Unity of the Christian Religion : Catholicism

Q

If Christianity is the true religion, shouldn't there be one denomination? Looks like either all have to be true, or are they all false? Does each individual person decide what is true?
https://www.quora.com/If-Christianity-is-the-true-religion-shouldnt-there-be-one-denomination-Looks-like-either-all-have-to-be-true-or-are-they-all-false-Does-each-individual-person-decide-what-is-true/answer/Hans-Georg-Lundahl

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Studied religions as curious parallels and contrasts to Xtian faith since 9, 10?

5 years ago

“If Christianity is the true religion, shouldn't there be one denomination?”

There is one, Catholicism.

There should also be fake denominations, as prophecied and as warned against. There are.

“Looks like either all have to be true, or are they all false?”

Not really, since the Catholic and three or four similar ones claiming with some realism to continue the apostolic Church without a break are in a hugely better position than any denomination either openly admitting at starting at Reformation (1500 years c. after Christ) or pretending a continuity but with very little and very illread documentation (some Protestants consider their own Baptist denomination as a survival from Apostolic times rather than a branch of Protestantism, but it seems to me they wiggle very broadly with actual history as per a more normal reading of the documents and summaries°

“Does each individual person decide what is true?”

No, Catholicism and its 3 or 4 “twins” (Orthodox, one or two denominations of Monophysite - one can consider Copts and Armenians as different, Nestorians) all claim that the individual has to obey the visible Church in what it requires of all its members.

Protestants claim one must always obey the Bible (which if taken literally according to Matthew 28 precisely precludes Protestantism), and while Protestant denominations started out attacking each other as un-Biblical (and they were right about each other!) they now tend to politely presume, if a matter is not agreed on between Protestants, then either option is Biblical and it is judgemental to say otherwise.

This of course means, if a Catholic comes to debate with Protestants, he heavily risks being stamped as judgemental.

Only very liberal Protestants, the type who would be Catholics or Orthodox if they took Christianity a bit more seriously, would really and truly say “oh, you decide for yourself what is true”. Lately, they have come to dominate Protestantism.