Posted on 01/03/2010 10:30:30 PM PST by Gamecock
Thank you for this well written document!
Uh-Oh. Now you’ve gone and done it beep!
ANSWER: That religion is Protestantism, where every individual is his own final authority, his own pope, dogmatic council, and church of one, and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is decided or ever will be.
Today's Protestant may not realize it or admit it, but he is his own authority of one, there are no denominations, just individuals picking what they want to accept, and reading into the bible what he wants.
EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that so-called Protestants believe, is not even believed by the others WITHIN THEIR OWN DENOMINATION AND WITHIN THEIR OWN CHURCH BUILDING. NOTHING is decided among Protestants, NOT EVEN THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST!
There is no such conflict among Catholics. For a Catholic, religion is a matter of dogmatic certitude. A Catholic either believes the dogmas of the Faith or he is not a Catholic, but a heretic, and outside of the Church. That is the bottom line difference between any and all Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church!
The authority of the Church is not “along side of the Bible” but is based on it. This claim of the Church, which you may not accept, is longstanding. You may argue otherwise, but given that there is no neutral party to decide the matter, mere discussion must be conclusive, with everyone free to choose one side or the other, or neither.
As how it should be, or should protestants incorporate pagan rituals as well?
Which one of these does not adopt the Westminster Confession?
The Roman Catholics just have all their ‘denominations’ under one title. They still exist.
“The authority of the Church is not “along side of the Bible” but is based on it. This claim of the Church, which you may not accept, is longstanding. You may argue otherwise, but given that there is no neutral party to decide the matter, mere discussion must be conclusive, with everyone free to choose one side or the other, or neither.”
____________________________________________________
The Church will not be there at the Judgment to advocate or give an account for any individual.
Of course the tracking the multitude of Roman Catholic denominations is even more convuluted
“.. each Protestant has his own beliefs, each Protestant is his own church of one ...” ~ verdadjusticia
Each Catholic has his own beliefs, each Catholic is his own church of one:
Monday, November 10, 2008
Biden’s bishop
On Nov. 4, one of Bishop William Francis Malooly’s parishioners, Joe Biden, was elected the nation’s first Catholic vice president. With Biden’s support for some legalization of abortion, U.S. Catholics are sure to watch how Malooly, installed in September as Bishop of Wilmington, Del., handles this tricky pastoral task,
I grabbed Malooly, who is here in Baltimore for a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to ask his thoughts on the matter.
Have you met with Vice-president elect Biden since the election?
I have not. We spoke the night before my installation and said we’d like to get together, but between the two of us, he’s got the tougher schedule.
You’ve criticized some Biden’s statements on church teaching, what will be your policy with him going forward, specifically with regard to him receiving Communion in your diocese?
Everyone knew where I was coming from when I was installed. In my homily, and in my pastoral experience, I have always said that I expect Catholics in the electorate, in my diocese, to consider life issues primary in their voting and listen to what the Catholic Church teaches. With regard to the theology of the church, I have to teach. Any public official, whether he’s a ballplayer or a politician, has to form his own conscience and heart in accordance with that teaching.
Is there a bright line for you, that if Biden crosses —such as throwing his weight behind embryonic stem cell researchthat would cause you to deny him Communion in your diocese?
I haven’t thought that far ahead. This is somewhat of a new role for me, but I am conscious of the teaching role of this position.
What would you say to those Catholics who argue that it’s incumbent on you to protect church teaching by denying Biden Communion?
I respect what they have to say about being concerned for the sacrament but I have to follow my own conscience. I have be sure … not to alienate one of the Catholics for whom I am responsible.
Posted by Daniel Burke at 2:33 pm
http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnsblog/month/2008/11/
I think you covered it very succintly.
That is why there is one Catholic Church, while there are a bizillion protestant “churches”, and growing.
As to who’s right - we’ll all know in 100 years... give or take.
Report: Protestant Church Insurers Handle 260 Sex Abuse Cases a Year
By Rose French
June 18, 2007
Protestant numbers have been harder to come by and are sketchier because the denominations are less centralized than the Catholic church; indeed, many congregations are independent, which makes reporting even more difficult.
Some of the only numbers come from three insurance companies Church Mutual Insurance Co., GuideOne Insurance Co. and Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Co.
Together, they insure 165,495 churches and worship centers for liability against child sex abuse and other sexual misconduct, mostly Protestant congregations but a few other faiths as well. They also insure more than 5,500 religious schools, camps and other organizations.
The companies represent a large chunk of all U.S. Protestant churches. There are about 224,000 in the U.S., according to the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, although that number excludes most historically black denominations and some other groups, which account for several thousand congregations.
Church Mutual, GuideOne and Brotherhood Mutual each provided statistics on sex abuse claims to The Associated Press, although they did not produce supporting documentation or a way to determine whether the reports were credible.
The largest company, Church Mutual, reported an average of about 100 sex abuse cases a year involving minors over the past decade. GuideOne, which has about half the clients of Church Mutual, said it has received an average of 160 reports of sex abuse against minors every year for the past two decades.
Brotherhood Mutual said it has received an average of 73 reports of child sex abuse and other sexual misconduct every year for the past 15 years. However, Brotherhood does not specify which victims are younger than 18 so it is impossible to accurately add that to the total cases.
