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Papal Authority / Apostolic Succession / Peter as First PopeThe basis for papal authority lies in the Roman Catholic Church's interpretation of Matthew 16:18-19 -- 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed[d] in heaven. Catholics believe that Jesus was addressing Peter only in His...

Attacking "God" has become a lucrative book business. But there's not much substance behind the latest atheist tracts. There is nothing new under the sun," proclaims the Book of Ecclesiastes. The rise of the new new atheism confirms this ancient biblical wisdom. Of course the famous words of Ecclesiastes should not be taken in a slavishly literal sense, a technique that is all-too-common among those who think they can refute belief in God by showing that the Bible abounds in demonstrably false and self-contradictory statements.

Recent years have provided plenty of church scandals, but an unlikely one has occurred in the Bible belt. A prominent Tulsa, Okla., minister was scandalized not by sex or embezzlement, but by his belief in hell. When Carlton Pearson began wondering if modern believers still need a medieval pit of fire, it cost him his congregation. Watch "Hell: Our Fear and Fascination" Friday on a special "20/20" at 10 p.m. EDT He shared pulpits with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. He counseled presidents at the White House. And after the Oklahoma City bombing, he was called to lead the grieving...

PART 1 Guatemala is at a turning point. Historically it's been a 100% Catholic country - but that's changing - rapidly. Demographers predict that early in the next century Guatemala will become the first mostly-Protestant Latin American country.The jet made a careful descent between the three volcanoes that ring the sprawl of Guatemala City. It was April 19th, 1992. My husband, Marty, and I had reached the end of eight years of preparation to be Evangelical Protestant missionaries. We were finally here, excited and eager to settle in Guatemala. We knew our faith would be challenged and stretched, but we...

The Rev. Wanda Gail Campbell, a minister of peace, thinks of herself as one of the most tolerant, respectful, open-minded people she knows. So it was with shock last summer, as she entered the shrine to the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France, that she realized some deep prejudices against Catholics were bubbling up from her Southern fundamentalist upbringing. Lourdes draws pilgrims from around the world to pray at the spot where the young St. Bernadette said she saw and spoke with the Virgin Mary in 1858. Campbell traveled there with other clergy from The Beloved Community, the religious organization that...

Who is David Cloud, one may ask? He is the visible leader of Way of Life Ministries, a literature and (ostensibly) preaching ministry for Independent, Fundamental, KJV-only Baptists. OK, so that's not very important, but my relationship with David Cloud is long and complex. The reason I'm bothering to address him at all might not be readily apparent to any thinking individual, since he's mostly irrelevant to almost everybody on the face of the earth, but it will become apparent as I continue. Allow me to recount my history with David Cloud. When I first became a Christian, way back...

In this war freedom should come first not after! In New Hampshire the Motto is Live free or Die! I don't need Bush spying on law abiding americans and taking our freedoms. Anyone who surrenders a square inch of freedom to the government in the name of saftey is a traitor and should be treated like one! Let the Bush Fashists all drop dead! Filthy Commys! LET FREEDOM RING!

Bush’s giant Right Wing Noise Machine (RWNM) loves to preach about the Bush economic miracle. In fact, the RWNM’s current thinking is Bush doesn’t spend enough time talking about his economic triumphs. If only he did, then everyone would fall in line and believe in the great Bush economic miracle. There is one problem with this argument: it’s a lie. Any way you look at the Bush economy, it comes up short. Today, I want to compare Bush’s job creation record with other economic recoveries. As usual, Bush comes up way short. The national Bureau of Economic Research has identified...

DAILY Photo by John GodbeyThe Rev. Joe Culotta of Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church discusses Sunday’s attack. “Children were scared and people were crying,” he said.What would seem to be among the safest places in America came under attack Sunday morning at Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church on Spring Avenue Southwest.After communion at the 11 a.m. Mass, a man and woman came forward, screaming.Then, to the shock and horror of the Rev. Joe Culotta and his congregation, the man turned over the cherished century-old marble altar. It tumbled down the steps and smashed onto the floor, ripping...

Iranian authorities have admitted that a series of explosions at oil wells around the province of Khuzestan were an attempt to sabotage oil production. Khuzestan is the centre of the Ahwazi Arab homeland and produces around 80-90 per cent of the country's oil output, representing up to 10-12 per cent of OPEC's total output. Iran is the world's fourth biggest crude producer with output capacity of around 4.2 million barrels per day. It exports 2.5 million barrels of oil per day - the equivalent of a fifth of the US's net oil imports - most of which originate from Khuzestan....

