Non-denominational view of how to get to heaven.

[ViaCrucis]

LOL. Baptists came along about 200 years later, an offshoot of the Anglican communion.

Careful, or the advocates of the "Trail of Blood" theory might get angsty.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Albion]

LOL. Baptists came along about 200 years later, an offshoot of the Anglican communion.

No Anglican Communion in those days, and the Baptists are not considered to be an "offshoot" of the Church of England, although the first Baptist churches founded in England must have drawn members from the established church.

 

[Albion]

Careful guys. The baptsts may not appreciate you trying to steal their first place ranking.

First place? I know it's a joke, but still....

 

[wordsoflife]

Careful guys. The baptsts may not appreciate you trying to steal their first place ranking.

Yes, the baptists came along some time after the Lutherans.

 

[Willie T]

LOL. Baptists came along about 200 years later, an offshoot of the Anglican communion.

And now they number, what?, about 25 million more than Lutherans?

 

[ViaCrucis]

No Anglican Communion in those days, and the Baptists are not considered to be an "offshoot" of the Church of England, although the first Baptist churches founded in England must have drawn members from the established church.

Well the original Baptists were one of the Separatist/Non-Conformist groups that took issue with the Church of England. So offshoot may not be technically correct, but they did arise in an Anglican environment and in response to established Anglicanism.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[wordsoflife]

And now they number, what?, about 25 million more than Lutherans?

Yes, based off of the statistics on the following link there are 25 million more Baptists than Lutherans:

List of Christian denominations by number of members

 

[ViaCrucis]

And now they number, what?, about 25 million more than Lutherans?

The only point being made is that the Baptist tradition post-dates the Reformation by about a century or so. So it would be historically inaccurate to speak of Baptists as having a first ranking in the Reformation.

Saying that Lutheranism was genesis of the Reformation isn't about tribal superiority, but simply a discussion of historical fact. Martin Luther sought reform, that began the Reformation. Lutheranism identifies with that original reform movement which began in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Doesn't make us better, doesn't mean we're right, it just means that's what happened historically.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Willie T]

Yeah, it's always been a joke about keeping your priest or preacher's sermon "short", so you could beat the Baptists to the restaurant.

There's sure a whole mess o' them.

 

[Albion]

Well the original Baptists were one of the Separatist/Non-Conformist groups that took issue with the Church of England. So offshoot may not be technically correct

Right. They were not a faction within the church like the Anglo-Catholics or Methodists, but opponents.

but they did arise in an Anglican environment and in response to established Anglicanism.

Of course. It was an established church. Everyone in England could be described that way.

It's also true that the English Baptists were formed by a disciple of the Anabaptists on the continent, so if they are anyone's "offshoot," that's who theirs is.

 

[bbbbbbb]

Pshaw! These statistics are meaningless because they don't include the Christians in China. Nobody knows how many millions of Christians there are in China. The official government statistics are minimal and include only members of the government Three-Self Church. One thing is certain, though, the Christians of China are not Catholic, not Lutheran, not Baptist, not Presbyterian, not Anglican, not Methodist, and not any other denomination. One might conclude that such non-denominational Christians compose one of the largest segments of Protestantism.

 

[Albion]

And now they number, what?, about 25 million more than Lutherans?

Certainly not! The Lutherans are the most numerous group among those classified as Protestant.

 

[wordsoflife]

One might conclude that such non-denominational Christians compose one of the largest segments of Protestantism.

I would never attend a non-denominational Church again. They are very watered down and do not practice the sacraments correctly. Especially the Eucharist as stated. At least I am not aware of a non-denominational Church that practices the Lord's Supper correctly. Plus, I attended a Calvary Chapel which is "non denominational" and they really glorified the Pastor. I would rather become Catholic then attend a non-denominational Church.

 

[wordsoflife]

Certainly not! The Lutherans are the most numerous group among those classified as Protestant.

Not according to the info I looked at. Check the link I posted.

 

[bbbbbbb]

Certainly not! The Lutherans are the most numerous group among those classified as Protestant.

It depends on who is doing the classifying and the methodology they use. For example, Catholics will classify virtually every Italian citizen as a member of their church because it is the state church and virtually every Italian lives in a Catholic parish. Does that make virtually all Italians faithful members of that church? I think not.

Likewise, Lutheranism is the state religion of several northern European countries and some statisticians go with government statistics which claim virtually every citizen of those countries for the state churches. Are all Swedes faithful Lutherans? I think not.

 

[Willie T]

I would never attend a non-denominational Church again. They are very watered down and do not practice the sacraments correctly. Especially the Eucharist as stated. At least I am not aware of a non-denominational Church that practices the Lord's Supper correctly. Plus, I attended a Calvary Chapel which is "non denominational" and they really glorified the Pastor. I would rather become Catholic then attend a non-denominational Church.

Can you offer a bit more specificity to what you mean when you say, "watered-down"?

 

[wordsoflife]

Can you offer a bit more specificity to what you mean when you say, "watered-down"?

Yes, the sermons at the nondenominational Churches I have attended were very watered down. Meaning that they did not focus on preaching the gospel (Jesus Christ Crucified) but instead their sermons varied by topic.

 

[Albion]

Not according to the info I looked at. Check the link I posted.

Wikipedia is not a very accurate source, most of us know, since anyone can add or subtract pretty much whatever theycan get away with. I see a number of errors and omissions on that listing of churches.

Why don't we just forget about it and call these the largest two?

 

[Willie T]

Yes, the sermons at the nondenominational Churches I have attended were very watered down. Meaning that they did not focus on preaching the gospel (Jesus Christ Crucified) but instead their sermons varied by topic.

Don't you already know that at your congregation? We do. That's the reason all the Biblical "Letters" were written to established churches that had moved on past milk, to meat.

Your preacher is there to equip YOU to go outside the building and feed the gospel milk to unsaved people, not to just keep feeding it to a congregation that already knows the gospel story.

 

[wordsoflife]

Don't you already know that at your congregation? We do. That's the reason all the Biblical "Letters" were written to established churches that had moved on past milk, to meat.

Your preacher is there to equip YOU to go outside the building and feed the gospel milk to unsaved people, not to just keep feeding it to a congregation that already knows the gospel story.

I disagree, what else is there for a Pastor to preach? The gospel is the meat and we need to preach it and bring it into rememberance until the Lord's coming. My Pastor preaches the gospel every Sunday from the pulpit. This ties into the fact that we partake of the Eucharist. If the nondenominational Churches were partaking of the Lord's Supper regularly they would no doubt also preach the gospel of the cross regularly.

What did the apostle Paul say:

1 Corinthians 2:2
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.