30,000+ Christian Creeds, Churches, Groups? Nah! :)

[oldbadger]

There an innumerable (IMO) types of cells and parts of the human body... but still one body.

1. back bone
2. ankle bone
3. tibia
4. skull
5. kidney
6. fat cell
7. white corpuscles
8. red blood cells

And yet it they all seem to follow a singular purpose... life

Just like all the different churches, same foundation just different instructions and purposes.
I guess there must be a communicating God.

Lots of bones and stuff, but you could not add to the list of churches.
OK

 

[oldbadger]

See any parts of the body fighting each other?

But no churches.
I gotta find zillions of churches and you lot are searching for bones n stuff.

 

[oldbadger]

Cytokine storms: When the body attacks itself

It can happen but not suppose to. Or if you have a organ transplant. Sometimes cells get a twisted instruction (cancers).

I wanted 30,000 flippin' churches!
Just tell me yours for the list.

 

[oldbadger]

There's a staunchly Christian, yet very unorthodox man (He once told me that he prayed to God for acid so that he and particular friend could experience it together, and that, through a few unforeseen coincidences, God provided) that I walk around town with often, debating and discussing things. He showed up at my house yesterday to tell me something that God apparently told him to tell me, and my wife asked him to stay for dinner. My father-in-law has Sunday dinner with us often also, and so he was there - another staunchly Christian man who sticks to what would probably be considered more mainstream teaching. I just sat back for what I knew would be a show, as these two men struck up many a religion-themed point, and agreed perhaps only 60% of the time.

In my opinion, every single Christian practices a slightly different version of the supposed "faith." Every single one. Whether they have broken off and formed their own inane attempt at an "official" (hahahahaha!) branch at Christianity or not is irrelevant. ALL of those "official" branches started out with that exact same difference as their spawning point. Every single one.

Yes. True. But if I should propose that there are several billion creeds and some wag asks me to name them all I will be in even more trouble than when I started this thread.
So far I have 24 plus @ChristineM ' s thousands yet to view.

 

[oldbadger]

How many christian denominations worldwide? | the Way?

It goes from 21,000 to 43,000 according to this article but the number is not as important as the fact they are not united as one Faith or speak with one voice.

Ah. I know some that feel certain that all the others are damned and doomed.
One lot will not eat or drink with the others or anybody.
Wonderful.

 

[oldbadger]

I believe that the overriding message of Jesus was love. Love would have kept Christianity together. But gradually, sadly, the focus shifted away from love towards power and politics causing rifts, divisions and wars.

I particularly like the ones that insist that Jesus will return with sword flicking from his mouth to swot all down apart from them.
Lovely!

 

[oldbadger]

The Mormons. Yes, the Mormons was the correct answer.

There are a lot of things you have to believe if you choose a religion. One god or many, omnipotent or just maximal potent, Jesus was/is a god/a human/both, meat on Friday is (not)OK, Trump is the return of the messiah/the devil himself, etc, etc.
And you have little to derive the answers from other answers. You have to believe each single thing on itself.
After you have answered 16 binary questions you already have discounted 65535 (possible) religions/denominations.

You may want to research what the questions are that lead to the schisms and list the denominations in a tree form.

Of course. The Mormons as well.

Imagine Mr Trump as a Messiah. He would pardon some very strange types, and burn some very fine folks.
Yuck!

 

[sun rise]

There an innumerable (IMO) types of cells and parts of the human body... but still one body.

1. back bone
2. ankle bone
3. tibia
4. skull
5. kidney
6. fat cell
7. white corpuscles
8. red blood cells

And yet it they all seem to follow a singular purpose... life

Just like all the different churches, same foundation just different instructions and purposes.
I guess there must be a communicating God.

As Rumi said There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground; there are a thousand ways to go home again.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I've been reading about the 30,000+ Christian Churches etc for a while now.

So let's see how many that we actually know about, can we do that?

I don't think we'll find one hundred, but if we do I will be very surprised and pleased to have the list.

I'll start with CofE, Catholic, Dominican, Franciscan, Anglican, Baptist, Christian-Spiritualist, Jehovah's Witness, Plymouth Brethren, Brethren, Zoar, Baptist and ........ and........ ummm. I got 14!!!

14 out of 30,000...... so get to it..... please.

The 30,000 figure is a bit misleading.

Most of that "30,000" are individual churches who are officially separate from others more for administrative reasons than doctrinal disagreements.

That being said, you know that some of your "denominations" are actually groups of denominations, right?

For instance, "Baptist" isn't a single denomination. There are apparently 19 Baptist denominations just in the US, all - or at least most - with theological differences from each other:

Baptist Denominations in America

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

Yes. True. But if I should propose that there are several billion creeds and some wag asks me to name them all I will be in even more trouble than when I started this thread.

While it wouldn't be plausible, certainly, you'd really just need a list of the people's names.

 

[Kenny]

Lots of bones and stuff, but you could not add to the list of churches.
OK

Church of God
Assemblies of God
Church of the Nazarene
Church of Christ
Baptist Church
300,000 Non-denominational churches (who knows?)
Coptic
Eastern Orthodox
Greek Orthodox
Free Will Baptist
Presbyterian
Methodist
Pentecostal
Four-Square
MI
Mennonite
Amish
Calvary Chapel
Apostolic


But I don't have a desire to continue... Just one GREAT Church house with many rooms.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I believe that the overriding message of Jesus was love. Love would have kept Christianity together. But gradually, sadly, the focus shifted away from love towards power and politics causing rifts, divisions and wars.

