AI search says Adventists are the largest single denomination holding to Sola Scriptura

[BobRyan]

I asked this question on a Google AI search page

In a fresh session window this works

identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) claim its doctrine will pass a "scripture alone" test (2) has global management of doctrine for the entire group, (3) maintains one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, do not list groups that fail to satisfy all the criteria​

so also does this next Query work

"Identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that meet all of the following internal policy criteria:​

(1) The denomination's official policy manual or fundamental beliefs document explicitly states that the Bible is the sole rule of faith and practice, and the supreme authority.​

(2) The denomination has a globally centralized, hierarchical management structure that enforces doctrinal alignment across all local congregations and conferences worldwide.​

(3) The denomination maintains one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, enforced by administrative process.​

do not list groups that fail to satisfy all the criteria​

AI Answer: : " The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the largest single denomination that satisfies all the user's specific requirements for size, doctrine, sola scriptura, and administrative centralization without autonomous subgroups.

​

The answer AI gave includes a short summary review of the Assemblies of God, Southern Baptist Convention and Lutheran World Federation / World Communion of Reformed Churches: It explains in each case why they do not fit the search criteria.

 

[Delvianna]

Weird. I copy/pasted your exact wording and it gave me "Lutheran".

I added the picture so you could see what it said based off of your exact wording. This is why AI is just such a nuisance. You'd think it would come to the same conclusion every time....

 

[BobRyan]

I tried several variations and in some cases AI said no denomination fit. But it has to do with the "using strict rules" preface in most cases that resulted in failure

 

[BobRyan]

Weird. I copy/pasted your exact wording and it gave me "Lutheran".

View attachment 374039

I added the picture so you could see what it said based off of your exact wording. This is why AI is just such a nuisance. You'd think it would come to the same conclusion every time....

My criteria said nothing about decentralized Admin.

Here is the AI discussion of why certain denominations were rejected based on selection criteria

============================== begin AI response regarding the alternative candidates
Why others don't fit the final criteria:

• Assemblies of God: While very large and unified in core beliefs, the World Assemblies of God Fellowship is described as a group of over 140 autonomous national groupings of churches. The U.S. branch is distinct from the Brazilian branch, etc., even if they share the same fundamental truths.
• Southern Baptist Convention: The SBC emphasizes the autonomy of the local church as a core doctrine, meaning the central convention cannot dictate policy to an individual congregation.
• Lutheran World Federation / World Communion of Reformed Churches: These are federations or communions of various independent national churches (e.g., the ELCA in the US vs. other conservative Lutheran bodies), rather than a single, unified global administration.

 

[JM]

I loosened the search criteria a bit to ask the question this way, to eliminate the "single administrative body" restriction


AI Answer was unchanged

GPT will give answers based on your bias and not on facts. I asked the question, "If St. Cyril were alive today which denomination would he choose to join?" and I was told Lutheran. A friend of mine got Orthodox.

 

[Delvianna]

My criteria said nothing about decentralized Admin.

Here is the AI discussion of why certain denominations were rejected based on selection criteria

============================== begin AI response regarding the alternative candidates
Why others don't fit the final criteria:

• Assemblies of God: While very large and unified in core beliefs, the World Assemblies of God Fellowship is described as a group of over 140 autonomous national groupings of churches. The U.S. branch is distinct from the Brazilian branch, etc., even if they share the same fundamental truths.
• Southern Baptist Convention: The SBC emphasizes the autonomy of the local church as a core doctrine, meaning the central convention cannot dictate policy to an individual congregation.
• Lutheran World Federation / World Communion of Reformed Churches: These are federations or communions of various independent national churches (e.g., the ELCA in the US vs. other conservative Lutheran bodies), rather than a single, unified global administration.

All I did was literally use your prompt : "what are the top 3 Christian denominations holding to sola scriptura testing of all doctrine and having a single set of administrators with one single set of official doctrines and having no autonomous subgroups included in the total membership"

That was it.

 

[BobRyan]

GPT will give answers based on your bias

I did not mention my bias. I never asked for the Adventist church to even be in the list.

The only theological POV I specified was "Sola scriptura testing of doctrine".

If your point is that such a search criteria is just another way to say "select the Adventist denomination" , then I am more than a little bit surprised that you consider this to be a clear selection for "just the Adventist denomination

I asked the question, "If St. Cyril were alive today which denomination would he choose to join?" and I was told Lutheran. A friend of mine got Orthodox.

I am pretty sure that if I had asked the question "which denomination would Dr. Ben Carson, or Ellen White prefer", I would get "Adventist" as the answer but I did not specify that kind of selection criteria

 

[BobRyan]

All I did was literally use your prompt : "what are the top 3 Christian denominations holding to sola scriptura testing of all doctrine and having a single set of administrators with one single set of official doctrines and having no autonomous subgroups included in the total membership"

That was it.

ok I believe you.

