Posted on 02/07/2005 9:05:30 AM PST by skellmeyer
Roughly half of America dislike everything George Bush says, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t the President of the United States. This is a point too few people keep in mind. Take, for instance, the example of Stas, a very nice Orthodox man, who read my recent piece on concerning the Muslim reporter who implicitly threatened to kill me and nuke America. He thought the piece excellent except for my statement that the Pope was the head of Christianity: “As for the Pope, 1 billion various protestants and 300 million Orthodox don't follow his words and that's half of Christianity.” To keep things honest, a Mormon and a Protestant also voiced essentially this disagreement.
I could have pointed out, as I do here, that his statement proves nothing about either the Pope or the President, but I demurred. Instead, I merely pointed out that there are no major theological differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, apart from a minor theological point concerning the generation of the Holy Spirit and his aforementioned quibble concerning the Pope. He insisted I was wrong, and in attempting to demonstrate his case, he inadvertently made a connection between Orthodoxy and Islam that I had read about, but never really seen in action before.
(Excerpt) Read more at bridegroompress.com ...
You must be coming from a Roman Catholic belief system, which some of us as Protestants do not subscribe to because it is often not biblical.
The Pope was given the keys (Isaiah 22:22) and is His Vicar. If you ignore the King's Vicar, you ignore the King. Sorry, but that's how monarchy works, and Christians are monarchical, not democratic. You approach the King in part through His ministers, for the reasons stated in the essay - to add to the glory of God.
The office of apostle did not lapse in Scripture. Instead, the office of apostle went through four generations:
Four generations of the office of apostle, and Scripture ends, but at no point does Scripture indicate the office and authority of the office ends. God established a heirarchy in His kingdom. That's how monarchies work.
I agree. He, himself calls himself a humble servant of the Church and laity. In the spirit of Christianity, the highest of them should be humbler than the lowest of them. Remember, how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and what he said?
You only say that because you don't read your Bible very closely. Try working through www.bridegroompress.com/sc/index.htm
The Pope is the head of the baptized. There are a lot of unbaptized out there. But even over the unbaptized, he carries a certain authority because Christ has authority over all creation, and Peter was given the keys (Is 22:22). So, your analogy doesn't hold.
You're simply playing a doctrinally-based game of sophistry.
Is the pope the head of the Southern Baptist Convention?
Honest answer or your game's up.
I am a baptized Orthodox Christian and Pope has no authority over me. Whatever Pope himself might think about it.
Somebody here mentioned that Christianity is a kind of Monarchy and "this is how it works". Again, it is very sad that people do not understand the basis of their faith. The Christianity does not uphold the Master-Slave relationship. When you are saying that everybody must obey Pope you use the same logic that that Moslem used. He even asks, quite logically, why do you pray to substitutes such as Pope and Saints instead of praying to God Himself? But it is your logic, not that of Christian faith.
Is Bush President over Barbara Streisand? Yes to both questions. Do either of them like it or acknowledge it publicly? Of course not.
You think a monarch has a master-slave relationship with his subjects? What do you do when you honor Christ as King? Monarchs view their subjects as part of their extended families - at least the good ones do. Are you saying Christ is not a good King? The Pope is His Vicar. Sorry, but there's the facts.
Oh, give me a BREAK! Christ is the King. Are you going to deny that because you didn't get a chance to vote Him into office? What does your vote have to do with whether or not someone is a king? What does your vote have to do with who HE appoints to be His Vicar?
Are you guys really this ignorant of monarchy or are you all just having me on?
Oh yes. The Popes are the heads of the Christianity.
I like Leo who thought he could sell people out of Purgatory. I also like the popes who justified the inquisitions. The popes who contradict themselves are great too.
LOL!
I really like the idea that Catholics think that the church that began after the pentecost is the same church that is the Catholic church today. LOL!
Dude, you ARE having me on! This is that Monty Python skit, "Holy Grail."
King Arthur: "Who is your lord?"
Old Woman:"We don't have a lord."
King Arthur: "What?"
Dennis:"I told you, We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune, we take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week, but all of the decisions of that officer must be approved at a bi-weekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs, but a two-thirds majority.."
King Arthur: "Be quiet! I order you to shut up!"
Old Woman: "Order? Who does he think he is!"
King Arthur: "I am your king!"
Old Woman:"Well, I didn't vote for you."
King Arthur: "You don't vote for kings!"
Old Woman:"Well, how did you become king then?"
King Arthur: "The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held Excalibur aloft from the bosom of the water to signify by Divine Providence ... that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur ...That is why I am your king!"
Dennis: "Look, strange women lying on their backs in ponds handing out swords ... that's no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."
Except, in this case, modern Christians would say, "Look, strange men hanging from crosses handing out keys, that's no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical crucifixion ceremony."
Well, you just demontrate that you know history as well as you know your Bible, which is to say, you don't. Provide evidence that Leo thought he could sell people out of Purgatory. There is none. Provide evidence that popes contradict themselves. There is none.
But, you have to actually have read and understood history, theology to know that. You actually have to have read and understood Scripture to recognize that the Church of Acts is the Catholic Church.
Game's up.
Never never land.
La La Lander. LOL!
For a retired Army chaplain, you sure don't know much Scripture.
Thanks for pinging me to this but I find these becomes circular arguments.
1) The Pope is the head of the Church;
2) The Church is Christianity;
3) Therefore the Pope is head of all Christians.
While this is flawed reasoning (premise 2 is only partially correct) you'll never get the Catholics to admit it. After all, this is what the Vatican says.
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