Protestantism has done more harm than good.

[hedrick]

Everyone should be part of the PCUSA. There should be no other denomination. But realistically, how is that going to happen? There were people throughout Christian history who disagreed with the majority church. The only reason that didn't result in separate churches is that the State intervened to stop them. The moment princes and town councils became unwilling to do that, the Reformation happened. There's no way to avoid multiple churches other than to get all Christians to bring back religious persecution, agree on everything, or to say that disagreement is permissible within a church. None of those is likely to happen any time soon.

Personally I think the Reformation was like the tower of Babel. In the Babel story humans were so proud of their own achievements that they confused themselves and their power with God. God confused the languages to prevent them from ever doing it again. In my view, the medieval church confused itself and its power with God. The confusion of churches is God's judgement, and a precaution to prevent it from happening again.

 

[Saint Steven]

thats the point they are not my enemies obviously they are your enemies.

How did you arrive at THAT erroneous conclusion?

 

[hedrick]

One more comment: One thing the Reformation showed was that once coercion was off the table, the Church didn't have anything to hold it together. I think the long history of government sponsorship came at a price. It allowed Christians to avoid the difficult question of how to maintain unity in Christ with a diversity of opinions.

Most people who say lots of denominations are evil want to fix it by having everyone agree with them. That can't work.

 

[Jesus is YHWH]

How did you arrive at THAT erroneous conclusion?

how can a believer be my enemy that is an OXYMORON.

1 John 2:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

1 John 4:11-12
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:19-21
We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

hope this helps !!!

 

[Archivist]

In Christianity, the enemy is the church across the street. And they feel the same way about you. How unfortunate.

Actually we have joint Bible studies, joint picnics, other joint activities. We have a joint "Souper Bowl" every year to collect soup for the food bank. The church across the street is not my church's enemy.

 

[Jonathan Walkerin]

Maybe thanks are to given to the corrupted Catholicism which caused the emergence of Protestants.

Like the joke they had of giving church money. Priest would throw money up and whatever stayed in the air would belong to god whatever dropped to ground was for the church and clergy.

 

[Jesus is YHWH]

Actually we have joint Bible studies, joint picnics, other joint activities. We have a joint "Souper Bowl" every year to collect soup for the food bank. The church across the street is not my church's enemy.

Amen same here in my surrounding cities. I know and talk with several pastors from other denominations and have friends in other churches in our social circle. I cannot believe the mentality of people who think the church across the street is our enemy. It truly is an oxymoron. Of course I'm speaking about Christian churches not cults.

 

[Chris V++]

Hundreds of denomonations, dozens of bibles, they cannot all be correct

I only know of one or two protestant denominations that claim they are 'correct' is so far as correct means that they exclusively have the truth and everyone else is in error. I don't think you'd find a Methodist for example claiming that Southern Baptists are lost. However some of traditional denominations required confession if one of their members worships at an unapproved church. Protestant beliefs have more in common with one another than you seem to suggest.

 

[George Antonios]

Essentially I'm wondering if hundreds of denominations, with dozens of versions of the Bible, has resulted in confusion and (in response) apostacy; whether into heretical denominations or fully out of any semblance of the Church whatsoever.

People keep telling me that scripture is protected but it cannot be protected when there are literally dozens of different versions of the Bible. Of course, they claim that their favourite one is the special version, but heck they can't all be right can they...

So I'm calling out Protestantism as doing more harm than good because it makes a chaos and confusion of matters that shatters the Church and drives people away.

What say you all?

This is not an issue of Protestantism but of Bible versions.
The RCC itself has produced many versions and it's mostly Vatican manuscripts which have been used since 1880 to produce all those non-King James Bible versions.

 

[Jesus is YHWH]

I only know of one or two protestant denominations that claim they are 'correct' is so far as correct means that they exclusively have the truth and everyone else is in error. I don't think you'd find a Methodist for example claiming that Southern Baptists are lost. However some of traditional denominations required confession if one of their members worships at an unapproved church. Protestant beliefs have more in common with one another than you seem to suggest.