But I think this AI comment about why it did not include Lutheran church does make sense.


AI said: ===============================
Why others don't fit the final criteria:

• Assemblies of God: While very large and unified in core beliefs, the World Assemblies of God Fellowship is described as a group of over 140 autonomous national groupings of churches. The U.S. branch is distinct from the Brazilian branch, etc., even if they share the same fundamental truths.
• Southern Baptist Convention: The SBC emphasizes the autonomy of the local church as a core doctrine, meaning the central convention cannot dictate policy to an individual congregation.
• Lutheran World Federation / World Communion of Reformed Churches: These are federations or communions of various independent national churches (e.g., the ELCA in the US vs. other conservative Lutheran bodies), rather than a single, unified global administration.

 

[Delvianna]

ok I believe you.

But I think this AI comment about why it did not include Lutheran church does make sense.


AI said: ===============================
Why others don't fit the final criteria:

• Assemblies of God: While very large and unified in core beliefs, the World Assemblies of God Fellowship is described as a group of over 140 autonomous national groupings of churches. The U.S. branch is distinct from the Brazilian branch, etc., even if they share the same fundamental truths.
• Southern Baptist Convention: The SBC emphasizes the autonomy of the local church as a core doctrine, meaning the central convention cannot dictate policy to an individual congregation.
• Lutheran World Federation / World Communion of Reformed Churches: These are federations or communions of various independent national churches (e.g., the ELCA in the US vs. other conservative Lutheran bodies), rather than a single, unified global administration.

My point is, that we got two completely different answers. My Ai, using the same prompt gave me Lutheran as an answer and yours said why it doesn't fit. As JM points out, AI is biased which is why he and a friend of his also got different answers. The point is to not trust AI just because it gave you an answer you liked. If the answer was based off of facts, myself, JM and his friend would have gotten Adventists too if that is what the answer is.

 

[Lost Witness]

Language models aren't A.I at all.

 

[BobRyan]

Weird. I copy/pasted your exact wording and it gave me "Lutheran".

Thanks.

1. try a fresh session window
2. try the same question in AI friendly mode as listed in the OP

 

[BobRyan]

My point is, that we got two completely different answers..

Try my "AI Friendly form"

 

[Delvianna]

Try my "AI Friendly form"

==================================

Identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) explicitly state that Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine, (2) possess a single global administrative authority, (3) maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, and (4) contain no autonomous subgroups within their membership

New chat, pasted your exact prompt

 

[BobRyan]

A more concise form of the question allows AI to give a more accurate response

“Using strict rules, identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) claim Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine, (2) possess a single global administrative authority, (3) maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, and (4) contain no autonomous subgroups within their membership.”

gives a very good answer

When I tried this recently AI asked for clarification about the term "autonomous' and then gave this response

"You are correct. Given the refined definition that an "autonomous subgroup" must have the ability to form a separate, differing set of doctrines—and acknowledging the Adventist Church's official claim that Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine—
the Seventh-day Adventist Church appears to be the only large Trinitarian denomination that strictly satisfies all four criteria outlined in the prompt.

 

[Delvianna]

A more concise form of the question allows AI to give a more accurate response

“Using strict rules, identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) claim Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine, (2) possess a single global administrative authority, (3) maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, and (4) contain no autonomous subgroups within their membership.”

gives a very good answer

When I tried this recently AI asked for clarification about the term "autonomous' and then gave this response

"You are correct. Given the refined definition that an "autonomous subgroup" must have the ability to form a separate, differing set of doctrines—and acknowledging the Adventist Church's official claim that Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine—
the Seventh-day Adventist Church appears to be the only large Trinitarian denomination that strictly satisfies all four criteria outlined in the prompt.

Gave your new prompt and it still gave me Catholic Church.

 

[BobRyan]

Gave your new prompt and it still gave me Catholic Church.

I see the results saying the Catholic Church is not selected because it rejects sola scriptura. Which makes sense.

The RCC argues pretty strenuously that tradition and not scripture alone is the test. Its easy to see why AI could figure out that they don't belong in that sort of list.

That part is not rocket science

 

[BobRyan]

Using *only* the explicit, official, and published statements of Christian denominations themselves, identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that claim (1) scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine with no extra-biblical document necessary for testing doctrine, (2) possess a single global administrative authority, (3) maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, and (4) contain no doctrinally autonomous subgroups within their membership.

Resulted in this just now

==========================================
AI said

The largest Trinitarian Christian denomination that meets all four of the specified strict criteria (as refined in the previous interaction regarding doctrinal autonomy) is the
Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church.

