25,000 Different Non-Catholic Denominations
- Doctrinal Chaos Is The Bad Fruit Of Man-Made
Religion.
2 Peter 2:1 - "But there were also false prophets
among the people, even as there shall be among
you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects
of perdition."
Following Martin Luther's excommunication
from the Catholic Church in 1520, which marked
the beginning of the Protestant movement,
over 20,000 different denominations have been
created in about 500 years. In 1980, David
A. Barrett's World Christian Encyclopedia
(Oxford University Press) gave the number
of different denominations as 20,780. He projected
that there would be 22,190 denominations by
1985. This would mean that there are approximately
25,000 (or possibly 30,000) different denominations
today. Even if, for the sake of argument,
one were to take a conservative estimate, and
give the number as only 15,000 different denominations,
this equates to more than one new sect having
been created every two weeks. When we consider
the fact that the original founders of protestantism
didn't even agree with each other on major
points of doctrine, such denominational chaos
shouldn't be a surprise. Protestantism is
man-made religion, in which each person ultimately
determines for himself what he thinks the
Bible teaches. Martin Luther (the initiator
of Protestantism) condemned the doctrinal
views of John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli,
two other leading Protestant figures. They
all claimed to follow the Bible. Basically
all of these thousands of non-Catholic sects
purport to be Christian and claim to follow
the Bible, even though they disagree with each
other on crucial doctrinal matters, such as:
the precise nature of justification; whether
human works and sins are a part of salvation;
whether men have free will; predestination;
whether infants need baptism for salvation;
what Communion is; whether it's necessary
to confess to the Lord; which books of the
New Testament apply to us today; the structure
of the Church's hierarchy; the role of bishops
and ministers; the Sabbath; the role of woman
in the church, etc. Most of these groups even claim
that the individual "Christian" will be led
by the Holy Spirit when privately reading
the Bible. The disunity of these sects constitutes
an irrefutable proof that their doctrine is
not of the Spirit of Truth; and that their
principle of operation, (that is, Scripture
alone, apart from the Church and Tradition)
is not the doctrine of the Bible and the Apostles.
Ephesians 4:4-5 - "One body and one Spirit;
as you are called in one hope of your calling.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism."
HOW OLD IS YOUR CHURCH?
If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded
by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of the Catholic
Church, in approximately 1520.
If you belong to the Church of England, or
are an Episcopalian, your religion was founded
by King Henry VIII (an ex-Catholic) in the
year 1534. Henry VIII decided to create his
own church when Pope Clement VII would not
grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.
If you are a Mennonite, Menno Simons (an
ex-Catholic) created your religion in 1536.
If you are a Presbyterian, John Knox (an ex-Catholic)
founded your sect in Scotland in the year
1560.
If you are a Congregationalist, your religion
began with Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.
If you are a Baptist, John Smyth created your
sect in Amsterdam in 1605.
If you are a Quaker, your religion began with
George Fox in 1652.
If you are Amish, Jacob Amman created your
religion in 1693, as an offshoot of the Mennonites.
If you are a Methodist, your religion was
launched by John and Charles Wesley in England
in 1744.
If you are a Mormon, your religion comes from
Joseph Smith, who revealed it in Palmyra,
N.Y. in 1829.
If you are a Seventh Day Adventist, your religion
was created by Ellen White in 1860.
If you belong to the Salvation Army, William
Booth started your sect in London in 1865.
If you belong to the "Jehovah's Witnesses,"
your beliefs came from Charles Taze Russell
in 1872.
And if you belong to one of the religous organizations
known as "Church of the Nazarene," "Pentecostal
Gospel," "Holiness Church," "Pilgrim Holiness
Church," "United Church of Christ," etc.,
your religion is one of the thousands of new
sects founded by men in the last century.
But, if you are a Catholic, you know that your
religon was founded in the year 33 by Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, true God and true
man; and that this one Church, to which people
must belong to be saved, will exist until
the end of time.
