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To: TheCrusader
As to the longevity of the Roman Catholic church, Judaism has been around much longer. Longevity does not equal legitimacy. The autocratic Roman Catholic church with the pretender in Rome lording it over the other churches developed slowly over a period of hundreds of years, aided by forged documents, the Isidorian Decretals and the Donation of Constantine.

To support authoritarian claims, the popes tried to build a documentary tradition for their position. The popes produced a series of documents, now known as the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, to keep Carolingian nobles at arm's length. These documents first appeared between 833 and 857. A few actually recorded the works of early Roman bishops. Other documents contained a core of truth but included spurious additions. Still other documents were outright forgeries. The name came from a Spanish bishop, Isidore of Seville. The popes used these documents for one purpose: to prove the antiquity of their authority.

Pope Nicholas I (858-867) used the Decretals first when John, the Archbishop of Ravenna and a personal friend of Emperor Louis II, stood accused of graft, theft and inefficiency. Nicholas summoned him to Rome but John refused to come. Nicholas then deposed him. Rebellious clergymen chose to challenge Nicholas's action. In 864 Nicholas crossed paths with Hincmar of Rheims, a strong European cleric. Hincmar had excommunicated a bishop in his area. The disgruntled bishop appealed to Nicholas for support. Drawing on the Isidorian Decretals for his authority, Nicholas successfully reversed Hincmar's decision. In time Nicholas became the ninth century's strongest pope.

The Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals gave bishops the right to appeal directly to Rome. This allowed bishops to bypass their Archbishops. The Roman bishop now controlled all other church leaders.

In 756 A.D. the Italian Papal States (much of the city of Rome and major areas in western Italy) were officially acquired by the Catholic Church. This land transfer was legitimated on the basis of a document supposedly written by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 337 A.D. which granted all of these regions to Pope Sylvester I (Pope from 315-335 A.D.) and his successors.

For many centuries the authenticity of the Donation of Constantine was not questioned. However, in 1440 Lorenzo Valla published his Declamitio de falso credita et ementia donatione Constantini (Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine). In this declamation, Valla argued that the donation was a fraud. He noted that not only was there no record indicating that Pope Sylvester I had been aware of such a gift, but also that the text of the Donation contained a number of historical anachronisms. For instance, it referred to Byzantia as a province when in the fourth century it was only a city. It referred to temples in Rome that did not yet exist; and finally, it referred to 'Judea' which also did not yet exist. Also, The Donation of Constantine quoted from St. Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible. St. Jerome wasn't born until 26 years after the Donation of Constantine was supposed to have been written.

As usual, the Catholic church only stopped the pretense when their deception was exposed for all the world to see.
223 posted on 08/04/2003 1:41:22 PM PDT by razorbak
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To: razorbak
"Eve was born without sin because the Fall of mankind into sin had not yet occurred."

Eve was born without sin because God created her that way. And if God can create one woman without sin, He can create another. As Saint Paul called Jesus "the new Adam", it reveals that a sinless One had to assume this role, and that sinless One was Jesus Christ. It follows then, that Mary was the "New Eve", for as the sinless Eve said 'yes' to the devil and brought death into the world, a sinless Mary, "full of grace",, said 'yes' to the angel, and brought Salvation into the world.

This is the classical/historical/ perrennial teaching of the Christian faith since the early centuries. The oldest Christian liturgies on earth are the Eastern liturgies, ("Orthodox", Syrian, Coptic, etc). These particular liturgies actually predate the Roman/Latin liturgy of the Catholic Church. And all of these ancient Christian Churches revere and venerate the Virgin Mary as being free from Original Sin, as being a perpetual Virgin, and as dying sinless. ALL OF THEM. There is just no escaping the truth, it always has a way of making itself known, (if we seek it).

228 posted on 08/04/2003 9:45:07 PM PDT by TheCrusader
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