Posted on 02/20/2018 6:36:41 PM PST by marshmallow
Well, THIS article, “Gallup: Majority of Americans Are Not Protestants” , mentions Catholicism and this article is the thread on which you are commenting.
Well, the Baptists ARE the oldest church and it was mentioned in the Bible.
Jesus was baptized by John the BAPTIST.
Show us where the word *catholic* ever appears in the Bible.
Wrong: it is a false church with some true teachings, and the largest deformation of the NT church , as has often been substantively established here, and with a relative few born again believers .
Are you saying that you don’t believe in Jesus Christ, fully human and fully God?
That is a specious argument, typical of your sophistry, since believing this and other core Truth evangelicals contend for simply does not mean one is RC, any more than agreeing with Truths that Orthodox Judaism believes in means one is part of that group.
Here are the primary mainline denominations, every one of which has seen long-term decline in membership:
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
In 1965, the CC(DoC) had 1,918,471 members. In 2012, the membership was 625,252, a decline of 67 percent.
Reformed Church in America
In 1967, the RCA had 384,751 members. In 2014, the membership was 145,466, a decline of 62 percent.
United Church of Christ (Congregationalist)
In 1965, the UCC had 2,070,413 members. In 2012, there were 998,906 members, a decline of 52 percent.
Episcopal Church
In 1966, the TEC had 3,647,297 members. By 2013, the membership was 1,866,758, a decline of 49 percent.
(Those numbers should be even lower, though, since those figures by the TEC include breakaway churches trying to leave the denomination.)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PCUSA)
In 1967, the PC(USA) had 3,304,321 members. In 2013, the membership was 1,760,200, a decline of 47 percent.
United Methodist Church (UMC)
In 1967, the UMC had 11,026,976 members. In 2012, the membership was 7,391,911, a decline of 33 percent.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
In 1987, the ECLA had 5,288,230 members. In 2013, the membership was 3,863,133, a decline of 27 percent.
(Note: The ELCA was formally constituted in 1988 as a merger of the Lutheran Church in America, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the American Lutheran Church.)
American Baptist Churches
In 1967, the ABC/USA had 1,335,342 members. In 2012, the membership was 1,308,054, a decline of 2 percent.
(Note: The ABC/USA has been able to stem its decline among white congregants by replacing them with African American and Hispanic members.)
Now let’s look at a few of the primary non-mainline denominations, almost every one of which has increased in membership since the mid-1960s.
Church of God in Christ
In 1965, the CoG had 425,000 members. In 2012, the membership was 5,499,875, an increase of 1,194 percent.
Presbyterian Church in America
In 1973, the PCA had 41,232 members. In 2013, the membership was 367,033, an increase of 790 percent.
(Note: The Presbyterian Church in America was founded in 1974 by conservative members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States who rejected that church's merger with the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.)
Evangelical Free Church of America
In 1965, the EFCA had 43,851 members. In 2013, the membership was 372,321 , an increase of 749 percent.
Assemblies of God
In 1965, the AoG had 572,123 members. In 2013, the membership was 3,030,944, an increase of 430 percent.
African Methodist Episcopal Church
In 1951, the AME had 1,166,301 members. In 2012, the membership was 2,500,000, an increase of 114 percent.
Southern Baptist Convention
In 1965, the SBC had 10,770,573 members. In 2013, the membership was 15,735,640, an increase of 46 percent.
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
In 1965, the LCMS had 2,692,889 members. In 2012, the membership was 2,163,698, a decline of 20 percent.
The mainline churches are finding that as they move further away from Biblical Christianity, the closer they get to their inevitable demise.
Joe Carter is an editor for The Gospel Coalition
Having eyes they see not, like Catholic graven images.
The numbers from the Gallup survey align with numbers derived from a Pew Research Center survey published in 2015. That survey indicated that from 2007 to 2014, Protestants had dropped from 51.3 percent of the population to 46.5 percent. At the same time, according to that Pew survey, Catholics dropped from 23.9 percent of the population to 20.8 percent.
“Americans continue to be geographically segregated by religion,” said Gallup in its analysis. “Protestants dominate in the South, while Catholics are most common in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, with some representation in the Midwest. Americans with no formal religious identity are most likely to be found in the West and in New England. Two smaller religious groups are also geographically concentrated: Mormons are a major population factor in Utah and Idaho, and Jews tend to be disproportionately located on the East Coast.” https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/cnsnewscom-staff/gallup-majority-americans-are-not-protestants
Hopefully not, but NT Christian .
Yes. That is what I am saying.
I am saying it too Bob. I was in a false religion before, but not any more. 👍😆😀😇
There is more, but I'm tired typing and they won't look it up anyway.
Mormons are not Christian. No Trinity, not Christian.
https://www.mormon.org/blog/do-mormons-believe-in-the-trinity
We ALL know trying to explain that to her is a lost cause, sadly :p
(They have eyes, but they can’t see. They have ears but can’t hear.)
Man, you guys sure are taking a dump losing 3.1% in just seven years, and with all the erstwhile Catholics streaming over the southern border to shore it up to boot. Things must be really bad.
Ive been to a few. Heard as many songs about Mary as Christ. Christ founded the Christian Church on Himself. The Rock was Peter’s confession of Christ not Peter himself. Those who have washed their robes in the Blood of Christ and trusted Him for their salvation make up the church Christ founded. There may even be some Romans Catholics in that church.
You are wrong about the LCMS. It is a very biblically sound denomination. It may be losing members, but departure from sound doctrine is not the reason.
I was just reporting what the source says, and which analysis speaks in an overall sense.
Gallup is far too sparse with details, but references a Pew study:
To be sure, the United States remains home to more Christians than any other country in the world, and a large majority of Americans – roughly seven-in-ten – continue to identify with some branch of the Christian faith.1
But the major new survey of more than 35,000 Americans by the Pew Research Center finds that the percentage of adults (ages 18 and older) who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years, from 78.4% in an equally massive Pew Research survey in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014. Over the same period, the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated – describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” – has jumped more than six points, from 16.1% to 22.8%. And the share of Americans who identify with non-Christian faiths also has inched up, rising 1.2 percentage points, from 4.7% in 2007 to 5.9% in 2014. Growth has been especially great among Muslims and Hindus, albeit from a very low base. - America’s Changing Religious Landscape
Also If current trends continue, by 2050 …
One of the reasons I went non-denominational....care more about spreading the Word than having a slew of religious canons/tenets/crap obscuring the message...
What an absurd argument in order to impugn the power of Scripture. For this to be valid then you would have to show that the prevalence of the Bible translated into the vernacular has not historically correlated to an increase in the Christian faith, which it has, and is in places like Africa (see above post by God's grace). And that those who esteem Scripture most strongly suffer the greatest decline, which is contrary to reality. And "sustainably" must be defined as only beyond 200 years.
Meanwhile, to support your alternative, you must show that the current decline in Christian faith in countries in which the Bible has been translated into the vernacular is in contrast to Catholicism, but which it has not, such as in Latin America . And despite immigration from there into the US, .
A report released Tuesday by the Pew Forum finds that the total number of Catholics in the United States dropped by 3 million since 2007, now comprising about 20 percent - or one-fifth - of the total population.
And perhaps more troubling for the church, for every one Catholic convert, more than six Catholics leave the church. Taken a step further, Catholicism loses more members than it gains at a higher rate than any other denomination, with nearly 13 percent of all Americans describing themselves as “former Catholics.”
The big winner in terms of growing numbers is the unaffiliated, or the so-called “nones,” shooting up to about 23 percent of the total population from just 16 percent seven years ago. The 56 million adults not belonging to any faith tradition outnumber both Catholics and mainline Protestants; only Evangelical Christians comprise a larger share of the population.
Big demographic shifts within Catholicism continue to change the face of the church. Hispanic Catholics now comprise 41 percent of the US church, up 6 points from 2007. And the average Catholic is getting a bit older, with the median age of 49 up four years. Immigration from Latin American countries has kept Catholic number stable in recent years, and 39 percent of American immigrants are Catholic. -https://cruxnow.com/church/2015/05/12/pew-survey-percentage-of-us-catholics-drops-and-catholicism-is-losing-members-faster-than-any-denomination/
Well, some can reason that if you do not subscribe to exaltation of the Mary of Catholicism far far far above that which is written, but reprove this, then you must "hate" Mary.
Christ founded the ekklesia....not the Roman Catholic church.
While Rome may claim to believe in Jesus they also add to that many, many other things you must believe....one of these is a person can only come to Jesus through Mary.
Rome also teaches Mary is a co-redemptrix and mediatrix.
None of which is found in the New Testament.
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