Abuse reports do not always mean the accused was guilty, and they do not necessarily result in financial awards or settlements, the companies said. The reports include accusations against clergy, church staff and volunteers.
Even with hundreds of cases a year “that’s a very small number. That probably doesn’t even constitute half,’’ said Gary Schoener, director of the Walk-In Counseling Center in Minneapolis, a consultant on hundreds of Protestant and Catholic clergy misconduct cases. “Sex abuse in any domain, including the church, is reported seldom. We know a small amount actually come forward.’’
Tom Farr, general counsel and senior vice president of claims for GuideOne, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, said most abuse cases are resolved privately in court-ordered mediation. Awards can range from millions of dollars down to paying for counseling for victims, he said.
One of the largest settlements to date in Protestant churches involved the case of former Lutheran minister Gerald Patrick Thomas Jr. in Texas, where a jury several years ago awarded the minister’s victims nearly $37 million (euro28 million). Separate earlier settlements involving Thomas cost an additional $32 million.
When insurance companies first started getting reports of abuse from churches nearly two decades ago, the cases usually involved abuse that happened many years earlier. But over the past several years, the alleged abuse is more recent, which could reflect a greater awareness about reporting abuse, insurance companies said.
Insurance officials said the number of sex abuse cases has remained steady over the past two decades, but they also said churches are working harder to prevent child sex abuse by conducting background checks, installing windows in nurseries and play areas and requiring at least two adults in a room with a child.
A victims’ advocacy group has said the Southern Baptists, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, could do more to prevent abuse by creating a list of accused clergy the public and churches could access.
“These are things people are entitled to know,’’ said Christa Brown, a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, who says she was sexually abused as a child by a Southern Baptist minister. “The only way to prevent this crime is to break the code of silence and to have absolute transparency when allegations are raised.’’
At the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in San Antonio this week, the Rev. Wade Burleson proposed a feasibility study into developing a national database of Southern Baptist ministers who have been “credibly accused of, personally confessed to, or legally been convicted of sexual harassment or abuse.’’
A convention committee referred Burleson’s motion to the SBC executive committee, which will report back with findings and a recommendation at next year’s meeting in Indianapolis.
Southern Baptist President Frank Page said leaders are considering several options to help churches protect children against abuse.
“We believe that the Scripture teaches that the church should be an autonomous, independent organization,’’ Page said. “We encourage churches to hold accountable at the local level those who may have misused the trust of precious children and youth.’’
Several years ago, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which represents moderates who have increasingly distanced themselves from the conservative-led Southern Baptists, started a list of accused clergy for churches, but not the public. Under pressure from victim advocates, the Texas group just released the names of some convicted sex offenders who may have been ministers in local congregations.
Joe Trull, editor of Christian Ethics Today and retired ethics professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, helped the Texas convention create its registry and says there are now about 11 cases involving clergy abuse with minors.
But he believes these are just the “tip of the iceberg’’ because churches don’t have to report abuse cases to the registry and aren’t likely to.
“The problem we’re having is that churches just weren’t sending the names,’’ Trull said. “In the normal scenario, they just try to keep it secret. We’re going to have to be more proactive and let them know if they don’t come forward, they’re helping to perpetuate this problem.’’
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-religion/1959011/posts
Were they all celebrate? None of them married?
Gee, lets set up a battleground between religions.
Why in the world would anyone post a ‘my religion is better than your religion’ post on a conservative website? There are many conservative Catholics but they are reticent bc of people like this.
Bait for the person who is supposed to be outing FR as anti-Catholic or openner to a legit debate about differences between Catholic and Protestant Christianity?
This line is troubling: “But Catholic authority requires Catholic priests to take vows of celibacy, which are contrary to human nature and create terrible stumbling blocks leading to sin (which is now being plastered shamefully all over the public media).”
That’s SRM leftist garbage. Incidence of child abuse are no higher for celibate priests than for ministers in Protestant churches (or any other large group for that matter). Then again, most don’t know that because the media has done such a good job equating “priest” with “child molester” and vice versa.
Or is this a reply to an earlier thread about Catholic vs Lutheran from the Catholic viewpoint? If so, I find it interesting - and telling - that the Catholic viewpoint included much praise of the strength of Lutheran faith. In contrast, this entire piece reads like an SRM hit piece on Palin complete with media-based distortions (see above).
About two miles down the road from where I live is the Presbyterian church that my family has attended in one way or another for four generations. When my grandfather first joined, he did so as a Texan who had moved east for his career. That was almost 100 years ago. Over the past 20 years the church changed so much that it is teetering on the brink of extinction. The manse across the street where the minister always lived, is now rented out for income. The last four ministers have been rentals who come in only for a service. The last two ministers were a homosexual and a lesbian respectively. The minister prior to that was thrown out for adultery with a parishioner. This year the Christmas Eve service was noticeably lacking in attendence.
Why has all this happened? Liberalism and moral relativism. Although I was married and both my children were baptized in this church, I almost never go there anymore.
I find it odd and hard to read your chart/break down of the Presbyterian Church as most break downs I’ve seen read from left to right and not right to left.
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