Posted on 03/31/2014 7:54:31 PM PDT by NKP_Vet
What if Protestantism were true? What if the Reformers really were heroes, the Bible the sole rule of faith, and Christ's Church just an invisible collection of loosely united believers?
As an Evangelical, Devin Rose used to believe all of it. Then one day the nagging questions began. He noticed things about Protestant belief and practice that didn't add up. He began following the logic of Protestant claims to places he never expected it to go—leading to conclusions no Christians would ever admit to holding.
In The Protestant's Dilemma, Rose examines over thirty of those conclusions, showing with solid evidence, compelling reason, and gentle humor how the major tenets of Protestantism—if honestly pursued to their furthest extent— wind up in dead ends of absurdity.
The only escape? Catholic truth, which Rose patiently unpacks. In each instance, he shows how Catholicism solves the Protestant's dilemma through the witness of Scripture, Christian history, and the authority with which Christ himself undeniably vested his Church.
The Protestant's Dilemma is the perfect book to give non-Catholics trying to work through their own nagging doubts, or for Catholics looking for a fresh way to deepen their understanding of the Faith.
(Excerpt) Read more at protestantsdilemma.com ...
Now that was very clever.
‘Catholisism = marxism’
Gee if I remember my history correctly Karl Marx was a non practicing Jew and Friederich Engels was a Pietist Lutheran. Considering that their entire philosophy spawned Communism I find it difficult to understand how Catholicism is Marxist.
It is all socialist fascism, Jimmy. Ever heard the term “ union dumb-ass?” Well, have ya, dumb ass?
“One for your collection of threads and posts that you claim NEVER bash Protestants.”
There’s no protestant-bashing in that thread.
That's right...you don't think ANYTHING is ever posted on the RF that qualifies as Protestant bigotry or bashing. Suppose I posted a thread and titled it, "The Catholic's Dilemma". I then began with:
In The Catholic's Dilemma, boatbums examines over thirty of those conclusions, showing with solid evidence, compelling reason, and gentle humor how the major tenets of Catholicism — if honestly pursued to their furthest extent— wind up in dead ends of absurdity.
The only escape? Evangelical Protestant truth, which boatbums patiently unpacks. In each instance, she shows how Evangelicalism solves the Catholic's dilemma through the witness of Scripture, Christian history, and the authority with which Christ himself undeniably vested his sacred word, the Bible.
The Catholic's Dilemma is the perfect book to give Catholics trying to work through their own nagging doubts, or for Evangelicals looking for a fresh way to deepen their understanding of the Faith.
Now, would you call a thread like this Catholic-bashing??? Tell the truth.
Many? I will day most, especially very well-catechized Romanists will leave their religion when they have been exposed to the Person, Jesus, by those who know Him. And I can say the same of most "Protestants," whose religion has never brought them into sweet relationship with the Master.
That's a fair question. Is your answer 'yes' or 'no'?
Amen!
I’d like to know Salvation’s answer to this question as well.
Remember Jesus prayed in John 17 that all His followers will be one.
What if Protestantism were true?>>>>>>>>>>
It is useless to try to show the Catholics where they are wrong because they have already made it plain that they do not necessarily believe in scripture.
Camping gave his books away and he was called a false prophet.
What are those who sell it called? whores i think.
By selling his book to both Protestants and Catholic,s the guy can become many times a millionaire.
Does it matter if you are Catholic or protestant as long as you can get to ride on the beast with the great harlot and her daughters?
No, i am not going to buy the book.
I didn’t CHOOSE to be a Protestant, I read the bible.>>>>
I agree.
Catholics were the first Christians. It’s in the Bible!
No, Salvation is correct here.
lots of good happens here,
At least for people who believe that scripture does matter.
You seem to say this with pride, but nothing of the kind is in the Bible, and "catholics" were not the first Christians.
It was at a particular local assembly, in Antioch of Syria, where the people of The Way were first given the epithet "Christians" for their allegiance to Jesus of Nazareth, claimed to be the Messiah--the Anointed One ("Christos" in the Koine)--The Christ, as though it was their profession.
They were not catholics.. In those days, all the local bodies of Christ-believers were organized into independent autonomous assemblies, no church answering to any other church or association of churches for direction or government. Local government was by a plurality of elders, answering to the Lord and the remainder of the congregation only. There was no catholicity and no people titled "Catholics."
The concept of catholicity--of a "universal church"--came in as Greek-educated intellectuals and philosophers insinuated themselves, brought their Hellenized organizational principles, and implemented their platonic concept of an "oversoul" by marrying it with, altering, and corrupting the doctrine of The Apostles.
Assemblies in which these Greek-trained of the Apostolic Fathers and ante-Nicene Patristics--influence-peddlers all--thought they were rightly dividing the church by wrongly dividing the brethren into two classes: one of clergyman overwhelming and dominating the remainder of the congregation, which is the second class called "lay people." This is called Nicolaitanism (from "nikaoh" = to conquer and "laoi" = the ordinary people"), and God hates it (Rev. 2:6) and its partiality (Eph. 6:9). A permanent split of the believers was caused such that no unity, as voiced by Jesus in His high priestly prayer, John 17, was ever to be possible in that polity of the church, even in a small local assembly.
Furthermore, the platonists extended their power by forming associations eternal to the local churches, of clergymen and their cohorts only--a sort of "holy Mafia"--to make cooperative agreements and quash any form of resistance. This, of course, introduced even more sources of bitter divisions between them and those who reasonably disagreed. Thus the idea of seeking a "universal church" with unity of doctrine could never be achieved.
Finally, they locked in their power over civilization by integrating their rule of the spirit with the government over ones body, accepting the head of civil government as arbitrator of all, thus becoming a sacral society ruled by a statist church, headed up over a very broad area by one political leader, entered into by one means for all inhabitants, and defended by exterminating all dissidents.
In the words of Dr. Thomas Strouse, professor of theology, "Constantine embraced the platonic catholicity of the Patristics to form the Roman Catholic Church (RCC(, with its one head in the bishop of Rome, with its entrance through the baptismal "regeneration" of infants, and with its persecution of all dissidents. This visible catholic ecclesiology, initiated by Ignatius and his ilk, propagated by Irenaeus and Cyprian, and popularized by Augustine, became the orthodox position for Christendom until the Reformation."
Subsequently, hordes of religious freedomseekers left the war-torn Eropean Continent, and set up a community in which citizens were not taxed to support religion, freedom of speech and religion was rampant, and the populace enjoyed no distinction of aristocracy save that natural distribution of excellence of thought and diligence. That mode enjoyed free play until the old religions the first settlers had escaped came across with later immigrants, and started attempting to reassert its grasp upon the government and its administrators. The eclipse of truly non-Catholic Christanity in America is now nearly complete, and we are suffering the results of inolementing the "social gospel."
This is called catholicism, and is a gospel not present in the Bible nor in the policies instituted by the original personal intimate disciples of Jesus, called Apostles, who would never be called Catholics. It is a practice that has brought innumerable differences wherever it has gone, never to be resolved until His Second Coming to establish and rule His Kingdom with fairness and justice on the Earth.
No, the first Christians were not Catholics. Peter was not a Catholic and never preached the catholicism we see today. There were no Catholic churches in the Bible.
I align with people who hate Marxists and other anti-American scum.
However this is not about America, this is about God dividing his sheep from the goats., God knows who his sheep are.
So what we are really doing is trying to divide the goats from the goats.
That made me chuckle. :)
No, Salvation is correct here.
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