You wrote:
“...do not believe there is any need for the ridiculous, 2nd century doctrine of “apostolic succession”.”
The Book of Acts was written in the “2nd century”?
“I’m addressing the various groups which existed outside the Catholic religion all throughout history and which held to generally understood baptistic doctrines (local church, denial of transubstantiation, adult baptism by immersion, primacy of Scripture over tradition, etc.”
You’re addressing heretical groups that broke away from the Church. We’re back to the ‘trail of blood’ nonsense which you just said you were NOT talking about.
“Granted, there are a number of Catholic authors who have invented wild fantasies over the years, while posing as “impartial historians” - an example would be the “quietly overlooked sodomy and ritual murder” among the Albigenses, which is, a fabrication.”
1) you’re now defending the Albigensians - which means you ARE pushing the ‘trail of blood’ nonsense while you deny doing so.
2) the Albigensians did what they did. What proof do you have that what they did was actually just a fantasy?
“And typically, the drivel about “Manichaean heresies” and “ritual murder and sodomy” are pumped out by trained monkeys at some Catholic university or another, and as such, don’t have any real independent credibility.”
James McGoldrick is not a monkey, unless you think all Protestants are tree dwellers. He is a Protestant. He may have briefly studied at a Catholic University or two, but that certainly wasn’t the focal point of his education nor would that make him a trained monkey. Your bigotry is showing to say the least. He now teaches at a Protestant seminary. Here’s his bio:
B.S., Temple University, 1961; M.A. Temple University, 1964; Ph.D. West Virginia University, 1974; additional graduate study at Dropsie College, St. Joseph’s University, University of Scranton, and Pennsylvania State University.
Pastor of Pittsgrove Baptist Church, Daretown, NJ, 1959-65; Calvary Baptist Church, Pitman, NJ, 1965-66. Assistant Professor of History at John Brown University, 1966-70; instructor in history at West Virginia University, 1970-73; Professor of History at Cedarville University, 1973-2001.
Articles (selected): “Edmund Burke: Christian Activist,” (Modern Age, 1973); “Mussolini And The Vatican,” (University Of Dayton Review, 1976); “Was William Tyndale A Synergist?” (Westminster Theological Journal, 1982); “Three Principles of Protestantism,” (Banner of Truth, 1983); “Luther on Life Without Dichotomy,” (Grace Theological Journal, 1984); “Patrick Hamilton: Luther’s Scottish Disciple,” (Sixteenth Century Journal, 1987); “Prophet In Scotland: The Self-Image of John Knox,” (Calvin Theological Journal, 1998); “Introducing Martin Luther,” (Reformation & Revival, 1998); “Luther’s Doctrine of Predestination,” (Reformation & Revival, 1999).
Author: Luther’s English Connection (Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1979); Luther’s Scottish Connection (Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1989); Baptist Successionism (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1994); God’s Renaissance Man: The Life and Work of Abraham Kuyper (Darlington, UK: Evangelical Press, 2000).
Contributor: Great Lives From History, Chronology of European History, Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, Dictionary of Tudor England, Dictionary of Scottish Church History And Theology, Historical Dictionary of Late Medieval England, Magill’s Guide to Military History, Global Encyclopedia of Historical Writing.
The burden to disprove McGoldrick is yours. Judging by your posting efforts so far, it’s pretty obvious that won’t happen.
I have noticed that Protestants are much more likely to fall prey to heresy because they often lack the historical context to refute them.
This is a shame because a vibrant, evangelical, orthodox Protestant Christianity is essential to the survival of Western Civilization.