Hi conservonator, good to see you!
If you read the article I linked, it all depends upon the criteria chosen. Catholics who use the 30,000 figure to criticize Protestants use the loosest definition of "denomination" possible, in order to exaggerate the results. If I wanted to, I could come up with some sort of criteria to give me several, or dozens, or hundreds of "denominations" within the Catholic church.
Doesn't really matter much to me. But the 30,000 figure is simply dishonest.
Ditto
If you read the article I linked, it all depends upon the criteria chosen. Catholics who use the 30,000 figure to criticize Protestants use the loosest definition of "denomination" possible, in order to exaggerate the results. If I wanted to, I could come up with some sort of criteria to give me several, or dozens, or hundreds of "denominations" within the Catholic Church.
I read it the first time the nurse posted it. I think it’s a masterful piece of rationalization but falls well short of negating the fact that any multiplicity of doctrinal deviation within the realm of Protestantism, or non-Catholic Christianity, illustrates the point Catholics make when they bring up the issue of the Holy Spirit guiding individuals in scriptural interpretation. As I said, two distinct denominations with contradictory dogma would be enough to make the point. In fact, the only point they can all stand in agreement on is that they ain’t Catholic.
Doesn't really matter much to me. But the 30,000 figure is simply dishonest.
I don’t think it’s dishonest. The link I posted which shows over 30,000 denominations is from what appears to be a non-denominational (!) Christian organization. I have no problem with having a more strict criteria for developing a more accurate number but to do that we would have to agree on a methodology. I think that may cause a problem since we have a hard time agreeing on what would appear to be the most basic issues regarding faith…
BTW Why the name change?