In the 1950's, going to church meant sitting, kneeling and standing at the ring of some pretty chimey bells an alter boy would ring at times that to ME, didn't have any reason ... everything was in Latin and in about an hour we would walk across the street to the parochial Catholic school (we were all public school kids, Catholic school kids never attended children's' mass .... they didn't have to ... they got their indoctrination all week long.)
An hour later after non-stop Catechism class, we were released and walked home.
Every Sunday until I said, "No".
I got saved at the age of thirty three and I started attending a Baptist church because I wanted to be baptized and I thought that was the best place to go.
I HEARD PREACHING FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.
NOW to respond to this thread
The author spent a long time addressing the physical part of what it is to be a Catholic priest and touched on some spiritual mores, but never answered his own question using his own Paul.
In my Baptist church, I listen to about an hours' worth of preaching. A man stands for an hour and talks, expounds on, explains and drills home something from the Word of God that I can sink my teeth into and say "Amen" to.
And my pastor has something new every week because life continues to go on and there is always something new or a little different than last year to preach on, always with the intent of bringing someone who is not born again, into a saving awareness of Jesus and leading that one to Christ.
I never heard preaching in my life while in a Catholic church.
I never heard preaching that was way longer than anything some might call ritual in a Catholic church.
Catholics would do well to get rid of the trappings and just preach.
The authors should have said, "We spend more time on being Catholic and not so much leading people to Jesus for salvation"
Because THAT is the difference
In typical FReeper fashion, I didn’t really read the article so my response is only to the title.
I believe that Paul and the modern church did not have any concept of clergy. To them, the clergy was the Pharisee and the Sanhedrin, who were totally and completely corrupted in their quest for power.
The Bible clearly speaks of the Priesthood of believers, in that we are all priests and saints, none to se set above the others.
There is a place for elders and deacons, but I also believe that these are not specific positions in which they are paid for. Most of the churches I’ve attended over the years follow this pattern. The leaders of the church (elders/deacons) are employed in regular jobs and volunteer their services. That model seems to work very well, especially when there is a plurality of leadership. Thus, one man cannot lead by his opinion, instead, decisions are tempered by the group of leaders. It generally works well to keep the church on track biblically and practically.
** alter boy **
How was he altered?
You mean watching the same play, with prescribed largely perfunctory prayers and responses, ritual readings, and a 10 minute sermonette by "priests" in ostentatious garments is not what you see in the record of the NT testament church (rhetorical ?)
Coupla things in response to your post and the thread.
1: Your situation is a little similar to mine, except for the fact that I didn’t walk away from a Catholic church, I walked away from an ELCA Lutheran church. They didn’t speak Latin but they might as well have spoken Latin, considering the unfortunate SJW gobbeldygook that they KEPT ON SPOUTING. It was like I was thirsty but they kept on giving me salt water. Went to a small startup LCMS congregation at age 19 and never looked back. Now just a month ago I was ordained as an LCMS pastor, and I credit huge swaths of that to the fact that I FINALLY got to hear Jesus being preached.
2: We here in the Missouri Synod (and it really should be all Lutherans, but the ELCA has drunk the SJW Kool-Aid) make a point to preach both Word and Sacrament. Sacrament being defined as something physical that has the Word attached to it, specifically for the purpose of delivering God’s grace. (Now that’s a little complicated; we still believe in salvation by grace through faith, but for now let’s just say that belief in Christ is what saves, just that the manner of that belief can come in pure Word, but also in the Word attached to the waters of baptism or the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion. Aaaanyways.) But the focus HAS to be on the work of Christ, not our own works. We can’t work our way into eternal life; he died for us. A church service that doesn’t have the Word is no worship at all.
3: I am just praying that if the persecution that Paul speaks about arrives, that I will have the strength and the faith to persevere through it.
After reading your post, I just figured I might as well share my own experiences between churches where Jesus is central and churches where Jesus is... not.
You just described FR Catholics to a "T"!