Replies

***First, you attack the source, which is typical when you can’t deal with the facts.***

First, Wiki is written by anyone and therefore a suspect source especially for rigourous or intellectually challenging subjects.

Second, you cited Schaff as a source on the role of the Church. Schaff is anti Catholic; you may do as well to quote another anti Catholic such as Ian Paisley. If you have Church sources to back up your statements, then I will indeed accept them.

***Second, Latin stopped being the spoken language of the common people long before the 1600’s-try to keep up.***

You keep switching back and forth between claims of Jewish literacy at the time of Christ, medieval literacy, and more modern literacy. The common people before the 1600s were illiterate, period. Even England, the most literate land in the world, only had 30% literacy for men and 10% literacy for women - the clergy, the nobles and the merchants. The US was far behind and arguably has never caught up to England to this day.

***Third, the increase in literacy levels came with the increase of Bibles in the peoples own spoken language***

Well after - the primary cause was the increase in wealth and leisure which mirrors the increase in literary rates in cities like Athens, Sparta, Rome, Alexandria, Babylon, Constantinople and eventually the cities in the West. These other examples did not have Bibles and yet mirrored the same outcome.

***And along with the King James, most homes in the Colonies and later the U.S. had Pilgrims Progress and Fox’s Book of Martyrs.***

You have proof of Pilgrims Progress and Fox? In what years? I realize that these fictional books extolling personal martyrdom were popular, but I’d like to see some proofs please.

***Now don’t waste my time anymore with your useless posts.***

Are you saying that you quite adequately waste your own time and don’t need my contributions?

***The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. ***

2 Pet 2:
1
There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who ransomed them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2
Many will follow their licentious ways, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled.
3
In their greed they will exploit you with fabrications, but from of old their condemnation has not been idle and their destruction does not sleep.

If you like, I can post yet another list of heresies that those people who reject the Church of Jesus Christ choose to select from for their personal theologies, like the menu at a Chinese restaurant.