Why do a lot of Protestants think that denominations existed when all Christians were in the Catholic Church?

Question

The Catholic Church is not a "denomination" since for about 1000 years, the Catholic Church was the only Christian Church and all Christians in the world were members of it.

"Denominations" happened after the first Protestants split off from the Catholic Church and when people split from that split and so on and so on. Now today we have over 33,000 Protestant denominations with new ones being founded each day. With Protestantism, if someone doesn't like a certain teaching, all they have to do is leave that congregation and start their own congregation with one less teaching. For example, many modern Protestants are now denying the existence of Hell and sin, and some don't even believe in God but still call themselves "Christian". I think that this is the ultimate end result of that slippery slope.

The Eastern Church went into schism from the West in 1054AD, before that all Rites were in full communion with the Bishop of Rome and all recognized his authority.

Gnotics were not Christians. Da Vinci Code is fiction.

Read about the relationship today between the eastern Catholic rites and Rome, and you can get a good idea of what the Catholic Church was like from the beginning.

rxqueen-I agree. They were Christians, but they all belonged to the Catholic Church with the Bishop of Rome having the most authority. I am a Christian, and I belong to the Catholic Church.

Answer 1

You are right on so many levels, but being a protestant (Baptist) myself, I know that there are some things that needed to be changed from the Catholic church. The Bible is open to free interpretation by all who read it, that's why so many denominations have been started. I am a Baptist because generally, Baptists believe the Bible word for word and that's how I believe it should be looked at.

(Contact me if you want to chat about religious stuff. I want to be a Youth Minister :D)

Answer 2

You are forgetting the first great split between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. During the 11th century (the traditional date assigned is 1054, though it was in fact a process over a number of decades) the Church underwent the Great Schism in which the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy divided over a number of administrative, liturgical and doctrinal issues, most notably the Filioque and papal primacy of jurisdiction. Both the Second Council of Lyons (1274) and the Council of Basel (1439) attempted to reunite the churches, but in both cases the Orthodox rejected the councils. The Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy remain in schism to the present day, although efforts to end the schism are ongoing. Each church claims to be the 'one, holy, catholic and apostolic' church of the Nicene Creed. Some Eastern churches have since been reunited with the Catholic Church, acknowledging the primacy of the pope, and form the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Answer 3

There were divisions within in the Catholic church from the beginning. And Martin Luther, at least, had some seriously valid concerns about the conduct of Catholic Clergy. Religion is an imperfect human idea trying to cope with a perfect supernatural concept.

In terms of various Protestant doctrines that deviate from basic Christian principles; I can call myself a cowboy and wear the clothes all day long, but if I am not living the life, who am I kidding?

Answer 4

Christianity has not been a monolithic faith since the first century, if ever, and today there exist a large variety of groups that share a common history and tradition within and without mainstream Christianity. Since Christianity is the largest religion in the world (making approximately one-third of the population), it is necessary to understand the various faith traditions in terms of commonalities and differences between tradition, theology, church government, doctrine, language, and so on.

The largest division in many classification schemes is between the families of Eastern and Western Christianity. After these two larger families come distinct branches of Christianity. Most classification schemes list six (in order of size: Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Assyrians). Others may include Restorationism as a seventh, but classically this is included among Protestant movements. After these branches comes denominational families. In some traditions, these families are precisely defined (such as the autocephalous churches in both Orthodox branches), in others, they may be loose ideological groups with overlap. This is especially the case in Protestantism, which includes Adventists, Anabaptists, Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Reformed churches, and possibly others, depending on who is organizing the scheme. From there come denominations, which in the West, have complete independence to establish doctrine (for instance, national churches in the Anglican Communion or the in Lutheranism). At this point, the scheme becomes more difficult to apply to the Eastern churches and Catholic faiths, due to their top-down hierarchical structures. More precise units after denominations include kinds of regional councils and individual congregations and church bodies.

Answer 5

The catholic church was not the only christian church, nor even the biggest one prior to the reformation. You forget the eastern orthadox church(es). Now that there are a variety of christian denominations which all have unique things about them, catholicism is just one of many. It is important and has a long, though not always positive, history and deserves respect. I have never heard of a protestant or any other christian that doesn't believe in God. That makes no sense.

Answer 6

I used to get mad at these insane figures (86,000,000) that sounds like its fresh out of a Dan Brown novel, but now I just laugh. No one has been able to trace the documentation, which exceeds Europe's entire population at the time, beyond the 18th century hate mongers.

Some people think that strict literal interpretation of the Bible is a good thing, and then admit to it causing division! The fact is, every heresy of the patristic period comes from just that, taking scriptures too literally.

A scism is not a total revolt.

BOTH sides were to blame for the rebellion, the problem is only one side will admit even that much.

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame." 269 The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ's Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism 270 - do not occur without human sin:

Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers. 271

818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers .... All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church." 272

819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" 273 are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements." 274 Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, 275 and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity." 276

Answer 7

If you are a Catholic and comfortable in your faith, let Protestants follow their faith and practice as they like. Just take comfort your beliefs. Live and Let Live.
This is called Freedom of Religion. I think the ultimate slippery slope is a Christian who believes that their religion is the only true faith. You could start your own church too, The know it All Church so you don't slide down that slippery slope all by yourself!

Answer 8

The RC church has NEVER been the only church EVER! What are you basing this statement on? The RC church has regularly burned Christians for believing the Bible and not praying to the saints and Mary.
The RC church is most certainly NOT Christian, I have no idea where you are getting your information from? How can they be Christian when they pray to dead people, have many gods, worship Mary, bow down to idols, make images of people and worship these things. This is all part of the ancient Babylonian system and is totally occult based.
The Bible calles the RC church THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Rev 17:5

Answer 9

There were Christians around loving God and spreading the Good News long before the Catholic Church started. They were not Gnostic's, they were just Christians. Not denominations, just CHRISTIANS. Followers of Christ.

Answer 10

I think that your history is a little flawed. There were many Christians before the Catholic church started under Constantine in the 300's AD and during the time of Catholicism many Christians existed. Who do you think the Catholic church was putting to death (86,000,000 of them) during that 1,000 years you speak of. So we have been around since the time of Christ. His true church has always existed. I do agree with you that denominations are not what God has designed.

Answer 11

Actually the Gnostic Christians existed before the Catholic Church, and it was eliminated by the Council of the Nazarene during the rule of Emperor Constantine in the 5th Century. Both the Gospels according to Thomas and Mary were eliminated by this council as they tended to not favor the concept of an organized and centralized religion. One of the most inflammatory things in the Gospel According to Thomas in his book he called "The sayings of Christ" was "Lift a rock and you will find me, split a piece of wood and I will be there", which basically says that you can worship God anywhere, and you don't need a church to do it in.