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To: pgyanke
when Catholics disagree on a matter of faith, we take it to a higher authority (the Catechism, the Bible, the Magisterium) until we resolve the conflict. Protestants simply form a new denomination.

Actually, when Catholics disagree on a matter of faith, they, for the most part, feel comfortable warming the pews anyway and continue to call themselves Catholics. Surveys show that a majority of professing American Catholics disagree with one or more essential Catholic doctrines. In essence, there are millions of personal Catholic denominations within the Catholic Church. YOPIOC, if you will. Go ahead and tell me these people aren't really Catholics. Fine. But don't turn around and spout the "billion Catholics" line.
85 posted on 04/19/2010 8:15:17 PM PDT by armydoc
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To: armydoc

You’re funny. You think you are making your own point... but you are making mine even better than I did.

What kind of faith is unexamined and never questioned? Using your own yardstick, you could say that every individual on the planet is his own denomination. Of course that’s ridiculous and tortures the language. The fact is that even when Catholics question the Faith, they are still in the pews listening, learning and participating. We are not outside the Church making a church of our own.

I was one who questioned my faith to the point of nearly leaving the Church. What brought me back was a careful reading of the Bible, history, the early Church Fathers, apologetics and actually participating in the Mass rather than being a disinterested spectator. It really was a question of authority... just as it is for much of the rest of Christianity. Certainly even a cursory view of history is all that is needed to see that we need the authority Christ gave His Church. When we stray from it, we set up our own authorities with private interpretations... and that has led to the fractalization of the Protestant world. Rather than the unity we preserve with God’s Grace and the prayers of Our Lord, the Protestant world demonstrates disunity and division.

Ask yourself this... what is the purpose of the Epistles? They are not simply letters of support and encouragement... although they have those elements. If you read them closely, you will see that they teach on matters of the faith and reproach the churches for straying from the traditions given them by the Apostles. By what authority does one church tell another church it is wrong? I’ll tell you... by the authority of One Church which brings all into conformity. My Protestant friends tell me there are meant to be separate churches as shown in the Epistles. However, they miss the fact that the purpose of the Epistles was to maintain the unity of Faith as One Church.


88 posted on 04/19/2010 10:36:24 PM PDT by pgyanke (You have no "rights" that require an involuntary burden on another person. Period. - MrB)
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