Posted on 05/27/2004 7:10:58 AM PDT by AskStPhilomena
What!?!?! No unity through diversity??:)
The Lord's church founded by the apostles had neither papacy nor clergy/lay division. Clement and the other 1st and 2nd century leaders never wore the title of Pope or Saint in their time. These were bestowed upon them at a later date.
The Lord's Church was founded by the...LORD. See Matthew 16:18-19.
Excuse me, but is this the same great church, that with the power that it has bestowed upon itself, changed the sabbath from Saturday, and also seems to think that their priests, having been "sanctified" are able to forgive the sinner and grant them peace? My friend, you are not seeing the forest through the trees... The foundation that Christ spoke to Peter was the understanding that, by revelation of The Holy Spirit, Peter knew his Master was the Son Of God.. It was his faith that the "church" was predicated, and the faith of any future believer. You are misleading the future believer, and leading them into a wrong belief that they must take part in the ritualistic behavior the Papacy requires... Was it not Christ himself who released us from the laws of Man?
**We may begin with the passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel, which every Catholic should know by heart:
“And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18)**
The Founding of the Church. Fortified by the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost!
My comments are directed to you... Sorry for the mis-direction on post.
Free your self form the yoke of separation and enter His Church: a banquet of life giving bread and wine await you!
The utter uniqueness of this Church should be beyond debate. We have thus far seen nothing but singularity: one Church, one faith, one baptism. There is no room here for multiple “churches” teaching multiple disparate doctrines.
Evidence?
Keeping in mind that Paul tells us plainly that Christ is the head of the body, the church:
In the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles Peter stands up and states that another person must fill Judas' "office", doesn't the KJV translate that word as "bishoprick"? How did they know they were occupying "offices" or "bishopricks"? I don't recall Jesus in the Gospels plainly telling them they were occupying "offices". I do see him saying "as the Father has sent me, so I send you".
Paul tells us that first in the church there are apostles. When Judas died his "office" did not disappear from the face of the earth.
Hard to believe? You bet. Hard to fulfill the duties of those "offices"? One might say it is impossible for man, but nothing is impossible for God.
Can Truth contradict Truth? How can you interpret the bible in your own way and thousands of others interpret it differently and everyone be correct? Is God confused? For example, can contraception be a sin and not a sin? Can homosexual sex be a sin and not a sin? Can Mary be a virgin and not a virgin?
I fully agree that there is no salvation outside the church (for those old enough to be accountable). But I regard the church as something other than the Catholic hierarchy.
Our pastor led a small group discussion last night on this very gospel!!
Great article - thank you for posting it.
Mathew 23:14 "Woe unto you Scribes and Pharises, hypocrites!For you devourwidows houses, and for a pretence make long prayer:therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation."
25-woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!ye make clean the outside of the cup and the platter,but within they are full of extortion and excess".
Putting aside Peter's advice on private interpretation of Scripture:
Have a peek at the catechism for yourself. I think the understanding of "salvation through the Church" is that we understand Christ to be the head of the body and if we recognize the Catholic Church as that body and that city on a hill which cannot be hidden then we are allowed, by Christ, to be a part of that Church. However, Christ dispenses salvation as He sees fit, He makes the Father known to whom He chooses in any manner He chooses. The Church doesn't say you must be a member to be saved. She "just" says She is the Church Jesus founded.
One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic bump.
Then why are you telling us what it means, thus interpreting it?
This is the “faith once delivered to the saints” that St. Jude referred to, the detractors of which “have perished in the contradiction of Core.” (Jude 3, 11) You may remember that Core raised up a rebellion against God’s appointed vicar (Moses), reasoning that “all the multitude consisteth of holy ones, and the Lord is among them: Why lift you up yourselves above the people of the Lord?” (Num. 16:3) For this rebellion against the divinely constituted authority, the earth opened up and swallowed Core and his band, who all “went down alive into hell, the ground closing upon them.” (vs. 31-33)
Is there salvation outside the Church? Ask Core and his followers, or ask St. Jude, who compared the detractors of the Holy Faith to Core, and promised them a similar fate.
Putting aside? scary...
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