Posted on 10/11/2014 8:36:27 AM PDT by Gamecock
Question: If one thing is clear, it's that there is one, single, visible Church that Jesus founded. This multitude of competing, conflicting denominations is no sign of God's work; therefore, it must be the work of the Evil One. Somewhere in the midst of these 30,000 denominations, there is one true church, and the rest are in sin and rebellion.
Answer: The "thousands-of-denominations" argument is very often employed to prove all sorts of things. Here are some citations from letters received from other Catholics:
How can all these denominations claim to follow the Bible yet all come to different conclusions? How can I possibly know which one of those above teach the truth when they can't even agree on what the Bible says? The Bible alone has created so much havoc in this world.
If there is only one Church, why are there so many Protestant denominations? Possibly many thousands throughout the world, as compared to only one Catholic Church? I do see it as a sign of God's judgment that there are close to 30,000 Protestant denominations.
The Bible alone can be dangerous. In fact, the Bible alone IS dangerous. Look at Protestantism: 100,000 different interpretation of the Bible, 100,000 contradictions, 100,000 different denominations claiming to have the key.
Peter said that no prophecy of the Scripture is for private interpretation. This is why you have 30,000 different Protestant denominations that all believe differently from one another. This alone should give you a clue that Protestantism is not the true Church of Jesus Christ.
So, the existence of many Protestant denominations supposedly proves that the Sola Scriptura is dangerous, that we should not try to understand the Bible for ourselves, that the church of Rome is the one true church, and of course, all the other churches are false.
Elsewhere I have written on the significance of the heterogeneity among Christians. (See That They May Be One and Disagreement among Protestants). Here I simply want to make one important addition, namely, that the allegation so often repeated by Catholic apologists that there are 20,000 to 30,000 Protestant denominations is simply FALSE . . . not to mention the double standard employed, for the Roman Church is not exactly united. There are untold factions and divisions, and diverse understanding of doctrine within Catholic groups and by different Catholic theologians and individuals.
In an article entitled "30,000 Protestant Denominations?", Evangelical apologist Eric Svendsen exposes the falsehood of this fabrication. Briefly:
Svendsen shows that the source of this figure is the World Christian Encyclopedia (David A. Barrett; Oxford University Press, 1982).
Barrett cites a figure of 20,780 denominations. However not all of them are Protestants. According to Barrett, Protestants account for 8,196 (and incidentally, Roman Catholics account for 223).
However, even this figure of eight thousand Protestant denominations is misleading, for Barrett defines "distinct denominations" as any group that might have a slightly different emphasis than another group. The distinction is made on the basis of jurisdiction, rather than differing beliefs and practices.
Barrett breaks down the Protestant bloc into twenty-one major "traditions" which are much closer to what we usually mean by the word "denominations." It is interesting that Roman Catholics are subdivided into sixteen such "traditions."
Svendsen concludes, "In short, Roman Catholic apologists have hurriedly, carelessly - and, as a result, irresponsibly - glanced at Barrett's work, found a large number (22,189), and arrived at all sorts of absurdities that Barrett never concluded."
You’re silly. You think God frowns on Billy Graham?
You’re reminding me of one of these .....
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
I do believe what you said came from a sincere heart. I’ll likewise try to give a sincere answer.
Standing between us and the original church of the New Testament, is the ecclesiastical institution that ruled for a thousand years during the middle ages, the RCC.
The $64,000 question is: is it what it claims to be, the historical continuation back to the original church of the New Testament?
A simple reading of what we see in the New Testament over against an “ecclesiastical institution that ruled for a thousand years during the middle ages” simply does not compute.
Once the Bible became available to the common man, the jig was up for the Papacy. The trappings of Romanism, the Mariolatry, other forms of paganism, and so on, is simply not in the Bible. The whole of Protestantism, therefore, has been a major “back to the Bible” effort.
Romanists point out the various denominations within Protestants, they never stop to consider that if it weren’t for the gigantic obstruction standing between us and the original church, there wouldn’t be all these. If the RCC was what they claim, there wouldn’t be all these, neither would we have all these combative threads on FR.
The RCC is the problem, not Protestants.
It is all about faith, my friend. Christianity is all about believing “the right stuff.” You are not a Christian if you don’t. And the only way we know what is the right “stuff” is to compare what we believe with the Bible. The infallible word of God vs a church that claims to be infallible.
So, are the Protestant denominations but offshoots of the Catholic Church, as you claim? No, they are a major historic effort to wrench ourselves past the spiritual darkness of the middle ages to the true faith and beliefs of original Christianity. The true “catholic” (meaning universal) faith.
I’m surprised at your stance on the RCC, since you both have the same eschatology (Amill).Don’t you interpret Rev. 20 the same, you are supposed to be ruling with Christ on thrones during the present and ongoing millennial? Which interpretation, by the way, gave the RCC the authority to burn thousands at the stake. They are supposed to be ruling now on thrones, you know.
I suspect your information comes from an unreliable source.
Very well stated for the church is not a building, nor a manmade organization, but rather it is everyone who receives Jesus Christ as his Redeemer. If a church group requires dues and a membership card to participate it is merely a club.
AMEN and Amen,
and His name is Yahushua
http://www.eliyah.com/nameson.htm
for MUCH earlier sketch of Yahushua, see my post #102
AMEN and Amen,
and His name is Yahushua
http://www.eliyah.com/nameson.htm
for MUCH earlier sketch of Yahushua, see my post #102
Yes, He did. It's probably even in your Bible.
And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18
i got that impression from past threads dealing with eschatological issues. Sorry ‘bout that.
There are sects who claim that Church on Sunday is wrong,
There are sects who claim that Church on Saturday is wrong,
There are sects who claim that Church on Friday is wrong,
There are sects who claim that Celebrating Lent is wrong,
There are sects who claim that Celebrating Christmas is wrong,
There are sects who claim that Celebrating Easter is wrong,
And then there is the One, Holy and Apostolic Church that has an unbroken line of leadership that dates back to Our Lord founding His Church.
Choose. And for God’s sake, get it right!
Except for flip flops and Vatican II and what very well may come out of the current Synod, everything is the same.
Amen and Amen!!
The church is CHRISTIANITY.
BUMP
You’re almost there, you forgot one word:
“The Catholic Church is Christianity.”
I read your link. It didn’t mention that Peter was formerly named Simon, until Christ renamed him. I wonder if that omission was intentional.
“The Catholic Church is Christianity.”
Thanks but I’ll put my trust in The Lord than an institution.
Are you member of any "church"?
Mark 9:38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40For the one who is not against us is for us. 41For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.We Prods are certainly for Jesus, for them to say we are not is clearly against the teaching of our Lord and Savior. Of course they will hide behind the skirt of tradition.
It’s explained pretty well in Revelation. There are faithful in some of the assemblies. Not so in others. One is called the whore of Babylon and those who God says are His people are urged to get out of it. Most are either Luke warm or have left their first love entirely. Those who tie themselves to a “church” will suffer the consequences that “church” suffers. Those who put their faith in Christ alone will not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.