Where do Jehovah's Witnesses get their claim about denominations?

From the link below, when we drill down into the statistics we discover the following:

"Now for a few facts and stats from the actual source: World Christian Encyclopedia by Barrett, Kurian, Johnson (Oxford Univ Press, 2nd edition, 2001).

The source does refer to 33000+ total "Christian" denominations, but it defines the word "denomination" as an organized Christian group within a specific country:

“Denominations. A denomination is defined in this Encyclopedia as an organized aggregate of worship centers or congregations of similar ecclesiastical tradition within a specific country; i.e. as an organized Christian church or tradition or religious group or community of believers, within a specific country, whose component congregations and members are called by the same denominational name in different areas, regarding themselves as one autonomous Christian church distinct from other denominations, churches and traditions. As defined here, world Christianity consists of 6 major ecclesiastico-cultural blocs, divided into 300 major ecclesiastical traditions, composed of over 33,000 distinct denominations in 238 countries, these denominations themselves being composed of over 3,400,000 worship centers, churches or congregations.” (Barrett et al, volume 1, page 16, Table 1-5, emphasis added)

So we have, according to Barrett's Encyclopedia:

a denomination is defined as existing within a specific country

there are 33,000+ total of these "Christian denominations" in 238 total countries

These 33,000 are subdivided into "6 major ecclesiastico-cultural mega-blocs", and ordering them by denomination size we have (I am rounding up or down slightly for convenience, using year 2000 figures) :

Independents (about 22000)

Protestants (about 9000)

"Marginals" (about 1600)

Orthodox (781)

Roman Catholics (242)

Anglicans (168)

So the 33,000 number is from the total of these 6 mega-blocs:

22000 + 9000 + 1600 + 781 + 242 + 168 = 33,000+

That's where the 33,000 figure comes from. If you count the "mega-bloc" of "Protestants" only it is 9000 / 33000 or 27% of the total. However, if you combine Protestants with Independents and Anglicans ( [22000 + 9000 + 168] / 33000) it is 94% of the total or 31,000+ . We will see below that most (about 97%) of the "Independent" churches are indeed Protestants. Now that we have that settled, I will examine what the source says about each of these "mega-blocs." All of the information below is found on pages 16-18 (volume 1) of the World Christian Encyclopedia (2001, 2nd edition)."

Nobody should take statistics and claims at face value. People can make statistics say anything they want. The fact is a Christian does not belong to a denomination, but belongs to Christ Jesus and obeys and follows Him. They are born-again and their lives have been transformed by the Holy Spirit. When we come before the judgment seat, God isn't going to ask us what religion we belonged to, and Jehovah's Witnesses are deluding themselves if they think that belonging to their organization is the basis for salvation.

I have seen the Jehovah's Witnesses cite to the Atlas for Global Christianity which reports that there are some 41,000 denominations. That dates back to 2010. This same publication projects that by 2025, there will likely be 55,000 denominations.

It is really disturbing that your question ends up being just another opportunity to bash Jehovah's Witnesses. Look at some of the comments: JW's 'make up facts'; "just another example of the cult fudging numbers." This is an outside source - just one of many. Yet rather than take a moment to check it, they immediately call JW's cult members who are lying and making up stuff.

I have just cited one source - there are several.

Wait a minute: regardless of the sources? You ask where they got it from and then say forget the source? Then your problem is with the sources and not with the JW’s. You’re actually blaming them for somebody else’s report. If it’s a false conclusion, then blame the people who came up with the numbers.

Where have you seen them claim 60,000? Did they put it in print? If the denominations dont mean anything to you why ask the question? How can they all be the body of Christ? And if there all the body of Christ how come you don't think the Jehovah Witnesses are the body of Christ too? Doesn’t seem they're trying to hard to prove disunity. If you’ve got only 300 denominations, that’s obviously disunity.

I was unable to find on the Internet the exact number of Protestant denominations. Catholic Answers agrees that 30,000 is an over-exaggeration.

Atheists also try to claim an exaggeration, so it's not just JWs. I think atheists and JWs both include Catholic and Orthodox in the number of denominations. That's a mistake in itself because Catholic and Orthodox are branches. Denominations only come from the Protestant branch.

I believe that the groups who try to claim such a huge number are not only including Catholic and Orthodox, but different groups of those branches. There really is only one Catholic branch that is under the leadership of the Pope. There's only one Orthodox Church under the same leadership.

The Baptist denomination has many separate denominations and the reason for that is that each individual church is sovereign. They tend to belong to a larger group such as the Southern Baptist Convention but each church has the power to hire and fire their pastor. The fact that they're so sovereign is why Fred Phelps was able to start a church and slap the name Baptist onto it. The Westborough Baptist Church is not at all like your typical Southern Baptist, American Baptist, or UK Baptist Church.

Non-denominational became popular. Since they don't belong to a denomination, I suspect some people count each church as a denomination.

There are many Protestant denominations but they can be divided into Mainstream, Evangelical, and Pentecostal. Most of the non-denominational would fall into the category of either Pentecostal, Evangelical, New Age, or Prosperity gospel.

You can tell which are the main churches by looking at what you see when you drive through a small town.

They probably included Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and groups that branched off Mormonism. Those are not Protestant, so they might be sects, but not denominations.