Here is how the SDA Church meets each of the refined strict rules:

• 1. Claim Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine: The SDA Church officially states that the Bible is the supreme standard and the sole foundation of its beliefs.
• 2. Possess a single global administrative authority: The Church operates under a hierarchical structure with the General Conference serving as the highest global administrative authority, ensuring worldwide coordination and governance.
• 3. Maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members: The 28 Fundamental Beliefs constitute a globally binding set of official doctrines for all members, approved by the General Conference in session.
• 4. Contain no doctrinally autonomous subgroups within their membership: The denomination's policies ensure doctrinal unity; rejecting the fundamental beliefs is grounds for disfellowship, meaning any groups with differing doctrines are outside the official membership of the denomination.

While other large global denominations exist (such as the Roman Catholic Church), they fail at least one of these criteria, primarily the first (regarding the sufficiency of Scripture alone) or the fourth (due to varying internal practices or historical schisms not related to formal disfellowship rules).

 

[Delvianna]

Using strict rules, identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) claim Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine, (2) possess a single global administrative authority, (3) maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, and (4) contain no doctrtinally autonomous subgroups within their membership

Resulted in this just now

==========================================
AI said

The largest Trinitarian Christian denomination that meets all four of the specified strict criteria (as refined in the previous interaction regarding doctrinal autonomy) is the
Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church.

Here is how the SDA Church meets each of the refined strict rules:

• 1. Claim Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine: The SDA Church officially states that the Bible is the supreme standard and the sole foundation of its beliefs.
• 2. Possess a single global administrative authority: The Church operates under a hierarchical structure with the General Conference serving as the highest global administrative authority, ensuring worldwide coordination and governance.
• 3. Maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members: The 28 Fundamental Beliefs constitute a globally binding set of official doctrines for all members, approved by the General Conference in session.
• 4. Contain no doctrinally autonomous subgroups within their membership: The denomination's policies ensure doctrinal unity; rejecting the fundamental beliefs is grounds for disfellowship, meaning any groups with differing doctrines are outside the official membership of the denomination.

While other large global denominations exist (such as the Roman Catholic Church), they fail at least one of these criteria, primarily the first (regarding the sufficiency of Scripture alone) or the fourth (due to varying internal practices or historical schisms not related to formal disfellowship rules).

It's still biased. You might not be getting Catholic Church, but I have twice. Which means, whatever answers you're getting isn't proof of anything.

 

[BobRyan]

It's still biased. You might not be getting Catholic Church, but I have twice. Which means, whatever answers you're getting isn't proof of anything.

try this explicit request where I deal with the fact that "explicit rules" for defining a denominations teaching did not translate in AI-speak to "Using *only* the explicit, official, and published statements of Christian denominations themselves"

If using EDGE

Identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that meet all of the following internal policy criteria:
(1) The denomination's official policy manual or fundamental beliefs document explicitly states that the Bible is the sole rule of faith and practice, and the supreme authority.
(2) The denomination has a globally centralized, hierarchical management structure that enforces doctrinal alignment across all local congregations and conferences worldwide.
(3) The denomination maintains one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, enforced by administrative process.​

do not list groups that fail to satisfy all the criteria

If your browser is FireFox

using strict rules identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) claim its doctrine will pass a "scripture alone" test (2) has global management of doctrine for the entire group, (3) maintains one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, do not list groups that fail to satisfy all the criteria

 

[Delvianna]

using strict rules identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) claim its doctrine will pass a "scripture alone" test (2) has global management of doctrine for the entire group, (3) maintains one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, do not list groups that fail to satisfy all the criteria

No single answer. I'll paste what it says:
"Therefore, based on the strict rule set and the analysis of the largest Christian groups, there is no single denomination to list."

Denomination	Trinitarian (1)	"Scripture Alone" Claim (2)	Global Management/Unified Doctrine (3 & 4)	Result
Catholic Church	Yes	No. (Official doctrine holds Scripture and Tradition as authoritative, with the Magisterium as the final interpreter.)	Yes. (Papacy provides unified global doctrine and management.)	Fails (Criteria 2)
Eastern Orthodox Church	Yes	No. (Official doctrine includes Sacred Tradition and the authority of the Ecumenical Councils in addition to Scripture.)	No. (Composed of autocephalous (self-governing) churches, lacking a single global management structure.)	Fails (Criteria 2 and 3)
Most Protestant Denominations (Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc.)	Yes	Yes (Generally subscribe to sola scriptura).	No. (Most major groups are either decentralized, have split into autonomous national/regional bodies, or maintain doctrinal diversity and autonomy between individual congregations/synods.)	Fails (Criteria 3 and 4)