Posted on 04/29/2012 3:06:06 PM PDT by NYer
Since your personal theology, as you have described it here in these threads, is in conflict with not only that of the Catholic Church but with 99% of Protestantism on significant issues of doctrine and dogma can you explain to me how you can celebrate the movement of anyone from one error to another and not at the same time mourn the shrinking membership in the OPC?
Do you not see the conversion of a single atheist, Buddhist, Muslim, Mormon, Hindu or Jew to Catholicism as a victory for Christ? Do you see the musical church game played by so very many within Protestantism who are perpetually church shopping and hopping as a rousing endorsement of Protestantism?
Do you think ones Salvation is more determined by which pew one sits in than what is in their hearts and how they live their lives?
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." - Matthew 7:21
When Jesus condemned the Pharisees it was because they decorated the tombs of the prophets and claimed as their spiritual forefathers those who had murdered the prophets, saying that they themselves were innocent because they personally would never do such things.
They thereby condemned themselves and hence Jesus called them “the offspring of vipers”.
It was not Christ’s followers that were doing the killing and persecuting. (Matt. 23:29-33)
By calling these murderers their forefathers the Pharisees became murders themselves.
Is there a lesson to be drawn here?
Of course. Just don’t expect those who need to learn it the most to get it.
What an epic fail.
Can you not condemn the popes and other Roman Church clergy who ordered and participated in the Inquisition then?
Or is there a statute of limitations?
Is there no evil that the Catholic church perpetrated that you can find worthy of condemnation?
Or is the threat of finding wrong in the Catholic church so unnerving that Catholics are unwilling to recognize it?
I suppose that if Catholics were to admit that the church was wrong about something, it would open the door to them having to admit that it could have been wrong about other things as well.
Can't have any of that admitting Catholics are wrong stuff, now can we?
We are waiting for your apology in regards to truth, while here is manifest the old perverse premise, that whatever is contrary to Rome cannot be true (even though you wish them luck and blessings), if she does say so herself.
In addition, despite your recourse at attempted mind reading (once again), i do indeed strive for the truth of the gospel and the salvation of souls, which most RCs and many others need, and we need to better walk in.
2Tim. 2:25
The RCC is bleeding membership and the only thing keeping it afloat are immigrants, mostly illegals.
As God wills.
Dozens of articles have been posted attesting to this fact. RCs would be wise not to ignore them the same way they ignore the Bible.
Just because a person doesn't like the facts doesn't mean they can change the facts, regardless how uncomfortable the truth may be. The RCC is in decline.
God is good. Truth prevails. One God; one Savior; one Christ; one Mediator; one Advocate.
Read your Bible. Mary was not sinless. She was a sinner until the day she died; just like the rest of us. And she was forgiven her sins, just like all believers, by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
As far as the false bishop of Rome in a party dress and Prada shoes is concerned, some adherents actually seem to enjoy being told a lie. No other way to explain the insanity.
ps - the vague and sparse Scripture you offer so seldom rarely has anything to do with the topic at hand. Do you close your eyes and point? I hear some RCs use that method of exegesis.
2002 Statistics compiled by the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs reported that 71 percent of the U.S. Catholic population growth since 1960 was due to Hispanics. The statistics are taken from U.S. Census reports and recent surveys of Hispanics. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_15_36/ai_59607715/pg_3/
In 2008, 25:1% of respondents self-identified themselves as Catholic (versus 26.2 in 1990), with 50.9 belonging to Other Christian groups (from 60% in 1990). http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf
24% of current “Nones” (not identifying with any religion) and 35% of 1st generation or "new" Nones) identified themselves being Catholic at age 12, 11% identified themselves as "Christian," 7% as Baptist, and 3% as Protestant. 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS); http://commons.trincoll.edu/aris/files/2011/08/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf http://commons.trincoll.edu/aris/files/2011/08/NONES_08.pdf
According to the American Bishops' count (as reported in WP) in their Official Catholic Directory 2010, which primarily rests on the parish assessment tax which pastors evaluate yearly according to the number of registered members and contributors, Catholics in the United States represented 22% of the US population.
