Posted on 11/06/2014 2:29:33 PM PST by NYer
In June of this year, the largest Presbyterian denomination in America voted to allow their clergy to perform same-sex “marriages” within the church, thus joining the ranks of other Protestant denominations, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Episcopalian Church, and United Church of Christ.
This “evolution” of theology and “modernizing” of church doctrine is a trend that I predict we’ll continue to see in non-Catholic Christian circles for years to come, and not just with marriage. Today, nearly all Protestant denominations support and even advocate the use of artificial birth control, and many allow at least some level of support for abortion.
Of course, not all Protestants are willing to “move with the times”, so to speak; there remains, especially among the more conservative groups, quite a bit of dissent. However, it cannot be denied that many modern day Protestant denominations are falling further into the depths of secularism.
While it pains me to see Christians turning their backs on the sanctity of life and marriage, I have to admit that whenever the media lights up with news of another Protestant church endorsing an otherwise wholly unchristian act, I find myself entirely unsurprised.
The reason for my utter lack of shock lies, interestingly enough, within two of the critical tenants of Protestant Theology: the doctrines of sola scriptura (scripture alone) and sola fide (faith alone).
As Catholics, the Bible is not our sole source of authority, nor was the Catholic Church based upon it. In fact, what we now call “The Bible” — the collected Old Testament and New Testament writings — was put together by the Church herself, and is meant to enrich and support our doctrine and Tradition.
(Consider too that the Gospel is the written testimony of the teachings of the apostles, which, due to apostolic tradition and the God-given teaching authority of the Church, precedes the written text. Thus, any authority of the Scriptures is derived from the recognition of the Church.)
Yet, the Protestant Reformation severed the Tradition from the Bible, and put all other authorities beneath it. By doing so, they created a type of religious relativism (unwittingly, I’m sure) that opened the door for an “anything goes” mentality. So long, of course, as it can be found — or not found — in the scriptures.
For years, sola scriptura was a major weapon against Catholic theology, claiming that our practices were either absent or directly forbidden by Sacred Scripture. However, since the latter part of the 20th century, the charges that “Jesus never said (x)” or “That’s not in the Bible” have turned on themselves and have now become, “Jesus never said (x) was wrong, so that means (x) must be okay.”
This idea blends well with many in my generation, the millennials, who wish to hold on to some shred of spirituality but cannot bring themselves to relinquish the desires of the flesh. It is also a base notion of “Progressive Christianity”, which is basically the feel-good parts of following Christ without any actual sacrifice.
The same problem goes for sola fide. Though the only place in the Bible where the words “faith” and “alone” appear next to one another is in James 2:24 (“See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone”), it still remains a significant tenant of Protestant Christianity. However, much like sola scriptura, it has seemingly evolved into an even more bastardized version of itself that states, “As long as I’m a good person and believe in Jesus, I’m okay.”
Now, understand, I’m not among the ilk who believe that Protestants can’t go to Heaven, though the path is significantly more challenging (and not in a “take up your cross” kind of way). I do believe, however, that Christianity was never meant go in this direction. And I certainly believe that, should things continue in the manner they’re going for the modern-day Protestants, they’ll eventually have nothing left to call Christian at all.
Of course, perhaps that’s the only logical conclusion Protestantism could possibly come to. It is, after all, a theologically incomplete Christianity; and perhaps that is why it has such difficulty standing the test of time. Consider the continuous splintering Protestantism has seen since the days of Luther, that continues today. Sooner or later, it will be dust; and displaced Christians will be left with two choices: return to Holy Catholic Church or give themselves to the world.
Are these Southern Baptists, or American Baptists? The ABC (American Baptist Convention) is just as liberal as the PCUSA, ELCA, or UCC.
**The Catholic Church IS the Roman Empire**
Another mistake. The Roman Empire under Nero was killing the Catholics.
Ping
because you said “I’ve continually posted that when this occurs, I would like to be notifies. I’ve never been notified.”
Glad to hear it; a church that also preaches the gospel.
As long as they're told they're in error every time they spout their delusions, eventually those who are honestly seeking Christ will be led by the Holy Spirit to a situation where they finally realize that The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church Jesus Christ Himself founded is preaching the fullness of the Faith exactly the way Christ taught it to the Apostles.
You can see that happen in some surprising places when people who have argued against Catholic Dogma most of their lives finally see the light.
Sicilians can count? /jk
FWIW, my Italian side is from the Cilento region south of Salerno, owned olive groves that they sold to start a pharmacy in Philly 100 years ago; not a lot of Cilento types in the US. If my grandfather hadn't died right after my mother was born, I'd probably be Catholic today, but grandmom remarried a Methodist, and that's how my mother was raised.
ROFL!! Are you a Preterist?
