Don’t look at it as disagreeing with me. Think of it as not yet recognizing the truth of my position ;)
Seriously though, I think you’re right on the envy thing. For millenia the RC church has a lock on opulance. And that point of pride attracted many to the faith. But now that others out bling them, it is a problem.
The core of it is that the bling thing shows how infiltrated both aspects of christianity have become. Or even began. Because I never heard Christ call for Crystal Cathedrals Prosperity gospels or Vatican cities to begin with.
Well,... I was thinking “mega church”, Norm, in terms not of bling, but flocks of huge proportion attending.
To your point on oppulence— after all, Our God was very fussy and precise when He commanded all that oppulence for His Temple, (Lev 25) and for those “idols”, in the form of cheribim and seraphim and great wings over the tabernacle.
Because, I never heard our Lord recall any of that oppulence or sacred art, when He and the apostles continued praying their regular hours in the oppulent Temple, before the sorrowful cricifixion. %?) Rita
A pox on all houses of worship that are opulent for opulence’s sake.