To begin with, it seems to me that Jesus was quite opposed to traditional Judaism, clearly one reason the crowds shouted 'Crucify him!" Like when he said that "the sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath'. The ecclesiastical establishment wasn't at all happy with such a defiant attitude. When I attend Mass I often am unimpressed. Things can seem so rote. This depends a lot upon the priest, frankly. So often it's just a liturgy unless the homily is lively, which often it is not. Frequently it sounds like the priest got his 3-minute message out of something pre-packaged. As you can see by now, I am torn when it comes to religious allegiance, though I don't really think church affiliation is all that important. The important thing was defined by Jesus - love God, love one another. That's how he answered the man who wanted to know how to inherit eternal life. Instead of going into doctrine to illustrate his point, he told the beautiful parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the hero was a 'heretic'. The Samaritans had interrmarried and followed a different faith.
Protestants in general have sought a spirit of unity. They established, along with the Eastern Orthodox, the World Council of Churches - and in the USA the National Council of Churches. There is considerable mutual respect among mainline Protestants. For many, many decades they had local ministerial councils, etc. - plus Church Women United. After Vatican II many priests and laity joined such local groups. That was a wonderful break-through. I love John XXIII.
What most mainline Protestants I know treasure especially (and what attracts me) may be summed up in the word 'freedom'. Perhaps influenced by democracy, they see nothing wrong with people disagreeing with one another on doctrinal matters. I, as an example, would never become a Quaker, but how I admire them! I even admire the Amish though I am not about to give up my car or TV. In other words, we can have mutual respect and healthy dialogue and not necessarily believe the same things. That's the attitude I find among many Protestants - and, by the way, increasingly among Catholics. It may be a rebellion against authoritarianism. I know that some of my relatives, ex-Catholics, like the slack their Protestant faith provides them when it comes to doctrine. They can chat about Mary, for example, and hold different opinions on, say, the Virgin Birth or her perpetual virginity or other children without rancor. They agree that 'proper doctrine' is not the key to eternal life. It's, as Jesus said, love of God and one another.
Yes, there are many Protestant denominations. Remember, of course, that there may be, for example, 150-200 or more Methodist denominations because in every country Methodism is - what is that word? - independent, autonomous. not under the control of any other Methodist unit in any other country. Still, there is a World Methodist Council which brings Methodists together every few years. Protestantism is complex, little understood by most Catholics - and Protestants, too. In places like Canada the Methodists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians merged into the United Church of Canada. Etc., etc. It would take a book to explain all this. Then there are groups that people assume are Protestant, but they are not. Mormons, for example. Mormons are about as Protestant as Muslims would be - a different prophet, different scriptures, and much more. Mormonism actually is organized more like Catholicism, with Salt Lake City its Rome and its president as its Pope. Yes, he has received revelations, too! Jehovah Witnesses would not properly be listed as Protestants, either. The main Protestant families are Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed (they include Presbyterians and United Church of Christ), Methodist, Pentecostalists, and 'radicals' - like Quakers. There are a host of smaller evangelical groups that may not fit into these larger families.
As for miracles, wow - do you know about the Pentecostalists, probably the fastest growing group of Christians in the world today, making huge headway in places like Brazil and Nigeria? They claim thousands of healings daily and all sorts of other miracles. I doubt these claims. I also doubt that St. Padre Pio was able to levitate and bilocate. Sorry.
I like the theme of John Wesley - 'think and let think'. He also said in effect: 'if your heart is right, if you love God as I love God, let us join hands and walk together'. I don't believe that doctrinal or liturgical lock-step uniformity is necessary in order to achieve a spirit of unity among Christians. I pray for the day when religion (of all kinds) will serve as a bridge rather than as a barrier. The present situation must make Christ weep. I suspect that he thinks: these are all my children, my brothers and sisters; why don't they accept their differences and move on in the spirit of reconciliation?
Lots more to say, but even this is too long. I worship at a variety of churches, acting out my view that we all are one in Christ.
God bless faithful people of every religion, color, and nation. We live in a vast and magnificent world, and for any of us to claim to understand it is to pretend to know what is beyond out finite minds. But that's okay. God is in charge and we can relax and put our trust in his divine, merciful and providential will.
