History of the Bible (caution: long)

Orate Fratres ^ | 1/10/2011 | Victor R. Claveau

[Theo]

I agree with you, Mark. There is one faith: faith in Christ. And there is one Church: those He’s adopted into His family.

[bronx2]

Your reasoning is deficient in that while different religious orders might well have a discrete EI number they are unified by a central authority much like each individual state in this country.

However, even if you combine each mainline protestant denomination and count say all Methodists as one, one still sees nearly 30,000 discrete entities who proclaim to be christian but who have no connection to any other christian entity.

Individual interpretation of scripture is what allows for the use of the 30,000 number and distinguishes these protestants from your example of religious orders. Furthermore, these orders have no theoretical authority to make dogma and must answer to a higher earthly authority. Thus, 30,000 has legitimacy

[markomalley]

Your reasoning is deficient

It's not MY reasoning. It is the reasoning employed by the people who came up with the 33,000 denomination figure for Protestants.

[markomalley]

I agree with you, Mark.

Thanks. Probably if I expressed it a bit differently, you might not, but, There is one faith: faith in Christ is the bottom line that we lose sight of all too often.

[Theo]

I’ve clicked through to the government’s online IRS Pub 78 website: http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/

Can you show me how to verify the “30,000 Protestant sects” assertion?

I’m not saying you’re lying, of course, since I wouldn’t want you to tattle on me again to the Religion Moderator. I’m just wanting to unearth the truth.

I do wonder why your style of communication seems so snappy, so nasty, to the point where you even snap at a fellow Roman Catholic when he points out the problems with that “30,000” figure.

[Theo]

OK, I’m searching through the IRS PUB 78 database, and am finding 1,352 Catholic groups in the USA alone:

http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/search.do?resultsPerPage=500&nameSearchTypeStarts=false&names=Catholic&nameSearchTypeAll=false&city=&state=All...&country=USA&deductibility=all&sortColumn=name&indexOfFirstRow=0&isDescending=false&dispatchMethod=search

I don’t understand how the IRS PUB 78 records even relate to our discussion here, to be honest.

[bronx2]

This thread relates to the categorical fact that the Church has been credited/criticized for formulating the present New Testament and Old Testaments. Objective historians would agree with this salient fact, some to blame the Church for choosing gospels which served its selfish interests while others dismiss reality and reside in a world of make believe.

To refute the article presented at the beginning of the thread purporting to support the contention of Catholic/Orthodox involvement in working with the Holy Spirit in this endeavor, you must offer objective empirical evidence to support your contentions.

The burden of proof rests with those who choose not to believe this article . Yet no objective evidence exists for refutation only self serving thoughts which have no probative value.

Pub 78 was introduced to support my informed contention that there are over 30,000 discrete protestant entities in this nation. The Pub should be used in conjunction with the yearly 990 filed by each entity to discern its independence. You and your new found buddy failed to grasp the significance of this fact. Thus, there was no meeting of the minds. His objection merely demonstrates his failure to comprehend my explanation.

Is it Christian to call me a liar or Satanic? Jesus would not approve of such behavior at least not in the Bible complied by the Church. God Bless

[Theo]

Just for anyone who might come along and read bronx2’s accusations against me, I want to make the following very clear:

1) his accusations against me are false and unsubstantiated (I’ve never called him “Satanic,” for example, though he accuses me of having done so)

2) he’s never acknowledged my specific arguments against the original post and his “30,000 discrete protestant entities” argument

I also encourage you not to spend time replying to him, as he does not engage in civil dialog. Look at the nasty tone he’s used against me (and others who challenge his positions) from the beginning.

Attempting dialog with him is a waste of your time; all heat and no light.