Wonderful response.
I have a lot of respect for the other Orthodox traditions vs the Roman one. I find the arrogance of the Roman assumptions about Petros to be at least as bad, if not worse, than that chronic arrogance of the Pharisees of Jesus' dusty pathed days.
Jesus was seen High and Lifted Up by the prophet of old. But I don't see Jesus in any context PONTIFICAL. Majestic, awesome etc. but NOT pontifical. His suffering servant Love is always pervasive regardless of His majesty, imho.
And, I must say, the Greek governmental church had the citizens in 1973 rather cowed toward RELIGION vs awed and passioned toward God--at least from what I could tell in Athens and Corinth.
I don't think much of RELIGION in any form. Even the 'Christian' form of it is rather deadly.
No, my preference is not per se for the pastor or the group. It is toward the degree to which the group espouses and practices the priorities of Scripture as best as I can discern them. Foremost: loving God wholly and others as self. Listening to The Spirit and following The Scriptures and The Lord's Voice, doing 'the stuff' as Wimber used to say. I much prefer humble, servant-hearted leaders leading their people in humble, servant-hearted acts toward the flock and a hurting world.
I absolutely deplore grandstanding, RELIGION, arrogance in high places, forms of 'godliness' denying the power; coercive manipulations pretending to be God moving; organizational customs, habits and traditions of men foisted off as Mt Sinai edicts from the throne of God etc.
I have found folks who earnestly seek and Love God and others in virtually every remotely Christian organization I've come across. I suspect God sees their hearts and responds accordingly.
I have found pharisees, those who worship organizations and traditions of men etc. in virtually every remotely Christian organization I've come across. I'm confident that in His time, God will respond acordingly to the more stubbornly so of that lot, too.
You might find post #724 on this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1274030/posts?page=730#730
of some interest. It speaks about and sources the historical record re the operation of the gifts post 50 A.D.
My reading of Scripture and observations of man, religion and God in our era leave me with an intense conclusion that God hates RELIGION in all it's forms.
But He died for Relationship.
Christianity is the right philosophy of life by a wide margin. More, it's THE TRUTH. But mangled by hearts deceitful too often beyond their knowing into and by organizations more focused on their customs and traditions of men vs worshipping, hearing and following God . . . as deadly a model for horror as any could come up with.
It doesn't really matter to me the DEGREE of horror in the Inquisitional period. I know the heart of man as God has made my own heart painfully vivid in a list of its hideous aspects. As well, the prison/guard experiments of Zimbardo are quite vivid enough. On top of that, I've lived in, participated in a long list of local congregations who'd about as quick take on the role of Grand Inquisitor as look at you sometimes.
I don't think much of Freud; but he did have this right. He said that even members of a religion based on love would be unloving toward those not members of it--IN-GROUP/OUT-GROUP dynamics. Sadly, 'Christians' have been proving him far too right for ~2,000 years.
I hope my feeble efforts are quite otherwise--at least most of the time!
Thanks tons for your tone and thoughtful words.
Blessings to you and yours.