TEHERAN - Iran on Saturday denounced as an “ugly act” the US decision to deny visas to an Iranian parliamentary delegation to attend the annual UN General Assembly session in New York, claiming it showed the Americans were not competent to serve as host to the United Nations. Washington has given no reason for denying visas to the delegation that was expected to be headed by Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel. The US, however, has indicated that Iran’s new ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will receive a US visa to attend the session later this month. US authorities decided...

Ambassador Greg Schulte:The U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency says there is plenty of evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. In an interview with VOA, Gregory Schulte said Iran is entitled to nuclear technology, but not for military purposes. Ambassador Schulte has been in Vienna only a few weeks but has already experienced a special IAEA board meeting and is preparing for the next U.N. report on Iran's nuclear program. IAEA experts now say investigations confirm Iran's story that traces of weapons grade uranium were imported on contaminated equipment from Pakistan and not domestically produced. So does...

Baghdad, 7 June (AKI) - When travelling, wear jeans and carry a walkman -- try not to look like an Islamic fundamentalist -- and for precise instructions on how to link up with Iraqi groups "contact the Salafite jihadist exponents in your own countries". These are just some of the travel tips and suggestions provided on an Islamist internet site for potential al-Qaeda recruits from various Arab and Western countries who have signalled their desire to go to Iraq to fight against the American troops. "The route to Iraq for mujahadeen who want to reach the country of two rivers"...

The Swedish Radio programme 'Kaliber' reported on Sunday that "almost all" Islamic schools and congregations in Sweden have contacted potential sponsors in Saudi Arabia. Many of these Saudi foundations ask for influence in return. However, an expert thinks the chances are slight that violent organisations will gain a foothold in Sweden's muslim communities. Islamic organisations have received help from the Saudi embassy in Stockholm to find potential donors. Many community groups can only afford simple basement premises. But with Saudi money, they can build mosques. 'Kaliber' featured the Al Salam school in Örebro, which takes children from nursery age to...

In the absence of intellectual arguments, liberals in the media and in politics have increasingly reverted to name calling. When I was a boy, school children would inevitably begin calling each other names when frustrated or angry. "You're stupid," one would shout. "You're dumb," came the reply. "Well, well, you're so ugly your mother doesn't even love you." "She does too—and you don't even have a mother." As tempers flared, the kids searched for even more hurtful names, eventually stumbling into the aura of World War II which had engulfed the globe. "You're Hitler," was the "baddest" insult one could...

Baptist church 'fake pope' sign attracting attention, criticism By JEANNINE F. HUNTER, hunter@knews.com April 13, 2005 NEWPORT, Tenn. - Two days after being posted, a church marquee message that questions the purpose of the papacy is still attracting attention in this small community. "What I am trying to do is to let people know there's only one way to heaven through Jesus Christ," said the Rev. Cline Franklin, pastor of Hilltop Baptist Church. "There's no need for help. God sent his son, Jesus Christ. We're all priests if we're saved. I don't need to go to anybody else to pray."...

Libby, Randy and Fundy. Yes, I thought that it would be appropriate to create pet names for those who are either afraid of Christians or social conservatives. Why not adopt “Libby” or “Randy” for the Libertarians/Randians who are in a snit about Republicans and Christians? Remember the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip? A true work of genius. Some of my favorite story lines involved the monsters that inhabited Calvin’s closet and lived under his bed. When Libbies and Randies go into their bedrooms they always check for the Fundy police, knowing that The Christian Coalition stays awake at night working...

You and your fascist co-horts will all be sorry when the Bush* administration is charged with stealing this election. His administration and this website is nothing more then propaganda for a fascist regime. We are watching you, and we will be there when you slip up and your face down on the ground because you slipped on your own Nazi style propaganda. John Kerry won this election and you know it! Everyone knows it!

Oscars ignore the Passion... ...in what appears to be a Blue State snub of Red States. Church of the Masses offers a couple of good ideas. Let's email EWTN and Pax TV and request they play the Passion during the televised portion of the Oscar ceremony.

Hot Flash By Ralph R. Reiland All this 'God talk' "How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?" That was the now-famous headline in the London Daily Mirror. Less reported was how those 59 million Bush voters were described in the Mirror: "The self-righteous, gun-totin', military-lovin', sister-marryin', abortion-hatin', gay-loathin', foreigner-despisin', non-passport-ownin' rednecks" who believe "God gave America" the right to push everyone else in the world around so that their country can be "free and strong." Things were hardly less livid at The New York Times. Seeing a takeover by American "primitivism," here's how columnist Maureen Dowd summed up the election...