Love, plus hatred of pharisaic Judaism. There's lots of that in the Gospels.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Then can you be more clear? My analogy seems quite appropriate to me. It does happen and it shouldn't and by and large, in today's society, it doesn't.

In your analogy the attacking organism might attack all churches or faiths, when it is the faiths attacking others, or the adherents of such doing so, much like the parts of the body NOT attacking each other - and mostly living in harmony. Refer to history.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So you couldn't help.
OK

I think its beyond help.

 

[PureX]

Its why I dont see how there could be a communicating God.

That fact alone shows there isn't any God around, otherwise you would have only one doctrine in use instead of 30,000 plus variations of Christianity.

There is only one universe around, and yet the scientists that study it have a number of very different theories about exactly what it is and how it works. Some even involving endless multiple universes within each other, some involving a perpetual universe, and some involving a finite universe.

And yet this does not seem to be a problem for the vary same atheists that are constantly demanding that all theist should hold the same understanding and experience of God. Quite illogical, and even "two-faced", don't you think?'

"That fact alone shows there isn't any universe around ..." (because the scientists can't agree on what it is or how it works).

 

[Twilight Hue]

There is only one universe around, and yet the scientists that study it have a number of very different theories about exactly what it is and how it works. Some even involving endless multiple universes within each other, some involving a perpetual universe, and some involving a finite universe.

And yet this does not seem to be a problem for the vary same atheists that are constantly demanding that all theist should hold the same understanding and experience of God. Quite illogical, and even "two-faced", don't you think?'

"That fact alone shows there isn't any universe around ..." (because the scientists can't agree on what it is or how it works).

I'd agree with you except there is a tangable universe. At least the one we live in.

Can't say the same thing about a deity. That would require at least one God and unlike the universe, there is nothing to go by.

One thing in common however is conjecture. That's why there are so many variations, but that's where the similarities end.

One is based on a foundation of fact, while the other is based on a foundation of premise and ideology.

 

[lukethethird]

There's a staunchly Christian, yet very unorthodox man (He once told me that he prayed to God for acid so that he and particular friend could experience it together, and that, through a few unforeseen coincidences, God provided) that I walk around town with often, debating and discussing things. He showed up at my house yesterday to tell me something that God apparently told him to tell me, and my wife asked him to stay for dinner. My father-in-law has Sunday dinner with us often also, and so he was there - another staunchly Christian man who sticks to what would probably be considered more mainstream teaching. I just sat back for what I knew would be a show, as these two men struck up many a religion-themed point, and agreed perhaps only 60% of the time.

In my opinion, every single Christian practices a slightly different version of the supposed "faith." Every single one. Whether they have broken off and formed their own inane attempt at an "official" (hahahahaha!) branch at Christianity or not is irrelevant. ALL of those "official" branches started out with that exact same difference as their spawning point. Every single one.

I often thought the same sort of thing, that there are as many Gods out there as there are believers, and Jesus's for that matter.

 

[PureX]

I'd agree with you except there is a tangable universe. At least the one we live in.

How tangible is it, really? How knowable, even? Already we have massive amounts of matter and energy that are not "tangible" in any way, to us. In fact, the only reason we think it's there is because we have no other way of explaining our observations and incongruous measurements. Seems to me that the universe is still one mighty big mystery.

Can't say the same thing about a deity.

Oh, can't we? Looks to me like God and the universe are in many ways the SAME big mystery. The mystery of being. The mystery of existence. Of it's source (origin), and it's sustenance (energy), and purpose (laws of physicality).

That would require at least one God and unlike the universe, there is nothing to go by.

God and the universe give us the same things to "go by" ... our experience of them, and speculations about them.

One thing in common however is conjecture. That's why there are so many variations, but that's where the similarities end.

Seems to me that's where both of them begin ... in contemplation/speculation.

One is based on a foundation of fact, while the other is based on a foundation of premise and ideology.

That last phrase looks a whole lot like science and theology, both, to me.

 

[thomas t]

I am sure they do all get on quite well but i cannot see that they have the same message, the reasons for the schisms was usually down to different interpretations of whichever of a couple of hundred different bibles.

well, in most cases it wasn't even schisms.
I converted in a church founded by John Darby (the one that founded the doctrine of rapture to heaven, which is extremely disputed among even today).
But even the proponents of rapture to heaven say their discussion partners can enter heaven and vice versa.
That church was just founded by that one preacher. Still today, they form a community that sticks together closely.
However, they say the others can be valid Christians, too.

The church I attend here in Germany was founded by a missionary 150 years ago who found a specific concept in France and thought Germany could very well do with this structure, too.
Again, it was the founder and that's why there is that denomination in Germany, which is called FEG (free evangelical church).
I attend that church but I'm no member there.

Some denominations exist because they are founded by a groups that wanted to elaborate more on some speciality within Christianity.
Often, that's all. No schism involved.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

14 out of 30,000...... so get to it..... please.

To think a reformation would divide

There could be but One Faith, I think that is a promise in the Bible

I did see a list, maybe someone wants to go through this, not me

World Christian Database

Regards Tony