Replies

And you are on the side of the post-6th Century Church, while I'm on the side of the early Christians. I'm on the side of those with respect for people, and you're on the side of people who want "life at all costs".

Perhaps post-6th century B.C. when even the smart pagans had no problem with exposing "defective" infants. Care to tell me which Fathers of the Church support withholding food and water from a person who is sick and not dying? (Hint: you won't find it in the New Testament, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Ignatius of Antioch, the Didache, Shepherd of Hermas or any other extant Christian writings. You MIGHT find it in Gnostic faux-Christian writings, and you will certainly find it among the 12th century Albigensians.) Don't pull out the calumny against early Christians without at least pretending to have a reference to something somewhere. A lot of us got snookered by that approach in the '60's and we won't be taken in twice by it. I am on the side of the Church and Christ is the same today, yesterday and before the sixth century.

By the way, I simply mentioned Western Civilization, why is it often the enemies of Terri Schiavo, who want to kill her, who insist on bringing religion into it? I can, and will if my religion is attacked, but I do not have to in order to defend her.

You know I'm not talking about pagans.

I'm talking about Christian writings....writings of such groups that also felt that priests who were corrupt and had betrayed the church shouldn't be dispensing.

Of course the Church hated that, and declared them heretics and with wonderful Christian charity wiped them out. If you are going to define as "non-Christian" anything that was later declared heretical, then it's pointless to proceed. The victor writes the history books, and I'm just pointing out that prior to Augustine of Hippo and the Council of Brega in mid-6th Century, Christians were more interested in God than Church, in Heaven than Earth.

Yet some of the Christians' carvings are still visible today, in northern Africa, where the deaths were recorded as these Christians sought to be with their Lord.

Heck, you might try to marginalize early Christians and claim they were all loonies, but even taking a look at groups like the Donatists and seeing what was done to them must make you feel a bit uneasy, doesn't it?!