How many denominations are there, and why do Protestants have all of them and the Catholics don't have any?

Question

Do you think that's fair?

Even the Baptists have several denominations.

How did this situation get so lop-sided?

Answer 1

there are a total of 36,000+ sects of christianity. And the catholics are a part of that massive number. The reason for so many amongst the protestants is because they have a strong desire to have power amongst them selves, and they want to be 'religious' but not controlled by this bigger church over there.

Answer 2

Before anyone gets all opinionated on me, and hating, I'm stating only researched fact. So please, read and understand:

Catholic means "Universal." The Catholic church was formed from its origins to be Christ's one true church on earth. Therefore, there really isn't so much as far denominations. However, through time there have been schisms, and because of this different churches have proclaimed to be Catholic, but either not affiliated with Roman Catholicism or with the Pope, or claimed not to be Catholic, even though their beliefs and practices are exactly the same.

There's more information available here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic

Now as far as whether or not that's fair, I honestly don't care. When I look at Christians, I don't see denominations, I see God's children, I see believers in Christ, and I couldn't care less what church they came from as long as they are a reflection of their declaration of beliefs. There is nothing that hurts Christianity or Christians in general more than those who proclaim to be Christian, and then act against God.

Good luck in your search. I hope you find the answers you are looking for. Feel free to e-mail me at anytime!

Answer 3

By definition, Roman Catholic is a denomination of Christianity. It is strongly hierarchical which precludes subletting the name. But where do you place some of these:
Eastern Catholic, American Catholic, Celtic Catholic, Liberal Catholic, Palmarian Catholic, etc. There are more. Are tehy not splinters of the Catholic Church. Plus you forgot a major branch-Orthodox, sometimes called Eastern Orthodox.

Actually all "Protestant" denominations are splinters of the Roman Catholic Church so you could ask why does the RCC have so many denominations and the Orthodox so few?

Answer 4

Actually the Catholics do have different orders within their priesthood. There are Jesuits, Franciscans, Gregorians, etc. The same is true for nuns, there are a number of orders. They all believe in the same thing, as Catholics, but they emphasize different aspects of following God's will.

But there are so many protestant denominations because they couldn't (and in many ways still can't) decide amongst themselves the 'true' way of following God. If one person disagrees, they go and create a new denomination based on what they feel is correct.

Answer 5

The Catholics actually do have different denominations, most of them are newer schisms with the church. The Protestants started out as Catholic denominations and fragmented even more after their split from the church hundreds of years ago. All you need to start a new denomination is an ever so slight difference of opinion on some minor detail of faith, a resentment, and a store front.

Answer 6

A friend told me, "Catholics have one body but many heads. We're (Protestants) no better. We have one head but many bodies." Awfully good observation. Divisions come from personal preference (picking and choosing what we want instead of what God expects); which, I might add, is not of the Bible. I think we need to scrap all the titles and just be Christians.

Answer 7

Catholics have religious orders, like Franciscans, Jesuites...

There are also sub-groups like Legio Maria, Opus Dei, ...

As long as they do not officially declare that they do not agree with the teachings of their church, they are tolerated, even if their teachings and practices are very extreme or obscure.

If they were Protestant groups, they would be called denominations.

Answer 8

Presently; I am not Catholic, but would not Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Greek orthodox, RCC, etc be Catholic 'denominations'?

Answer 9

I thought the catholics split and we now have charismatic catholics. This group doesn't listen to the pope, dumped the statues of saints and Mary, ignores purgatory teaching and basically reads the NIV or NKJV Bible. Some Methodist churches pray in the name of the catholic church.

I think you are wrong.

Answer 10

The rise of denominations within the Christian faith can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation, the movement to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, out of which four major divisions or traditions of Protestantism would emerge: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican. From these four, other denominations grew over the centuries. The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther and was based on his teachings. The Methodists got their name because their founder, John Wesley, was famous for coming up with “methods” for spiritual growth. Presbyterians are named for their view on church leadership—the Greek word for elder is presbyteros. Baptists got their name because they have always emphasized the importance of baptism. Each denomination has a slightly different doctrine or emphasis from the others, such as: the method of baptism; the availability of Lord’s supper to all or just to those whose testimonies can be verified by church leaders; the sovereignty of God vs. free will in the matter of salvation; the future of Israel and the church; the role works play in salvation; pre-tribulation vs. post-tribulation rapture; the existence of the “sign” gifts in the modern era, and the list could go on and on. The point of these divisions is never Christ as Lord and Savior, but rather honest differences of opinion by godly, albeit flawed, people seeking to honor God and retain doctrinal purity according to their consciences and their understanding of His Word.

Denominations today are many and varied. The original “mainline” denominations mentioned above have spawned numerous offshoots such as Assemblies of God, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Nazarenes, Evangelical Free, independent Bible churches, and others. Some denominations emphasize slight doctrinal differences, but more often they simply offer different styles of worship to fit the differing tastes and preferences of Christians. But make no mistake: we, as believers, must be of one mind on the essentials of the faith, but beyond that there is great deal of latitude in how a Christian should worship in a corporate setting. This latitude is what causes so many different “flavors” of Christianity. The Presbyterian Church of Mbale, Uganda, has a style of worship much different from the Presbyterian Church of Denver, but their doctrinal stand is the same. Diversity is a good thing, but disunity is not. If two churches disagree doctrinally, debate and dialogue over the Word may be called for. This type of “iron sharpening iron” (Proverbs 27:17) is beneficial to all. If they disagree on style and form, however, it is fine for them to remain separate. This separation, though, does not lift the responsibility Christians have to love one another (1 John 4:11-12) and ultimately be united as one in Christ (John 17:21-22).

When looking for a church, the believer should start with its Statement of Faith. What that church believes and practices should be in line with the doctrines of faith as outlined by the Bible. What we should be seeking is a body of believers where the Gospel of Christ is preached, the authority of the Bible is the governing truth, the sufficiency of Scripture is affirmed, where we can grow in our relationships with the Lord, where we can minister to the body with our spiritual gifts, spreading the Gospel and glorifying God. Church is important and all believers need to belong to a body that fits the above criteria. We need relationships that can only be found in the body of believers, we need the support that only the church can offer, and we need to serve God in community as well as individually.

Recommended Resource: The Master's Plan for the Church by John MacArthur.