I have read no convincing evidence it was ever established by God Almighty vs by a band of militarily supported political bureaucrats and power mongers 300-400 years after Christ.
Regardless . . .
Set up the Mosaic Priesthood . . . and various kings . . .
and JUST AS CLEARLY, REPEATEDLY withdrew HIS ANOINTING, HIS MANDATE
and trashed, KILLED, REMOVED the people, heirs, their leadership, reign etc.
The MOST HIGHLY ARROGANT ASSUMPTION, HERESY, NONSENSE, HIDIOUSNESS
THAT God has continued to bless and in any major way continue to 'primarily work through'
Any notion that the Vatican
or ANY OTHER
human religious organization has continued purely operating in the center of God's will long after their founding
is laughable, pathetic delusion, falsehood, horrific deception on the face of it.
God is increasingly cleaning up His Church Universal . . . some religious organizations/churches will be trashed wholesale/left out in the increasingly deadly cold away from GOD'S ANOINTING, PROVISION, PROTECTION, LEADING . . . most likely to be sucked up in the satanic global government in some form or other, if they continue to exist at all.
Some CONGREGATIONS in most Christian organizations will fall by the wayside and some will go on to be purified more and more and stand tall as beacons of righteousness regardless of what happens as a whole with the parent organization.
Some very few Christian organizations may as a whole be purified by God's cleansing and refiner's fires. Such could probably be counted on one or at the most two hands.
Within congregations, individuals will be sifted sorely. Those unwilling to give all and focus wholesale on God as their utmost Priority and on His Spirit's guidance and ways . . . will fall by the wayside.
There will be no exceptions.
He must do it.
We cannot.
We MUST be willing and cooperative.
Rebellion & idolatry will be death sentences. Deception and game playing will be merely different faces of rebellion and/or idolatry.
Rationalizations will not work.
Rituals will not work.
Traditions will not work.
Hierarchy will be of no avail.
Bureaucracy will be of no avail.
Magicstericals will be of no avail.
Structure will not work.
Past glories will be of no avail.
Rationalizations will be of no avail.
History will be of no avail.
Human or organizational Status will be of no avail.
Numbers will be of no avail.
Human opinions will be of no avail.
Bargaining will be of no avail.
All chaff, wood, hay, stubble will be consumed by the Fire of His cleansing Spirit. All that can be shaken will be shaken to destruction.
God will likely be merciful to those of earnest hearts authentically seeking Him--and who have been merciful. However, folks holding themselves out in any sort of leadership positions will most definitely be tested seriously . . . particularly along the lines of their own judgments and pronouncements as well as Scripture.
Human structures and organizations will be amongst the first things to go; be shredded; rendered kaput, ineffectual, trash heaps.
HIS ORGANIZATION will be a flowing, spontaneous, creative, temporary/eternal symphonic dance of His Spirit Who will Blow Where HE wishes, How HE wishes, When HE wishes, Where He wishes, as long or short as HE wishes . . . carrying those truly filled with HIS SPIRIT along with Him as He wills and as they wholeheartedly focus on HIM and cooperate with HIM.
Let the Spirit-filled Body of Christ hereon judge the above words as whether they be of God, or not.
IF they are, mocking is ill-advised. The spiritual trash-heap has no limits to it's size.
ping
ping
I believe it did. At the Council of Trent. :)
And if you think that loose ecclesiastical model you have drawn up was the norm for the 300 years before Constantine, you might want to review the Christian literature of the time period. From Ignatius of Antioch to Irenaeus of Lyons, the divine authority of the bishop comes across quite clear.