Perhaps these differences will never be resolved...but they are far enough apart and away from the truth of God's word that it is difficult to fellowship with those who pay homages to statues and have rituals which imo oppose the clear revealed word of God. There are just too many "other" requirements for catholics to fulfill in keeping with what Rome requires and or that their beliefs determine necessary. IMO Christ gets lost in all the ritual and worship and distractions from Him...and rather lift the church above Him directly and indirectly. He is not that complicated....nor that confusing as much of what catholics depict and claim He is...and too much importance is placed on all the "other" areas and things...thus and again Christ is lost in the shuffle. These threads themsleves attest to that as they are always the same issues...Mary Worship etc.
Again, the mistake is that it is only Rome that requires anything. For a Catholic, there is no distinction between Rome and Christ acting through the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit which acted through the apostles, does so now through their successors.
The protestant(and I use the term to describe any who rejects the Church’s authority)claim that the Church wrongfully teaches doctrines and traditions of men and is therefore not of the body of Christ. Indeed, Catholics have been accused of the most spurious of blasphemies and demonic attachments.
The Church says that though full communion is to be desired, that some would choose otherwise does not mean they are not Christian and a member of the body of Christ.
Which is more likely to foster unity?
Again, it all comes down to authority. It would be disingenuous indeed for any protestant here to claim that they have come to their knowledge and understanding of Scripture solely on their own without the aid or previous theology of another man/woman.
Perhaps these differences will never be resolved...but they are far enough apart and away from the truth of God’s word that it is difficult to fellowship with those who pay homages to statues and have rituals which imo oppose the clear revealed word of God. There are just too many “other” requirements for catholics to fulfill in keeping with what Rome requires and or that their beliefs determine necessary. IMO Christ gets lost in all the ritual and worship and distractions from Him...and rather lift the church above Him directly and indirectly. He is not that complicated....nor that confusing as much of what catholics depict and claim He is...and too much importance is placed on all the “other” areas and things...thus and again Christ is lost in the shuffle. These threads themsleves attest to that as they are always the same issues...Mary Worship etc.
THX.