

I never meant that the whole geographical area was a “dont” area…you could live here! I was raised with some of the values I have seen Catholics raise here…“refrain from all appearance of evil”…“avoid the near occasion to sin”…

 

[Wannano]

From my experience, it’s because they don’t want to call themselves part of a denomination. They want Christendom to be united with no denominations. Sometimes they go so far as to say that all of Christendom is already united, usually by saying something like “I’m not a denomination, I’m a Christian.”

I think the current Catholic teaching says we are all united in Christ in that the CC is the means of salvation to all Christians including those who are not in full communion with the CC.

 

[omgriley]

I believe it’s insecurity. Many denominations are divided in and within themselves. I will talk to one Lutheran called confessional LCMS and they will believe something different than the ELCA which is more liberal.

This alone I think would lead to some type of proof that Sola Scriptura leads to division even within certain denominations.

I agree with this. They would much prefer to use the larger umbrella term of “Christian” because it shows some type of unity and they can avoid admitting their way of thinking has lead to the breakup of Christendom.

 

[exnihilo]

The reason I did/have not identified the denomination I belong to is for that very reason. I wanted to come here to learn about Catholicism without having to respond to everyone’s preconceived notion of what they think that denomination is or stands for. Just look at how Baptists have been pigeonholed here, when in fact there are completely different kinds of Baptists. For my self I can only say that my relationship with God makes me a Christian and my denomination is secondary and not that important.

From a Catholic perspective it can seem odd that different Baptists can have such divergent views. Protestantism is based on the idea that Scripture can be easily read and properly interpreted by anyone. So when a person presents some unifying identity but then has a fundamental disagreement with someone else using the same identity it seems strange, besides repudiating the foundational concept of the group.

I realize this concept is foreign to Catholics, where doctrinal purity is of upmost importance

This isn’t foreign. Doctrinal purity is required where there is dogmatic truth. But Catholics can and do disagree on non essential truths. A great example is an issue which has caused countless divisions in Protestantism, predestination.

She started going to a Baptist church. Oddly, she won’t refer to herself as Baptist, just that she goes to a Baptist church. I

It could be that Baptist, especially in the South, means Southern Baptist. And Southern Baptists have a reputation for conservative morals which, aside from their stance on alcohol, I largely agree with, but is increasingly rejected by the wider culture.

 

[exnihilo]

There are certain doctrines that almost every group who calls themselves “Christian” agree upon. There have also been doctrines that have been debated from the very beginning.

You wrote almost everyone. That isn’t everyone. So who is right? Who decides who is a Christian?

Interestingly, here in the USA at least, a sort of unwritten consensus has emerged among the majority of Evangelical denominations as to what is the essentials beliefs and what are secondary “debatable” beliefs. This is why you see a large degree of cooperation in ministry and evangelism among denominations, particularly at the local level. We recognize each other to be part of the universal church because of our shared beliefs.

I see this as a later stage development. In the early days Protestants were insistent that their particular set of beliefs were essential. As time went on and divisions multiplied it became necessary, for any sense of unity, to be less dogmatic about particular beliefs. Early Protestants didn’t disagree with the Catholic Church because she was dogmatic but because they said her dogmas were wrong.

 

[exnihilo]

Lack of church/state relationship and freedom to split/start new churches for any reason whatsoever is what caused the explosion of denominations.

Lack of authority is what caused it whether that authority is religious or secular.

 

[twf]

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Bible Shack has great theology.

 

[Augustinian]

Yeah, I became aware as an adult that there were entire geographic areas where Catholics were very few and people were obsessed with the whole don’t drink/ don’t smoke/ don’t swear mentality. I visited some of those areas of the country to see friends or do work. It was weird. I couldn’t live there.

I never wanted to live anywhere but Pittsburgh anyhow- this area is a majority Catholic but protestants and orthodox are not unknown. Most of the Baptists were African American, I didn’t realize that there were significant numbers of white Baptists until I was 20 and Carter ran for president

 

[FollowChrist34]

Even among Catholics, we have different interpretations and different preferences within worship.

This is very true and almost always overlooked/downplayed by Catholics. The reality is that such a small percentage of Catholics actually regularly attend services and accept the traditions and teachings of the Church. Even that small percentage of those who attend Mass are pretty divided between those who accept the teachings and those who don’t, or accept some but not all. We claim a unity but don’t really have it.

And, then, from this vantage point, we attack the Protestants and all their denominations. For not identifying as a particular denomination with an established set of teachings.

 

[rfournier103]

I think it should be a requirement of membership here that one’s religious affiliation be in their profile and visible on every post they make.

Some Protestant/Reformed websites REQUIRE that you post what church/congregation you belong to as a condition of membership (although Catholics such as myself are banned from membership because of our heretical beliefs).

In MY opinion… if I’m going to discuss religion with someone, I like knowing who I’m talking to and where THEY’RE coming from. If someone doesn’t have a religion, put “none” in the box. I’m very open about being Catholic. I’m not ashamed of it, I don’t hide it, and I don’t shy away from non-Catholics because of it. In the REAL world (away from the interwebs), I never get into debates with Protestants. Ever. Where I live in New England, the biggest challenges to faithful Catholics come from secular “nones” and “former” Catholics. They hate the Catholic Church more than the most fiery Protestant minister.

I digress.

If you’re Baptist, tell the world and be proud. The same goes for Evangelical non-denominationals, Pentecostals, Methodists, etc. People from all religions are allowed to join here. No need to hide who you are.

 

[TC3033]

Sorry, not even close…as a non-denom, where I’m at and how I’m raised we’re no where close to Pentecostal.

As an aside, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of an issue where an individual doesn’t identify themself. I’ve identified myself as non-denom every time I’ve been asked how I identify myself

 

[MaryT777]

I wasn’t speaking of this forum, and yes the Lutherans on this forum have always been up rup front out their affiliation… I am speaking generally in the every day world. I know confessional LCMS Lutherans and several ELCA Lutherans. I’m amazed at the differences between the two synods both under the denomination of Lutheran.

 

[2towers]

I had a co-worker one time who just refused to say anything other than he was a Christian. He was a very nice non-judgmental guy, and his wife was the very same way. This was during the late 80s and their Church was one that seem to focus on young people. If my co-worker was any judge, it was a wonderful ministry. I think they wanted to avoid denominational labels, so they would not feel forced to conform to other dogmas that did not fit their personal focus.

I have seen a few others like this. There are many of these independent congregations around that are probably very uplifting and good. But I also have to add the the basic Protestant frame work just does not work for me, OSAS and things like that. But it goes without saying there are many good and positive Protestant Churches out there who are very worthwhile for those who are drawn to them.