Catholicism versus Protestantism down the centuries

Only if they disagree on major points. Then yes they are dishonest.

1. Southern Baptist Convention: 16.2 million members
2. The United Methodist Church: 7.8 million members
3. The Church of God in Christ: 5.5 million members
4. National Baptist Convention: 5.0 million members
5. Evangelical Lutheran Church, U.S.A.: 4.5 million members
6. National Baptist Convention of America: 3.5 million members
7. Assemblies of God: 2.9 million members
8. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): 2.8 million members
9. African Methodist Episcopal Church: 2.5 million members
10. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America: 2.5 million members
11. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS): 2.3 million members
12. The Episcopal Church: 2.0 million members
13. Churches of Christ: 1.6 million members
14. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World: 1.5 million members
15. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: 1.4 million membersAnd that's just the big ones in the U.S. Denomination Names lists 5,000.And, of course, Faith is familiar with the beliefs of each and every one, so she knows exactly where they differ.Riiiigggghhhht! [/Cosby]

Yes, three or four divided on minor points.

But really there's only two groups.The one true Catholic apostolic church, and all those deluded Protestants.

I'll go with that, although of course I'd reverse the adjectives.

No, fifteen major divisions is not three or four. Neither is 5,000. And we haven't seen any evidence that their divisions are minor. I'd especially pick Southern Baptists vs. Episcopalians.

First, I don't count any church that is liberal or denies the Bible in any part, and that is true of branches of many denominations these days. Presbyterians and Lutherans have both conservative and liberal branches. So do Baptists. Episcopalians and Methodists are pretty exclusively liberal although they have some conservative members, perhaps even conservative assemblies. If an Episcopalian assembly is conservative and holds to salvation by faith in Christ alone then I would not classify it as having more than minor differences with Southern Baptists.

Nobody, especially God, cares who you count as Christian. You can certainly note your opinion of whether certain people or groups are exhibiting un-Christian behavior, but God is the only one who Judges. Such judgement isn't your purview. Unless a church explicitly denies a core concept of the Christian faith it's a Christian church. There aren't that many core concepts: Jesus' death and resurrection and a few more. Certainly nobody is required to pledge not to serve homosexuals as a condition of joining a Christian church.Anyone who disagrees with your peculiar interpretation (and interpretation it is) of the Bible is not necessary not a Christian. Certainly disagreeing with your fallible interpretation, no matter how often you claim infallibility in interpreting the Bible, is not grounds for dismissing entire congregations.Still I haven't seen any evidence of what the differences are (since it's obvious you have no idea what they are), much less that they are "minor". I note that there are several Christian (yes, Christian, no matter what your fallible opinion is) support or do not oppose gay marriage: Blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches including Lutherans, and the United Church of Christ and the Evangelical Free Church of America. Ther's pleny more.Who is or is not Christian is not your call and your arrogance in claiming that right is exceptionally offensive. Ditto for your unjustified and un-Christian pride in not acknowledging that you could be wrong when you interpret a translation of original Bible texts.Edited by JonF, : No reason given.Edited by JonF, : No reason given.

Thank you for the predictably thoughtless response.

There's only one color in the rainbow.I don't count any of the colors that aren't red.

Maybe you shouldn't brag about your lack of counting skills.

I don't find her calls offensive at all. Faith is wrong on just about every subject on which she posts. If you agree with her on anything other than the smallest, inconsequential point, it is time to conduct some research.

Weird. I'm doing nothing but reflecting what is normally understood by Christians to define Christian churches. The majority that share a basic belief in the entire Bible are the Christians, those who reject parts of it may or may not be saved but they are compromisers so I don't include them among the vast majority who share my beliefs. abe: They won't stand with us when we refuse to recognize gay marriage. /abeThere are many denominations that differ on secondary points, on whether babies or only believers should be baptized, how a church should be governed, whether the supernatural gifts are for today or not, the definition of free will, to what extent the scriptures imply the "church" by the term "Israel" as opposed to the literal state of Israel, which interpretation of scriptures on the end times will turn out to be truest, and so on.Denominations are created by differences of opinion on such issues, but they are all Christian churches nevertheless to the extent they all share the same view of salvation by grace alone, and of the role of God's law in society. abe: I could attend any of these churches as long as we agree on the basics whether I agree with them on these secondary points or not /abeImputing these opinions to me as if I made them up myself shows a strange lack of understanding of the true situation, while at the same time you all assert some other point of view that reflects no reality I know of. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

Wrong, Faith. You are reflecting what is normally understood by conservative/fundamentalist Christians to define their own version of Christian churches. My father was a Presbyterian pastor, and had the question of same-sex marriage come up before he died in 1982, I am certain he would have thought deeply about it and then decided in favor of supporting it. Similarly to how he supported equal rights for black folks with his sermons. From 1957 to 1965 or so. In freaking Arkansas. Edited by Coragyps, : No reason given.

Sorry but there is no biblical way to support gay marriage.Later abe: Feel like elaborating: I gather you are saying that your father was not a "conservative/fundamentalist" Christian but you don't say in what way. Perhaps he was a liberal Presbyterian then who denied parts of the Bible? I don't know, I'm guessing but I was in that kind of Presbyterian church for a while and had to leave because of all the compromised teaching I was hearing from the pulpit.You don't say what sort of deep thought your father did about the racial problem, did he consult the Bible or what? His conclusion was quite biblical, however, and if that's what he based it on then I would assume he'd have approached the gay marriage issue from a biblical position as well. But if he did, the result would have been the decision that he couldn't support it because that's what the Bible would have to lead him to conclude. And of course you don't know since he died before there was any way of knowing. /abeEdited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.