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Posted on 11/13/2014 6:49:41 PM PST by Heart-Rest
How Many Protestant Denominations Are There?
Partial List of 5000+ Protestant Denominations by Name
How Many Protestant Denominations Are There? The 20,000 / 30,000 numbers and David Barrett's statistics
"The Facts and Stats on "33,000 Denominations" The 20,000 / 30,000 numbers and David Barrett's statistics
Part II
(Above links derived from here) ===> ("How Many Protestant Denominations Are There?")
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There are many, many more Protestant denominations out there, not just those reflected in the links above. How many? Well, nobody really knows for sure exactly how many Protestant denominations exist at any given point in time, because after you get done counting the first forty or fifty thousand, several thousand more new ones pop up here and there all over the place, like popping pop corn! :-)
We Catholics love all our Protestant brothers and sisters (no matter how many denominations or "non-denominations" they belong to), and we simply want to share the fullness of the truth with them, so that they can find the precious jewel (the "pearl of great price") that we have already found (by the Grace of God). With that in mind, the following song is dedicated to all our beloved Protestant brothers and sisters, and their ever-increasing number of distinct and ever-changing denominations with contradictory, mutually-exclusive, incompatible teachings. (And, no, that is not a bunch of cardinals singing that song!)
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(Song -- "Bless 'em All!")
(This song is a tribute to all our beloved Protestant brothers and sisters, no matter what denomination -- or "non-denomination" -- they are currently in.)
"I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment." (1 Corinthians 1:10)
Is this an admission that Popes are not infallible in their decretals, bulls and edicts? If "official" papal declarations such as:
“We furthermore forbid any lay person to engage in dispute, either private or public, concerning the Catholic Faith. Whosoever shall act contrary to this decree, let him be bound in the fetters of excommunication. — Pope Alexander IV (1254-1261) in “Sextus Decretalium”
are no longer binding, then how is anyone to know what is ordained by God? At least the Jews had a list of the 613 laws they were to follow!
The Code of Canon Law of 1983 was done in response to the second Vatican council (Vatican II) and we know full well the heartburn many RCs have to this day over what came out of that council. If with this new code Pope John Paul II said: in promulgating the Code today, I am fully aware that this act is an expression of pontifical authority and therefore is invested with a primatial character (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1.HTM), then wasn't the previous code ALSO an "expression of pontifical authority"?
Then, of course, we have the weasel words that attempt to "clarify" (reformulate positively?) what was meant by certain words, such as this:
“This law, like all penal laws, must be very narrowly construed. The terms Catholic Faith and dispute have a technical signification. The former term refers to questions purely theological; the latter to disputations more or less formal, and engrossing the attention of the public. But when there is a question of dogmatic or moral theology, every intelligent layman will concede the propriety of leaving the exposition and defence of it to the clergy.” [who themselves needed due authorization]. - www.newadvent.org/cathen/05034a.htm
That there are massive rooms filled from floor to ceiling with canons, codes, bulls, decretals, pronouncements, etc., and the Catechism being frequently changed, modified and updated, more than adequately demonstrates both the heavy burdens the Roman Catholic church has placed on the backs of her faithful and would have ALL of Christendom fall in behind them as well as the changing nature of its doctrines. Was all this necessary or expedient? Where, may I ask, is the simplicity which is in Christ Jesus? I do not doubt Peter and Paul would hardly recognize what boasts itself of being THE church they founded!
Can. 1369 A person who in a public show or speech, in published writing, or in other uses of the instruments of social communication utters blasphemy, gravely injures good morals, expresses insults, or excites hatred or contempt against religion or the Church is to be punished with a just penalty. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P52.HTM
Anyone we know that does any of that???
First of all, NO ONE prefers "to accept falsehoods and deceptions and self-delusions”. No one believes something they KNOW is a lie. That being said, whenever someone DOES believe something that goes against the truth of the Christian faith, how should they be led out of lies and into the truth? For some cultists, the brainwashing is so deep, they are convinced you must be the devil if you try to open their eyes to real truth. They see any attempts at correction as "persecution" and console themselves with the thought that they MUST be right since they are being persecuted like Jesus was! It is extremely hard to break through, which is why those who evangelize MUST wait for the work of the Holy Spirit to soften the heart and open spiritual eyes in order to see the truth of the gospel. Appealing to a central autocratic authority only is exchanging one master for another and may not budge the cultist. But when the Holy Spirit works in a heart, it is going to be the Scriptures that teaches the truth to them because it IS God-breathed truth - God speaking to us personally - and the Holy Spirit is going to illuminate that to the person who is genuinely seeking to know it. That's how it happened to me.
Jesus Christ is my saviour. I have been baptized, and I witness to Christ being the Son of God, resurrected, saviour of mankind. What more truth must I accept? Is not, according to Scripture, that enough for me to be accepted as a Christian, treated equally to all others in the family of God? Or did Christ teach that some were second-class family members, only half-way there?
Though there are several other major tenets of the Christian faith that new believers should learn and accept, you are right that it HAS to start with the clear and simple good news that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and God gifts me eternal life by His grace through faith. That is how one is born again, born into the family of the Most High God, heirs and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. What comes after that is living by faith, learning to know God, learning to live with the rest of our forever family, learning to live holy and fruitful lives for Christ, being grateful and thankful for what He has done. Trusting Him more as every day goes by and seeing our faith grow stronger the closer we walk with Him. It means learning that He is able to work ALL things for our good and He is preparing us to experience an eternity with our Creator. Yes, we ARE all one in Christ Jesus.
Too bad it didn't seem to affect those 7 Catholic churches in Asia that John lastly wrote about.
It just seems that way from the smug and arrogant side of the fence.
It also considers us 'separated brethren' saved; merely not in FULL accord with their church.
Rome doesn’t love the military??
I just looked it up and sent the whole mess out as an e-mail to my peeps!
Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.
(Sorry, Catholics, about that King James thing above...)
Ha ha!
You guys STARTED it!
And 'truth'; is DECIDED by Rome.
What a wonderful setup!
Mary is dead.
Thank GOD! that nothing changes in the church that Rome has built!
...and then they came for me...
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