2010 reports show the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) - ranked 24th largest - increased 1.76 percent, and the Assemblies of God (9th) grew 1.27 percent. The “Latter-day Saints” [cult] (ranked 4th largest) grew 1.71 percent, the Jehovah's Witnesses [cult] (23rd ) said they were up 2 percent http://www.ncccusa.org/news/100204yearbook2010.html
The Presbyterian Church (USA) shrank 3.3 percent Southern Baptist Convention, the largest denomination after Catholics, lost 0.24 percent of its membership and now stands at 16.2 million. It also declined in membership in the year prior. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic_church_shows_robust_growth_in_u.s._membership_new_report_says/
In numbers (not percentage), Catholicism, which lists 68.1 million in the US, has experienced “the greatest net loss” of any major religious group. members. The 'had it' Catholics,” National Catholic Reporter ,Oct. 11, 2001, based on reports from the 2008 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey and the National Council of Churches’ 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.
68% of those raised Roman Catholic still are Catholic (comparable with or better than the retention rates of other religious groups). 15% are now Protestant (9% evangelical); 14% are unaffiliated. Pew forum, Faith in Flux (April 27, 2009) http://pewforum.org/uploadedfiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/fullreport.pdf
44 percent of Americans have switched religious affiliations since childhood, mostly mainline Protestants. 7% who were raised Protestant are now unaffiliated; 15% now belong to a different Protestant faith. ^
80% of adults who were raised Protestant are still Protestant. ^
51% of Protestants from a different Protestant denomination cite a lack of spiritual fulfillment as a reason for leaving their childhood faith. 85% say they joined their current denominational faith because they enjoy the services and style of worship Only 15% left say they left because they stopped believing in its teachings. ^
Those who have left Catholicism outnumber those who have joined the Catholic Church by nearly a four-to-one margin. 10.1% have left the Catholic Church after having been raised Catholic, while only 2.6% of adults have become Catholic after having been raised in a different faith.
4% of Americans raised Catholic are now unaffiliated; 5% are now Protestant. ^
Over 75% of those who left Catholicism attended Mass at least once a week as children, versus 86% having done so who remain Catholics today.^
Regarding reasons for leaving Catholicism, less than 30% of former Catholics agreed that the clergy sexual abuse scandal played a role in their departure. ^
71% of Protestants converts from Catholicism said that their spiritual needs were not being met in Catholicism, with 78% of Evangelical Protestants concurring, versus 43% of those now unaffiliated. ^
50% of all Protestants converts from Catholicism said they stooped believing in Catholicism's teachings overall. Only 23% (20% now evangelical) were unhappy about Catholicism's teachings on abortion/homosexuality (versus 46% of those now unaffiliated); 23% also expressed disagreement with teaching on divorce/remarriage; 16% (12% now evangelical) were dissatisfied with teachings on birth control, 70% said they found a religion the liked more in Protestantism.
55% of evangelical converts from Catholicism cited dissatisfaction with Catholic teachings about the Bible was a reason for leaving Catholicism, with 46% saying the Catholic Church did not view the Bible literally enough.
81% of all Protestant converts from Catholicism said they enjoyed the service and worship of Protestant faith as a reason for joining a Protestant denomination, with 62% of all Protestants and 74% Evangelicals also saying that they felt God's call to do so. ^
42% of those now unaffiliated stated they do not believe in God, or most religious teaching. ^
54% of “millennial generation” Catholics (born in 1982 or later) are Hispanics, while 39% are non-Hispanic whites. On the other hand, 76% of “pre-Vatican II generation” Catholics (born 1943 or earlier) are non-Hispanic whites, while 15% are Hispanics. Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, September, 2010 . http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/6850/Openers-More-evidence-of-the-browning-of-US-Cat.aspx
68% of all Latinos in the U.S. identify as Catholics. Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion http://pewforum.org/Changing-Faiths-Latinos-and-the-Transformation-of-American-Religion.aspx Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion - American Piety in the 21 Century – September 2006 . http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf
Among Catholics under the age of 30, 47% are white, and 45% are Latino. In contrast, among Catholics over the age of 65, 82% are white (Pew Forum 2007, reported in http://publicreligion.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Catholics-and-LGBT-Issues-Survey-Report.pdf)
Latinos comprised 32 percent of all U.S. Catholics in 2008, versus to 20 percent in 1990. However, Catholic identification has slipped from 66 percent in 1990 to 60 percent in 2008. There has also been a significant rise in the number of Latinos who do not adhere to a religion. The longer a Latino has lived in the United States, the less likely he or she is to be Catholic. Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College, http://theamericano.com/2010/03/18/new-report-on-u-s-latino-religious-identification/
