You claim I’ve been led astray “by “fools and slanderers,” who have concealed the truth”, and that I “ have had no free choice to follow the true Church which Jesus, himself, founded” - and you don’t consider that an attack on my beliefs?
OK........
Did Jesus establish priests? No. There are no priests mentioined in the NT except for Jesus as High Priest, and all believers offering a sacrifice of good deeds, thanksgiving, etc. There is no Purgatory in the NT, although IF Purgatory existed, it would be a powerful tool to intimidate people into fearful obedience. There is no mention of indulgences, and the entire tenor of the NT rejects the concept completely and totally.
Further, Jesus Himself described the extent of the OT. Why should we look to a Church Council in the 1400s when we have the words of Jesus?
THAT is why I reject Catholicism. Its doctrines are divorced from the plain meaning of scripture, which is why the Catholic Church opposed vernacular translations - because wherever they appeared, people started noticing the huge divide between the Catholic theology and the scripture.
“You claim I’ve been led astray “by “fools and slanderers,” who have concealed the truth”, and that I “ have had no free choice to follow the true Church which Jesus, himself, founded”
Actually, I didn’t say that.
“and you don’t consider that an attack on my beliefs?”
Woah, woah, woah. Flag on the play.
We were talking about attacks on protestants, not attacks on protestant theology. No changing the subject in midstream, slippery sam.
I will concede that those words are an attack on protestant theology. They are not an attack *on*protestants*. I am under the impression that attacks on ideas are in bounds here.
“Did Jesus establish priests? No. There are no priests mentioned in the NT except for Jesus as High Priest”
So, your position is that Our Lord has had no influence on human events since the ascension? Nor the Holy Spirit, nor God Himself? If it ain’t in the Bible, it didn’t happen? God is prevented from establishing a priesthood, now or ever, because it’s not in the Bible?
“There is no mention of indulgences, and the entire tenor of the NT rejects the concept completely and totally.”
Indulgences, yes, that’s such a big part of Catholicism. A few hundred years ago there were many corrupt men within the Church. Everybody knows it. And it has nothing at all to do with the character of the Church herself.
“Further, Jesus Himself described the extent of the OT. Why should we look to a Church Council in the 1400s when we have the words of Jesus?”
You haven’t been reading along, have you?
“Its doctrines are divorced from the plain meaning of scripture”
Not at all.
“which is why the Catholic Church opposed vernacular translations”
Nonsense. If vernacular translations have taught us anything, it is that they are a door through which error enters—some inadvertent, some malicious.
“because wherever they appeared, people started noticing the huge divide between the Catholic theology and the scripture.”
When they appeared, the power structure in England had a vested interest in ensuring that the “approved translation” would create that impression.