The truth is that there is a large number of Protestant denominations, but no where near 30,000. Another fact is that Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Churches agree on the basic Creeds such as the Apostle's Creed. Most probably agree with all of the Nicene Creed except the part about the one Catholic and apostolic Church. I think most Christian groups would agree with the way the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are described in the Nicene Creed.

I can't see your point here because on the one hand you ask "Where do Jehovah's Witnesses get the claim that there are over 30,000 denominations".... and then you proceed to answer your own 'question' by stating "I found a reference to 33,000 denominations WORLDWIDE, in a World Christian Encyclopedia comparing various denominations and churches (of which Jehovah's Witnesses are included in)..."

Inadvertently you've proved a few things here (that likely will irritate you)

(1) That others acknowledge that Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians

(2) That because Jehovah's Witnesses are fully United in worship and so only count as one denomination, your source reveals that there are well over the 30,000 that you were griping about

(3) That you obviously asked this 'question' to incite ill feeling toward us so that you could shamefully call us liars (as shown by your additional comments to people's answers here)

Is this Christian behaviour to act in this way?

well this isn't a jw recruiting method this is true there are actually more there is somewhere between 40 and 50,000 protestant denominations most of them though are more independent versions of a larger denomination the big ones would be Lutheran Anglican Presbyterian Calvinist reformed Baptist Congregationalist church of Christ Methodist Trinitarian Pentecostal episcopal and 1000s more but groups such as Mormon jw Unitarian oneness Pentecostal and possibly a few others are not even Christian but rather liberal interpretaitons of the bible or just a perversion of it not that protestants are much better though anyways Christ founded one church the catholic and appostollic church the roman catholic church contains these teachins the orthodox church is also part of the original church but is sadly in schism currently

Jehovah's Witnesses have missionars in 240 lands who report the denominations,

According to this website (wikipedia) there are 302 denominations just within Baptist.

Just a few, there are Calvinistic Baptists, General Baptists, Primitive Baptists, Old Regulars, Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists, and independents.

It's very important difference because they all have different theologies, methods of salvation, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Baptist_deno...

Pew Polling is a world wide polling data source. They take a yearly poll on religions. Last year, there were 60,000 religions just in the USA alone, who claimed to be Christian. Ranging from ultra conservative to hanging off the light fixtures crazy, but all claimed to be Christian.

Inside each of these, they are separate denominations. For one reason or another, some making little sense, they object to a teaching, a remark, a person. Then they leave that group and establish another denomination under the umbrella of that basic church or religion.

These are further divided (Methodists have about a hundred, Baptists close to 150, Catholics close to a thousand.) from those basic denominations into further divided groups. In the South, we have examples of churches roughly less than 5 miles apart, the same religion named in the sign out front, but teaching differently inside.

So, it is not just divisions in basic teachings causing different religions to spring up such as Catholic and Baptist. Also inside Baptists, there are Free Will, hard shell and another hundred specific denominations inside of Baptists and more in Catholics. As they disagree and fight one another, this causes a split among them for another division. The laity does not like how a preacher preaches while another half the congregation likes him. So they spit into another denomination with other teachings that please themselves.

In the end, one gets a division in the basic religion--say Catholic or Lutheran, down into various denominations within that basic religious division. IT goes on dividing to the very basic individual church buildings.

True Christians have no such divisions. They find what is ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE in the Bible and is consistently in agreement. Then apply the commAnd at 1 Corinthians 1:10, for all to speak in agreement, with no divisions among us. To speak and think as one mind and line of thought. That dies not mean robotic thought, but means the same correct answer from the Bible. In school, thirty people having the same correct answer never makes it wrong if thirty or a hundred have it with no cheating.

Likewise, imagine the same question being asked of all people. With Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Church of God, etc. You will get a million differing opinions and answers. Ask True Christians the same question. You get 8 million turns to the same scriptures for your answer, in agreement. The correct answer remains the correct answer NO matter how many get it correct.

There are over 8 millions Jehovah witnesses on the earth.

Psalm 83:18 May people know that you, whose name is Jehovah,+

You alone are the Most High over all the earth

Acts 15:14

14 Symʹe·on+ has related thoroughly how God for the first time turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name

Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, “the Faithful Witness,”+ “the firstborn from the dead,”+ and “the Ruler of the kings of the earth.”+

To him who loves us+ and who set us free from our sins by means of his own blood+—

Isaiah 43:10

10 “You are my witnesses,”+ declares Jehovah,

“Yes, my servant whom I have chosen,+

So that you may know and have faith in me*

And understand that I am the same One.+

Before me no God was formed,

And after me there has been none.+

I don't see why the RCC would be counted as so many different ones. It's one (and not a denomination, I originally said it wrong). That's a weird way to define it or come up with numbers. There are not thousands and thousands of denominations in the world. Regardless of what a source says, logic tells you the Catholic Church is 1, not 236.

Seems the JW organization, as usual, is spreading misinformation from a source, or changing it, or purposely trying to make Christianity look that divided. I'd rather they worry about themselves because technically they aren't even part of Christianity. How they can vary from 20 or 30 or 60 thousand denominations is beyond me. There is misinformation somewhere...or deceit.