[imardmd1]

I see the second shift has clocked in. Thanks, but I've already rendered my opinion, so there's no reason to counter this dragging in of the post-Nicene patristics.

It is that breed that integrated church and government into a monolithic breed of statist religion that was, and is, arraigned against the Scriptural New Testament churches practicing Biblical doctrine, as I see it.

I thank God for the Pilgrims, the Puritans, and the Baptists whose hearts were sold out to the separation of the state from churchism as its religious arm. May it always be so.

[rwa265]

Just pointing out that early Christians, pre-Nicene and post-Nicene, speak of both Peter’s confession and Peter himself as being the Rock.

[af_vet_1981]

... the Puritans, ...

From 1649 to 1660 Puritans in England were allied to the state power held by the military regime, headed by Oliver Cromwell until his death in 1658.

How many died during Cromwell’s campaign?

...

The figures are even more horrific for Ireland, however: a total of 618,000 deaths from fighting and disease out of a total pre-war population of c. 1.5 million, or 41 per cent of the population. No figures are given for transportation to Barbados. Further confirmation of the above figures can be obtained from The Civil War 1642–1651 by Michael St John Parker (ISBN 0853726477). A 41 per cent loss of population must surely represent one of the greatest tragedies of any people for any period of European history, not excluding the worst excesses of the twentieth century. We can take as an example the death rate from enemy action and war-related disease for Britain during the Second World War, which represents 0.6 per cent of the population. So, why were the casualties in Ireland so high? Cromwell and his supporters considered Irish Roman Catholics as little better than savages, barbarian in their lifestyle and habits and capable of appalling atrocities against Protestant settlers. They were sub-human and dangerous, and were to be treated accordingly.