I downloaded the current version of Publication 78. Note that it contains a list of charitable organizations, not church denominations per se. If we're going to accept Pub 78 as "prima facie evidence of the disorganized state of confusion in the evangelical landscape", then we also must accept its "prima facie evidence" that there are at least 100 Catholic denominations within the United States. To quote bronx2's post #2565, how can so many divisions reflect the essence of His prayer? But truth be told, where did the number of 33,000 come from? It certainly wasn't from Publication 78.
The Perspicuity of Scripture and Other Creation Myths
Let's grant that Catholic apologist-types beat the 33,000 denominations drum too much and don't really pay attention to the commonalities that exist in much of Protestant theology. Let us also grant that Catholic apologist types often don't pay attention, in such polemics, to the divisions in our own house.Unsound Sticks, or, Arguments Catholics Shouldn't Use
1. Do not allege that there are 33,000 Protestant denominations. This tally comes from the 2001 World Christian Encyclopedia, and it includes all denominations and paradenominations which self-identify as Christian, including Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Old Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Gnostics, Bogomils, etc. And even so, the number is too high. The World Christian Encyclopedia artificially inflates the number of Catholic "denominations" by counting Eastern Churches in communion with Rome as separate denominations. It likewise inflates the number of Eastern Orthodox "denominations" by counting Churches in communion with each other as distinct....30,000 Protestant Denominations?....even if we could arrive at an accurate tally for Protestant denominations (20,000?), we still could not blame the whole of that number on Sola Scriptura. Some of these churches share substantial unity in faith, even if they are juridically independent (perhaps due to geography). And much of the disunity of faith within Protestantism, at least in the developed world, stems from efforts to subordinate the authority of Scripture (e.g., to various sexual perversions). In reality, if every Protestant denomination were serious and consistent in affirming and applying the rule of Sola Scriptura, the spectrum of Protestant belief would be significantly narrower. It bears emphasizing: the only thing for which we can directly blame Sola Scriptura is the extent to which it fails to provide unity in true faith and morals to those who sincerely adhere to it, e.g., "orthodox" Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, Anglicans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Campbellites, etc.
When this figure first surfaced among Roman Catholic apologists, it started at 20,000 Protestant denominations, grew to 23,000 Protestant denominations, then to 25,000 Protestant denominations. More recently, that figure has been inflated to 28,000, to over 32,000. These days, many Roman Catholic apologists feel content simply to calculate a daily rate of growth (based on their previous adherence to the original benchmark figure of 20,000) that they can then use as a basis for projecting just how many Protestant denominations there were, or will be, in any given year....See also The Facts and Stats on "33,000 Denominations"....If the Roman Catholic apologist wants instead to cite 8,196 idiosyncrasies within Protestantism, then he must be willing to compare that figure to at least 2,942 (perhaps upwards of 8,000 these days) idiosyncrasies within Roman Catholicism. In any case, he cannot compare the one ecclesial tradition of Roman Catholicism to 25,000, 8,196, or even twenty-one Protestant denominations; for Barrett places Roman Catholicism (as a single ecclesial tradition) on the same level as Protestantism (as a single ecclesial tradition)....
....In short, Roman Catholic apologists have hurriedly, carelesslyand, as a result, irresponsiblyglanced at Barretts work, found a large number (22,189), and arrived at all sorts of absurdities that Barrett never concluded. One can only hope that, upon reading this critique, Roman Catholic apologists will finally put this argument to bed. The more likely scenario, however, is that the death of this argument will come about only when Evangelicals consistently point out this errorand correct iteach time it is raised by a Roman Catholic apologist. Sooner or later they will grow weary of the embarrassment that accompanies citing erroneous figures in a public forum.
Since you are the self appointed Clif Claven of Free Republic why don't you explain the differences between a faction, a sect, an order and a denomination and whether or not this matches the codified definitions used by the IRS?
Have you obtained access to these documents also? If not you will be unable to make any informed judgments. In past posts I related about the F 990 and attendant documents which performed analysis of same.. Perhaps these salient facts were ignored for a reason?. Is there some sinister agenda breeding here.
Sorry, no self serving testimony allowed. You need to accept evidence which does not comport to your sense of objective reality. You can play fast and loose with individual interpretation of the Bible since all are allowed their opinion and can become a magisterium of one. but in this realm one is held to a higher standard ,one that you have not attained.
Asserting discrete entities do not equal denominations without providing rigorous probative evidence will not be accepted.
Why is it so difficult to accept that the reformation led to untold fractions within Christianity. Just open your eyes and see how many Mom and Pop store front churches there are in this nation.
It appears your current analysis of secular data parallels the individual interpretations of spiritual data namely the bible and so is it time for you to swim the Tiber or become atheists?