Originally posted by lilpixieofterror
View Post
Announcement
Collapse
General Theistics 101 Guidelines
This area is open for nontheists and theists to interact on issues of theism and faith in a civilized manner. We ask that nontheist participation respect the theistic views of others and not seek to undermine theism in general, or advocate for nontheism. Such posts are more suited for and allowable in Apologetics 301 with very little restriction.
The moderators of this area are given great discretion to determine if a particular thread or comment would more appropriately belong in another forum area.
Forum Rules: Here
The moderators of this area are given great discretion to determine if a particular thread or comment would more appropriately belong in another forum area.
Forum Rules: Here
See more
See less
What constitutes a Christian denomination?
Collapse
X
-
-
Originally posted by KingsGambit View PostYou are correct about the different orders of the RCC, but has anybody maintained that an integral aspect of a denomination is objecting to anyone outside the denomination claiming to be a Christian?Last edited by shunyadragon; 03-06-2015, 04:38 PM.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Carrikature View PostI would strongly wonder why a church felt the need to delineate themselves if they didn't feel there were vital doctrinal issues that needed to be addressed.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by KingsGambit View PostYou are correct about the different orders of the RCC, but has anybody maintained that an integral aspect of a denomination is objecting to anyone outside the denomination claiming to be a Christian?
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by shunyadragon View PostI consider the 30,000 clearly an exaggerations, in part because many so-called denominations share beliefs that clearly agree to the point that they do not seriously object to each other being Christians. Some of the above list are simply different orders of the Roman Church.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by shunyadragon View PostI consider the 30,000 clearly an exaggerations, in part because many so-called denominations share beliefs that clearly agree to the point that they do not seriously object to each other being Christians. Some of the above list are simply different orders of the Roman Church.
Unfortunately, you support the problem between the significant denominations limiting salvation to those that comply to certain beliefs, and call others cults, heretics, or worse. Even the Roman Church limits Salvation to the sincere ones inside the Church, and limited by grace outside defined by the Church, such as those without knowledge of the One True Church and those below the age of concent.
When you're done attacking piles of straw, perhaps you'll deal with what I actually said instead of your strawman recreation of it.
Leave a comment:
-
A comedian once said that non-denominationals are basically Baptists with cooler websites, but optionally they're charismatics with cooler buildings.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Carrikature View PostI'm familiar with the non-denominational concept. In this case, it seems like claiming you don't have a demographic because you opted to put 'other'. You still have your own thoughts/beliefs, you just don't affiliate with others the way most people do. Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against being non-denominational. I'm just not convinced it should count when they're specifically excluding themselves from everyone else (which is the point).
Just for clarity, I'm not necessarily defending the 30,000 number. I don't particularly care what that number actually ends up being, and there will always be a degree of fuzziness to the lines that are drawn. Even so, it seems that Christians rush to project unity where it's not really there. Atheists aren't much better, as evidenced by some of the bizarre lines. The reality is that there are a lot of divisions within Christianity, and they're a lot more...emotionally defended, shall we say, than what Christians here seem to think (or maybe just aren't willing to admit). Let's call those defenders a statistical but vocal minority. It may not be the deal breaker some atheists present it to be, but it's still a noticeable obstacle for many.
I do agree though, that it is unfortunate that the church isn't more united. And I pray for ecumenism in the church, but I honestly don't expect that to happen until Christ's return. In the meantime, I'm thankful that the church does have unity in necessary things, and liberty in doubtful things.Last edited by Adrift; 03-05-2015, 02:22 PM.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Adrift View PostSome of the "independent churches" literally refer to themselves as "Nondenominational" (in fact, 236 Nondenominational churches are listed in the World Christian Encyclopedia's list of 33,000 denominations). Last time I looked, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (the seminary that put this list together for the World Christian Encyclopedia about 15 years ago) no longer maintained the list. As rogue mentioned, some of the list contained strange inclusions. Like, instead of 1 Roman Catholic Church, they made a distinction for each country the RCC was found. So, they distinguished the Catholic Church in Canada from the Catholic Church in the US from the Catholic Church in Mexico. They ended up with something like 242 separate Catholic Church denominations. As I understand it, they did the same thing with Lutheran churches as well. The Church of Norway was listed as a distinct denomination from the Church of Sweden, and both were a distinct denomination from the Church of Denmark, even though all 3 churches are "Evangelical Lutheran".
Its been a long time since I checked the list out that this comes from, but if I'm remembering correctly, they did other weird things, like when listing separate religions, they included atheism in the list next to non-religious.
Just for clarity, I'm not necessarily defending the 30,000 number. I don't particularly care what that number actually ends up being, and there will always be a degree of fuzziness to the lines that are drawn. Even so, it seems that Christians rush to project unity where it's not really there. Atheists aren't much better, as evidenced by some of the bizarre lines. The reality is that there are a lot of divisions within Christianity, and they're a lot more...emotionally defended, shall we say, than what Christians here seem to think (or maybe just aren't willing to admit). Let's call those defenders a statistical but vocal minority. It may not be the deal breaker some atheists present it to be, but it's still a noticeable obstacle for many.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Carrikature View PostI'm curious what else we should call such independent churches, Baptist or otherwise. After all, they've made a clear and intentional effort to delineate themselves from everyone else. I was a member of one that went so far as to specifically re-brand themselves, and I know it's not the only one to have done that. There are a lot of electrical engineers that do what I do. They don't deny the legitimacy of each other, but there's little doubt they operate as distinct entities. Seems to be about the same thing from where I sit.
Its been a long time since I checked the list out that this comes from, but if I'm remembering correctly, they did other weird things, like when listing separate religions, they included atheism in the list next to non-religious.
Leave a comment:
-
One of my mother's best friends is a devout SDA and I just may have to ask my mother if she's said anything regarding the state of "other" Christian denominations. To my knowledge there is no friction there.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by rogue06 View PostTo say that number is grossly inflated is an understatement. It is based on a radically open definition of what "denomination" is. For instance under the definition used to arrive at that number if there two independent Baptist churches on each side of the street, each one of them is considered a different denomination. In fact every independent Baptist church is deemed to be a different denomination by the definition used to arrive at this figure. In fact, IIRC, even within Catholicism, there are a number of "denominations."
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Pentecost View PostMy local A/G church started off borrowing the room of a Seventh Day Adventist church. Presumably they didn't think we were damned. OTOH, I wasn't even born yet.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by lilpixieofterror View Post
Many of those are cult groups. Which shows your understanding of religion to be quite lacking. Try again...
Unfortunately, you support the problem between the significant denominations limiting salvation to those that comply to certain beliefs, and call others cults, heretics, or worse. Even the Roman Church limits Salvation to the sincere ones inside the Church, and limited by grace outside defined by the Church, such as those without knowledge of the One True Church and those below the age of concent.
Leave a comment:
widgetinstance 221 (Related Threads) skipped due to lack of content & hide_module_if_empty option.
Leave a comment: