Catholicism versus Protestantism down the centuries

I think Heinlein is right once again:

Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there.

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Robert A. Heinlein, JOB: A Comedy of Justice

There are references to "official Protestant doctrine" etc. in many of the above posts.Which group or groups can produce "official" doctrines when there are tens of thousands of different groups?

The 2001 edition [of the World Christian Encyclopedia], successor to his 1982 first edition, which took a decade to compile, identifies 10,000 distinct religions, of which 150 have 1 million or more followers. Within Christianity, he counts 33,820 denominations.

As noted in the website listed below, 30,000+ of these are Protestant/Anglican denominations.The Facts and Stats on 33000 Denominations: World Christian Encyclopedia (2001, 2nd edition)So why should we believe what any of them have to say?If all of them, with the same origin some 2,000 years ago, have now split into 33,820 different groups, with no sign of agreeing with one another and consolidating, its likely that all are wrong.Edited by Coyote, : speeling

As has been pointed out by Theodoric, you are massively incorrect and the Native American groups were incredibly diverse. For example, there were over 100 major languages and dialects in what became California alone.And there the peoples were not warlike. The number of attacks on the Spanish can be counted on one hand.Later, in areas outside of the Spanish conquest, disappointed Gold Rush settlers just slaughtered any Native Americans in their way, on occasion shooting everyone in a village. Other than the Modoc, in the extreme northeastern corner of the state, there was no organized resistance.It is good to learn something before one lectures others on a subject.