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To: annalex
What did I “block or ignore”?

Let's start with this one. I listed differences between the Church that Jesus founded and yours. Would you like for me to list them again? Posting #38 I believe. Also add that Jesus (as was His custom) and the Disciples observed the Sabbath to the list. But the fact the Catholic Church held political power and wealth in the past would seem pretty much like a kingdom of this world and not the one Jesus talked about.

43 posted on 06/28/2014 3:15:12 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Obama - The Scandal a Week President.)
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To: BipolarBob
1. The first acts of the Church was to abolish the Jewish circumcision and dietetic laws (Acts 15). The Gospels refer to "jews" as the people hostile to Jesus and to them. No, they did not "follow Jewish Law as it was intended", unless you are going to tell me that God did not intend to demand circumcision and abstinence from shrimp and pork.

2. A rosary is a form of praying beads found in many cultures and several religions. Whether the Jews in 1 c AD used praying beads I don't know and don't care. It is like saying that because we wear pressed pants and neckties we cannot be authentic Christians.

3. Veneration of Mary (not worship and not adoration; it is helpful to have some familiarity with the meaning of words if you want to be taken seriously in debate) as "second Eve" dates at least to mid-Second Century where St. Justin Martyr describes Mary in admiring terms (Dialog with Trypho, Ch. 100). But is is compatible with the tone of the first two chapters in the gospel of Luke where Elizabeth venerates her, and with the pericope when a woman in the crowd does the same, and Jesus adjusts her prayer without forbidding it (Luke 11:27-28).

4. Queen of Heaven is a reference to Rev 12.

5. Regarding crucifixes, why should I not have the image of Christ on me? Am I not required to imitate Christ, especially in His suffering? Also, what do you think the phrase "before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been set forth, crucified among you" (Galatians 3:1) describes if not a crucifix?

6. "Hail Mary" is a direct quote from the Bible in the first part and a reference to John 19:26 in the second part.

7. St. Paul praises celibacy in 1 Cor. 7. Celibacy of priests is not a defining characteristic of the Catholic Church as Eastern rite Catholics have married priests and so do we in the Western Church under some circumstances. Yes, in the main part in the Latin Church married men cannot be ordained. That is because we are fortunate to have enough men who are willing to be celibate as St. Paul advises. In our over-sexualized culture it is a very good thing.

8. Indeed, the Early Church did not have magnificent cathedrals because it was persecuted. That is not a defining characteristic of the Early Church. Surely, if you believe that the first Christians were a lot like the Jews you should then admit that a desire to build a splendid temple is very much a feature of the early Church also.

9. The prayer of Christ directed to Peter (Luke 22:32) where Christ prays for Peter to confirm other apostles is a functional description of papacy.

10. Selling of indulgences was a brief episode in the history of the Church; it was condemned as a method of fundraising. You can earn an indulgence today, of course, but you cannot buy it. That the Early Church collected money is evidenced several times in the Bible, see for example, Acts 5:1-10.

11. The persecutions of Protestants by Catholics were reciprocal and often done not by the Church herself but by the governments which equated heresy to treason. For some of them the Church has apologized. Certainly we should not tolerate heresy; see for example, 1 Corinthians 1:13.

45 posted on 06/28/2014 4:03:20 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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