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To: Mad Dawg; RnMomof7
That assumes that…

The gates of Hell prevailed very soon. You also have some problems in "ordaining" with:

God destroys priesthood A = good; God creates priesthood B = bad."

11,140 posted on 10/13/2010 7:43:11 PM PDT by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: D-fendr
The Authenticity of the Didache, Irenaeus and Ignatius are challenged. At the same time, it is asserted that some of the various heresies were actually Bible-believing Christians, even though there is no record of that's being the case.

With this foundation, eisogesis is presented as the plain meaning of the text which, it is asserted, was believed by the true believers from the beginning despite the absence of evidence.

The persistence of the Church despite the massive and obvious sinfulness and incompetence of her leaders is not viewed as a miraculous sign of God's favor but is used as an excuse for the absence of supporting evidence for the invisible thread of true believers, who are now Arminian, now Calvinist, now Pentecostals, now Sabbatarians, yet are all united in certainty that the Catholic Church ain't it.

To assent to their ecclesiology one has to find unity where there is no agreement in doctrine, discipline, or worship -- from the stolid (and charming) rhyming Psalters of the Presbyterians to the cartwheels and electric guitars and snare drums of the Pentecostals, from the cold rationalism of Calvin to the warm affections of the Arminians, from the elaborate schema of the dispensationalists and the ever-evolving timetables of the Adventists to the Bible-dipping of the country Baptist, all are one, and all trace their descent along an invisible line.

Spattered with the mud of our various shames, wounded by but inured to the contempt of our fellow Christians, constantly falling but ever, by the grace of God, falling forward, we limp along, with tawdry canopies, brass monstrances, cheap incense, polyester vestments, poorly remembered and even more poorly sung plainchant, but ever close to the Lord, who chooses to shame the proud with the humble, and to strengthen us by confronting us daily with our inadequacies.

What led to my involvement in these threads was my chancing on an outrageously incompetent account of our beliefs. I simply could not believe, in my naivete, that some would prefer shadow boxing against their own fantasies, which they blame on us, to the Truth.

What I have found in the Church is a casting off of so many things so that I can enjoy more than ever my walk with Jesus. And the chief problem with trying to make that case here is that some prize falsehood more than truth. Whatever the cause of the spite, its effect is that they would rather throw falsehoods at us than understand (whether they agree or not) what we profess.

This is exactly why it wouldn't hurt to offer at least a decade of every Rosary for our assailants. Aslan could not open the eyes of the dwarves to reality, but maybe the Holy Spirit has tricks that Lewis could not imagine.

11,155 posted on 10/13/2010 9:08:08 PM PDT by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
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To: D-fendr
God destroys priesthood A = good; God creates priesthood B = bad."

Show us WHERE God created a new priesthood?

11,245 posted on 10/14/2010 5:23:25 AM PDT by RnMomof7
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