The original Babylon cannot be the "whore" of Revelation. God said those who were supposedly His followers who used pagan practices were "whoring around with other gods". The Catholic Church by it's own admission incorporates pagan practices thus is "whoring around with other gods".
Once again lets see what the Catholic Church has to say who "Babylon" refers to.
" In his first epistle, Peter tells his readers that he is writing from "Babylon" (1 Pet. 5:13), which was a first-century code word for the city of pagan Rome." [http://www.catholic.com/tracts/peters-roman-residency]
See there? The Catholic Church itself admits that Rome is referred to as "Babylon". It's amazing what trouble they cause themselves when trying to justify error.
Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality." 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
There are plagues coming upon the Catholic Church and those who do not want to partake of them had better come out of her.
Revelation is about the last days. You don't think God knew that the Vatican would be incorporated into Rome. Besides, there would be no Catholic Church as it is today had it not been declared the religion of the Roman Empire by Constantine in Rome.
Martin Luther wanted to bring the Christian church back to its original doctrine as found in the Scriptures, doctrine that had become twisted over the previous 1000 years. He never wanted a schism, and he never wanted to start his own church. FWIW, the same was true of John Wesley 250 years later: in both cases, the men called on the church to return to its original doctrine, and the result was that those who returned were forced out by those who didn't. I greatly wish it were not so, but it is so.
Better check what Constantine did.
I am wondering if you read my posts.
Babylon was a code name for Rome — not the original Babylon.
When this was being written, John had been exiled to Patmos. There are a lot of hidden meanings in it.
Rome/Nero was killing anyone who went against Nero (666 in Greek or 616 in Latin.)
I was thinking the same thing! The author is denigrating his fellow Roman Catholics as "the ilk" because they hold to EENS (outside of the Catholic church there is no salvation) as found in the Traditionalist, sedavacanist and SSPX sects along with those who reject Vatican II. Ironically, those who DO accept souls CAN be saved without being Roman Catholic are seen as heretics by the Traditionalists. Yet...somehow, we are all expected to believe they are "ONE" in the unity of the faith and not hypocrites for condemning "Protestants" for divisions.
As long as there is sinful humanity on this earth, there will be divisions, discord and disagreement on at least some things. What really counts is unity WITH God on the major doctrines of Christianity because that will be one-on-one, between me and God and where I went to "church" will not count. When we get to heaven all that extraneous stuff won't matter.
The Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon.
*8The Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon. **
This is not true. If you will read Revelation carefully you will see that this woman is a cohort with the First Beast.
bttt
I've never understood this claim. The apostolic letters were written to various churches. The churches shared their letters with other churches. Why thank the RCC?
Paul's letters were available in a collected form by the end of the 1st century. This was the work of Christians. No one was waiting for the RCC to come along and put their seal of approval. The Christians were reading the words of the apostles, as commanded by the apostles.
Moses received the 10 commandments directly from God, but we don't see him taking credit for their writing or proclaiming himself as the final authority. The RCC received the books of the Bible from the various churches who received them from the apostles. The RCC didn't receive the books of the Bible directly from God or even directly from the apostles. Why thank the RCC?
Rev. 17:6).
The first Inquisition, known as the Midevil Inquisition, came into existence quietly . Pope Gregory IX launched in 1227 in order to exterminate the Cathars in Southern France. It is also referenced as the Albigensian Crusade. This inquisition did not succeed. So, Gregory IX upped the ante and rather than targeting only the leadership of the Cathars, he began to target the Cathars by direct investigation of coercion , tribunals, and executions. Some of the inquisitors were commissioned and given full indulgence just for the signing up to move against the Cathars. Over the next 700 years it is estimated by methodical historians that, at the order of multiple POPES there were between 50 and 100 million men, women, and children were murdered because they did not have the same worldview and adhered to sola scripture in obedience to the Word of God. The Waldensians were targeted next. It is interesting to note that the Jesuits and the Dominican Orders were sworn to allegiance to the POPE to maliciously carry out the murders. Though it took much longer the kill the 50 - 100 million women, children, and men they were able to extinguish the lives of about 10 times more people than HItler. The Inquisition continued up through the Mussolini rule in Italy in 1939- 1942. Croatia and Bosnia totaled the killing, in an even more brutal manner that Hitler, with the sanctioned complicity of the Vatican.
This is simply a matter of historical documentation and is not challenged by reputable historians expert in this subject.
Could this be the reference to the Whore who is "drunk with the blood of the martyrs.
The third option is not as previously mentioned. Revelations Chapter 2 and 3 say otherwise than to leave the holy catholic apostolic churches to join a denomination, sect, or fellowship originating out of the Protestant Reformation (which most posters will not even identify, with a few exceptions). He told us to repent, do works, and overcome/endure/persevere. There is no OSAS here. We better believe what the LORD Jesus said and the Apostle John wrote.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Thanks for posting.
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