18% of all Latinos say they have either converted from one religion to another or to no religion at all. http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/75.4.pdf
1,000 Mexicans left the Catholic Church every day between 2000 and 2010, a decline that has continued uninterrupted over the past 60 years, from 98.21 of the population to 83.9 percent today. Latin American Herald Tribune, March 10, 2011, based upon census data and study by sociologist and historian Roberto Blancarte of Colegio de Mexico and the National Autonomous University of Mexico
The percentage of of Protestants and Evangelicals rose from 1.28% in 1950 to close to 8% of the total population in 2010, (excluding so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons). 5.2 million say they profess no religion. ^
This decline is seen as extending across the region (Catholics represent between 55% to 73% in Central America, 70% in Brazil, 50% in Cuba and Uruguay).^
Almost 20% of all Latino American Catholics have left the Roman Catholicism, with 23 percent of second-generation Latino Americans doing so. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf
54% of Hispanic Catholics describe themselves as charismatic Christians. http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=75
51% of Hispanic Evangelicals are converts, and 43% are former Catholics. 82% of Hispanics cite the desire for a more direct, personal experience with God as the main reason for adopting a new faith. Among those who have become evangelicals, 90% say it was a spiritual search for a more direct, personal experience with God was the main reason that drove their conversion. Negative views of Catholicism do not appear to be a major reason for their conversion. ^
A study which broke down Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, and non-Hispanic Catholics into the three subgroups of traditionalists, centrists, and modernists, found that 5.3 percent of the respondents qualified as traditionalist Catholic, 5.4 percent as centrist Catholics, and 4.9 percent of respondents are modernist Catholics. The Henry Institute, A Pre-Election Analysis http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/survey_finds_some_catholics_looking_for_a_political_home
Latinos Catholics constituted 6.8 percent of the survey respondents. ^
About 68 percent of traditionalist Catholics opposed gays and lesbian marriage, versus 50% of centrist Catholics and 65 percent of modernist Catholics. ^
Traditionalist Catholics disagreed that “abortion should be legal and solely up to the woman to decide” 71 to 21 percent, centrist Catholics agreed 54 to 40 percent, and modernist Catholics agreed 80-16 percent. ^
Catholic Latinos, overwhelmingly identify as Democratic, 57 percent to 15 percent. Religion and the 2008 Election: ^
99% of Protestant pastors who hold to very conservative theology strongly disagree that homosexual marriage should be legal, with 98% also describing themselves as pro-life, and of such 98 percent strongly agree with the statement "Our church considers Scripture to be the authority for our church and our lives." Among pastors who do not strongly disagree that gay marriage should be legal, 71 percent said they agreed with the above affirmation, as well as 65% of pro-choice pastors (three-fourths of all Protestant pastors surveyed said they are pro-life). LifeWay Research; http://www.lifeway.com/ArticleView?storeId=10054&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&article=LifeWay-Research-protestant-pastors-share-views-on-gay-marriage-abortion
Evangelical Protestants are the most politically conservative Christian tradition. Within each tradition, those with literal views of the Bible are more politically conservative than is their tradition overall. Catholics that are Biblical literalists (11.8%) hold more conservative political views than the Catholic population in general does. The Biblical literalist Catholic is as politically conservative as the Biblical literalist who is Evangelical (47.8%) or Mainline Protestant. (11.2%) American Piety in the 21st Century, Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf
I try to be hopeful.
Sadly, to some degree this type of means of punishing dissent (even if that was the norm of the age, and the Inquisitions could be more judicial then the regular courts), was something early Prots. had to unlearn.
Yet such was sanctioned from the very top in Rome, and her “apology” for such was for some of her children as i recall, as inferring less than the official sanction from the top which fostered it, while the latter unconditional censure of torture is certainly inconsistent.
It is fully in accordance with the nature of Faith that in religious matters every form of coercion by men should be excluded. — Dignitatis Humanae
In this regard, I reiterate that the prohibition against torture ‘cannot be contravened under any circumstances’”. — Pope Benedict XVI, in a speech of 6 September 2007; Torture and corporal punishment as a problem in Catholic Theology, September 2005;
..the disciple of Christ rejects every recourse to such methods, which nothing could justify, and by which the dignity of man is as much debased in the torturer as in his victim. . . — Pope John Paul II, Address to the International Red Cross (Geneva, June 15, 1982).