Yes they do on the essential truths. The differences are usually on secondary and tertiary issues of faith.

 

[lsume]

Essentially I'm wondering if hundreds of denominations, with dozens of versions of the Bible, has resulted in confusion and (in response) apostacy; whether into heretical denominations or fully out of any semblance of the Church whatsoever.

People keep telling me that scripture is protected but it cannot be protected when there are literally dozens of different versions of the Bible. Of course, they claim that their favourite one is the special version, but heck they can't all be right can they...

So I'm calling out Protestantism as doing more harm than good because it makes a chaos and confusion of matters that shatters the Church and drives people away.

What say you all?

God The Father won’t lose any of His elect. Fortunately we don’t need to worry about anything if we are Truly in Christ. As Christ Said, no man can pluck you out of my Father’s hand.

 

[JM]

Essentially I'm wondering if hundreds of denominations, with dozens of versions of the Bible, has resulted in confusion and (in response) apostacy; whether into heretical denominations or fully out of any semblance of the Church whatsoever.

People keep telling me that scripture is protected but it cannot be protected when there are literally dozens of different versions of the Bible. Of course, they claim that their favourite one is the special version, but heck they can't all be right can they...

So I'm calling out Protestantism as doing more harm than good because it makes a chaos and confusion of matters that shatters the Church and drives people away.

What say you all?

It is a problem when 'Christian' publishers (not church bodies) seek to corner the market with their new, sleek Bible translation and then update it every few years. Bible translations are a symptom and not the problem. The problem is rationalism and the sinful use of reason. Christians have lost their ability to think biblically and therefore lost the sense of the Divine. Catholic scholars tend to be liberal and are at odds with the average faithful Catholic, the same is said for Protestant scholars. The real issue is found in thinkers like Rene Descartes who, by the way, considered himself a devout Catholic. Descartes wrote things like, “Because reason...is the only thing that makes us men, and distinguishes us from the beasts, I would prefer to believe that it exists, in its entirety, in each of us...” This of course pitted faith against reason and altered the course of Christian thinking resulting in the loss the presence of faith in the public square.

Yours in the Lord,

jm

 

[Jesus is YHWH]

The op is glib. All demons suffer from a lack of a biblical worldview. In Orthodox countries the people are


It is a problem when 'Christian' publishers (not church bodies) seek to corner the market with their new, sleek Bible translation and then update it every few years. Bible translations are a symptom and not the problem. The problem is rationalism and the sinful use of reason. Christians have lost their ability to think biblically and therefore lost the sense of the Divine. Catholic scholars tend to be liberal and are at odds with the average faithful Catholic, the same is said for Protestant scholars. The real issue is found in thinkers like Rene Descartes who, by the way, considered himself a devout Catholic. Descartes wrote things like, “Because reason...is the only thing that makes us men, and distinguishes us from the beasts, I would prefer to believe that it exists, in its entirety, in each of us...” This of course pitted faith against reason and altered the course of Christian thinking resulting in the loss the presence of faith in the public square.

Yours in the Lord,

jm

Apologetics is faith with reason. The two work together wouldn't you agree ?

 

[HARK!]

Essentially I'm wondering if hundreds of denominations, with dozens of versions of the Bible, has resulted in confusion and (in response) apostacy; whether into heretical denominations or fully out of any semblance of the Church whatsoever.

People keep telling me that scripture is protected but it cannot be protected when there are literally dozens of different versions of the Bible. Of course, they claim that their favourite one is the special version, but heck they can't all be right can they...

So I'm calling out Protestantism as doing more harm than good because it makes a chaos and confusion of matters that shatters the Church and drives people away.

What say you all?

There are 33,000 denominations.