That it is against the will of the Spirit to burn heretics at the stake is condemned as false. (Pope Leo X, “Exsurge Domino,” 1520
Innocent’s Bull [Ad Extirpanda] prescribes that captured heretics, being “murderers of souls as well as robbers of God’s sacraments and of the Christian faith, . . . are to be coerced – as are thieves and bandits – into confessing their errors and accusing others, although one must stop short of danger to life or limb.” — Bull Ad Extirpanda (Bullarium Romanorum Pontificum, vol. 3 [Turin: Franco, Fory & Dalmazzo, 1858], Lex 25, p. 556a.) http://www.rtforum.org/lt/lt119.html
Canons of the Ecumenical Fourth Lateran Council, 1215:
We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy that raises against the holy, orthodox and Catholic faith which we have above explained; condemning all heretics under whatever names they may be known, for while they have different faces they are nevertheless bound to each other by their tails, since in all of them vanity is a common element. Those condemned, being handed over to the secular rulers of their bailiffs, let them be abandoned, to be punished with due justice, clerics being first degraded from their orders. As to the property of the condemned, if they are laymen, let it be confiscated; if clerics, let it be applied to the churches from which they received revenues. But those who are only suspected, due consideration being given to the nature of the suspicion and the character of the person, unless they prove their innocence by a proper defense, let them be anathematized and avoided by all 1-intil they have made suitable satisfaction; but if they have been under excommunication for one year, then let them be condemned as heretics.
Secular authorities, whatever office they may hold, shall be admonished and induced and if necessary compelled by ecclesiastical censure, that as they wish to be esteemed and numbered among the faithful, so for the defense of the faith they ought publicly to take an oath that they will strive in good faith and to the best of their ability to exterminate in the territories subject to their jurisdiction all heretics pointed out by the Church; so that whenever anyone shall have assumed authority, whether spiritual or temporal, let him be bound to confirm this decree by oath.
But if a temporal ruler, after having been requested and admonished by the Church, should neglect to cleanse his territory of this heretical foulness, let him be excommunicated by the metropolitan and the other bishops of the province. If he refuses to make satisfaction within a year, let the matter be made known to the supreme pontiff, that he may declare the ruler’s vassals absolved from their allegiance and may offer the territory to be ruled lay Catholics, who on the extermination of the heretics may possess it without hindrance and preserve it in the purity of faith; the right, however, of the chief ruler is to be respected as long as he offers no obstacle in this matter and permits freedom of action.
The same law is to be observed in regard to those who have no chief rulers (that is, are independent). Catholics who have girded themselves with the cross for the extermination of the heretics, shall enjoy the indulgences and privileges granted to those who go in defense of the Holy Land. (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/lateran4.asp)
Dan, like the rest of the Protestants, are doing what God has commanded us to do - preach the word in season and out, in love and truth.
RCs preach the RC catechism. Protestants preach the Good News found in Scripture.
As God wills.
What would make you think of the koran when discussing Scripture???? How weird is that, are you muzzie.
Calvinism simply says God is in control of His creation. I realize this is foreign to most RCs although before the Reformation Rome, too, believed that, as did all of Christendom.
RCs think they can earn their way to heaven when Scripture says it is only by free grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and men, that men are saved. And God gives grace to whom He will.
This is Biblical. Read your Bible.
Lol. If a person doesn’t recognize basic Scripture, how can they call themselves Christian?
There has been plenty of evil and sin committed by every human, except two. That includes you and me. When we have done so, even if we claimed to do it in the name of God, it is a personal sin. It is the same with those who acted historically in the name of the Church. None of them have harmed you, but assuming they had aren't you called to forgive them?
The Church does not sin. It was and remains an entity established by Jesus who is incapable of sin. We, you and me, are a different story. In the words of the Holy Spirit spoken through an early Catholic priest:
"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. - Romans 3:21-26
“Hopeful” implies trust in Jesus Christ.
And so we hope and we trust.
Just.....
wow.....
And they claim this is the church that Jesus Himself established to spread the gospel and make disciples?
So even Latinos are jumping ship.
Progress.
80% of adults who were raised Protestant are still Protestant.
Amen!
And many of the remaining "converts" to RCism did so to keep peace in their marriage to a Roman Catholic. I attended just such a wedding of a friend's son a few months ago.
Neither of the newlyweds attend any church now.
Ahhh, the smell of brimstone in the morning. No error, no fabrication. Just the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ as He instructed His Apostles and they have handed down the Faith to us.
The RCC is bleeding membership and the only thing keeping it afloat are immigrants, mostly illegals.
The Catholic Church is growing at a great rate worldwide. The horrid little small minded and putrefying cult known as the Orthodox Presbyterians are on the other hand withering just like the fig tree:
Mark 11: 12 And the next day when they came out from Bethania, he was hungry. 13 And when he had seen afar off a fig tree having leaves, he came if perhaps he might find any thing on it. And when he was come to it, he found nothing but leaves. For it was not the time for figs. 14 And answering he said to it: May no man hereafter eat fruit of thee any more for ever. And his disciples heard it.