The Facts and Stats on 33000 Denominations: World Christian Encyclopedia (2001, 2nd edition)

There are numerous Canons:

Biblical canon - Wikipedia

There are about 900 translations in English alone:

That's English alone. There are thousands of languages:

See also: International Bible Society, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and Institute for Bible Translation
Bible Translation Statistics (for selected years)
Year Full Bible New Testament Portions Total
1996 308 764 1014 2086
2006 426 1114 862 2402
2010 457 1211 897 2565
2011 513 1276 1015 2804
2012 518 1275 1005 2798
2013 513 1309 1028 2850
2014 531 1329 1023 2883
2015 554 1333 1045 2932
2016 636 1442 1145 3223
2017 670 1521 1121 3312
2018 683 1534 1133 3350
2019 698 1548 1138 3384
The Bible is the most translated book in the world. The United Bible Societies announced that as of 31 December 2007[21] the complete Bible was available in 438 languages, 123 of which included the deuterocanonical material as well as the Tanakh and New Testament. Either the Tanakh or the New Testament was available in an additional 1,168 languages, in some kind of translations, like the interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme translation (e.g. some Parallel Bible, with interlinear morphemic glossing).

In 1999, Wycliffe Bible Translators announced Vision 2025—a project that intends to commence Bible translation in every remaining language community by 2025. It was realised that, at the rates of Bible translation at that point, it would take until at least 2150 until Bible translation began in every language that was needing a translation. Since the launch of Vision 2025, Bible translation efforts have increased dramatically, in large part due to the technology that is now available. Due to the increase, at current rates, Bible translation will begin in every language by 2038, thus being 112 years faster.[22]

As of October 2019, they estimated that around 171 million people spoke those 2,115 languages where translation work still needs to begin. In total, there are 3,969 languages without any bible translation at all, but many of these are likely to never need a Bible because they are very similar to other languages, or spoken by very few speakers.[23]

Bible translations - Wikipedia

Because of the fact that Bible translations are big business; we can only expect to see more to come:

 

[SkyWriting]

You obviously chose to ignore the part where I said "This is not about the people and their actions, but the thing itself".

Exactly. I have no concern about at all those now-empty buildings and I only consider the people who used to visit there. I encourage everyone to never return to those buildings. May the weeds find good refuge.

 

[JM]

Apologetics is faith with reason. The two work together wouldn't you agree ?

Absolutely, but reasonable deduction doesn't assure truth, only a rational conclusion. Reason takes a backseat to faith. Two Latin phrases express this, "Crede ut intelligas" or "believe that you may understand" and "fides quaerens intellectum" or "faith seeking understanding." We begin with faith, always.

Yours in the Lord,

jm

 

[Archivist]

Exactly. I have no concern about at all those now-empty buildings and I only consider the people who used to visit there. I encourage everyone to never return to those buildings. May the weeds find good refuge.

My church building isn't empty. It is actually very busy. Outdoor services every Sunday--those will soon be moving back indoors when the weather cools--other activities in the building throughout the week. Unfortunately the food bank has gotten very busy because so many people are unemployed.

 

[SkyWriting]

Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The letters to the churches are to Christ/Babies. Sin is all inside one persons mind and what you can see is just the tip of the iceberg.

What do the grown-ups say?

1 John 3:14-15
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

James 1:14-15
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James 4:17
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Matthew 5:28
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.


"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

 

[renniks]

Essentially I'm wondering if hundreds of denominations, with dozens of versions of the Bible, has resulted in confusion and (in response) apostacy; whether into heretical denominations or fully out of any semblance of the Church whatsoever.

People keep telling me that scripture is protected but it cannot be protected when there are literally dozens of different versions of the Bible. Of course, they claim that their favourite one is the special version, but heck they can't all be right can they...

So I'm calling out Protestantism as doing more harm than good because it makes a chaos and confusion of matters that shatters the Church and drives people away.

What say you all?

The millions of the souls that have been saved under Protestant preaching would disagree.

 

[Jesus is YHWH]

My church building isn't empty. It is actually very busy. Outdoor services every Sunday--those will soon be moving back indoors when the weather cools--other activities in the building throughout the week. Unfortunately the food bank has gotten very busy because so many people are unemployed.

Same here we have a huge outdoor amphitheater