No good has come of it. No good will come from it. And when the OPC goes in the next few decades, not even its fleas will mourn it.
As God wills.
The lord of this world shall not prevail; false cults of the devil will dry up and turn to dust as phone booth sized cults wither away and die.
Dozens of articles have been posted attesting to this fact. RCs would be wise not to ignore them the same way they ignore the Bible.
We don't ignore them. We just recognize that they come from their father, the devil. They are completely false. If the Catholic Church falls, all Christianity does. We believe in the promises of Christ; we do not believe in the promises of bloodthirsty tyrants of Geneva. The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church - neither will the antiCatholic.
Just because a person doesn't like the facts doesn't mean they can change the facts, regardless how uncomfortable the truth may be. The RCC is in decline.
More false prattling. The statistics are true. The demographics are true. Comic book tracts distributed on windshields during Mass are not.
God is good. Truth prevails. One God; one Savior; one Christ; one Mediator; one Advocate.
This statement does not validate anything that the OPC preaches. Let us acknowledge that the second religion of hate postdated Mohammed by a century, and was filled with the same regard for humans and their souls.
Read your Bible. Mary was not sinless. She was a sinner until the day she died; just like the rest of us. And she was forgiven her sins, just like all believers, by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
I've gone through the swamp that is the OPC website. Whatever it is that they believe, it bears resemblence to Christianity in name only. It does include contempt for the Mother of God.
As far as the false bishop of Rome in a party dress and Prada shoes is concerned, some adherents actually seem to enjoy being told a lie. No other way to explain the insanity.
Excellent opportunity to address lies. No true bishop of Rome has ever owned or worn Prada shoes or party dresses. I think that the lie is more in the wishful telling than in the fact.
ps - the vague and sparse Scripture you offer so seldom rarely has anything to do with the topic at hand. Do you close your eyes and point? I hear some RCs use that method of exegesis.
I don't doubt that you do not recognize Scripture for what it is - and the relevance to one's every day life.
Matthew 6:33 Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Those who wallow in their own self righteousness and santimonious shallow self interests are as the Pharisee who identified himself for salvation.
Luke 18: 9 And to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others, he spoke also this parable: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican. 12 I fast twice in a week: I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: O god, be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I say to you, this man went down into his house justified rather that the other: because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.
The tax collector had a deep and abiding faith in God. And that faith, my good Dr. E. is not the faith the Reformation developed - the faith in the god in the mirror. It is not the faith of Luther's every milkmaid writing her own doctrines in the night. It is not the faith of Jean Cauvin's spies and death squads in Geneva which served as a model for the East German secret police. It is the faith in Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World. We Catholics do not prattle of self-salvation; we leave that to the pale and envious imitators.
Matthew 22: 15 Then the Pharisees going, consulted among themselves how to insnare him in his speech. 16 And they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying: Master, we know that thou art a true speaker, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou dost not regard the person of men. 17 Tell us therefore what dost thou think, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus knowing their wickedness, said: Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites? 19 Shew me the coin of the tribute. And they offered him a penny. 20 And Jesus saith to them: Whose image and inscription is this? 21 They say to him: Caesar's. Then he saith to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God, the things that are God's. 22 And hearing this they wondered, and leaving him, went their ways.
23 That day there came to him the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection; and asked him, 24 Saying: Master, Moses said: If a man die having no son, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up issue to his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first having married a wife, died; and not having issue, left his wife to his brother. 26 In like manner the second, and the third, and so on to the seventh. 27 And last of all the woman died also. 28 At the resurrection therefore whose wife of the seven shall she be? for they all had her.
29 And Jesus answering, said to them: You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married; but shall be as the angels of God in heaven. 31 And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken by God, saying to you: 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 33 And the multitudes hearing it, were in admiration at his doctrine.
34 But the Pharisees hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, came together: 35 And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him: 36 Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.
It is no love to preach the random destruction of all men. Neither is it love to self proclaim salvation along with one's family, dogs, cats, hamsters, fleas and nematodes. Further, it is no love to preach that Jesus was for the Jews only and it is to a misshapen and unrecognizable version of Paul to whom we must turn.
Flee the Pharasaical Reformation and Sadduccee-based Restoration and receive the love of Jesus Christ, who came for all men, not just the pinch-faced and haughty self-proclaimers of their own salvation.
Speaking of marriage, of the lack thereof, there is less and less in this non-committal world in which the love many grows cold as iniquity abounds: http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/11/pew-social-trends-2010-families.pdf
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