Posted on 11/06/2014 2:29:33 PM PST by NYer
In June of this year, the largest Presbyterian denomination in America voted to allow their clergy to perform same-sex “marriages” within the church, thus joining the ranks of other Protestant denominations, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Episcopalian Church, and United Church of Christ.
This “evolution” of theology and “modernizing” of church doctrine is a trend that I predict we’ll continue to see in non-Catholic Christian circles for years to come, and not just with marriage. Today, nearly all Protestant denominations support and even advocate the use of artificial birth control, and many allow at least some level of support for abortion.
Of course, not all Protestants are willing to “move with the times”, so to speak; there remains, especially among the more conservative groups, quite a bit of dissent. However, it cannot be denied that many modern day Protestant denominations are falling further into the depths of secularism.
While it pains me to see Christians turning their backs on the sanctity of life and marriage, I have to admit that whenever the media lights up with news of another Protestant church endorsing an otherwise wholly unchristian act, I find myself entirely unsurprised.
The reason for my utter lack of shock lies, interestingly enough, within two of the critical tenants of Protestant Theology: the doctrines of sola scriptura (scripture alone) and sola fide (faith alone).
As Catholics, the Bible is not our sole source of authority, nor was the Catholic Church based upon it. In fact, what we now call “The Bible” — the collected Old Testament and New Testament writings — was put together by the Church herself, and is meant to enrich and support our doctrine and Tradition.
(Consider too that the Gospel is the written testimony of the teachings of the apostles, which, due to apostolic tradition and the God-given teaching authority of the Church, precedes the written text. Thus, any authority of the Scriptures is derived from the recognition of the Church.)
Yet, the Protestant Reformation severed the Tradition from the Bible, and put all other authorities beneath it. By doing so, they created a type of religious relativism (unwittingly, I’m sure) that opened the door for an “anything goes” mentality. So long, of course, as it can be found — or not found — in the scriptures.
For years, sola scriptura was a major weapon against Catholic theology, claiming that our practices were either absent or directly forbidden by Sacred Scripture. However, since the latter part of the 20th century, the charges that “Jesus never said (x)” or “That’s not in the Bible” have turned on themselves and have now become, “Jesus never said (x) was wrong, so that means (x) must be okay.”
This idea blends well with many in my generation, the millennials, who wish to hold on to some shred of spirituality but cannot bring themselves to relinquish the desires of the flesh. It is also a base notion of “Progressive Christianity”, which is basically the feel-good parts of following Christ without any actual sacrifice.
The same problem goes for sola fide. Though the only place in the Bible where the words “faith” and “alone” appear next to one another is in James 2:24 (“See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone”), it still remains a significant tenant of Protestant Christianity. However, much like sola scriptura, it has seemingly evolved into an even more bastardized version of itself that states, “As long as I’m a good person and believe in Jesus, I’m okay.”
Now, understand, I’m not among the ilk who believe that Protestants can’t go to Heaven, though the path is significantly more challenging (and not in a “take up your cross” kind of way). I do believe, however, that Christianity was never meant go in this direction. And I certainly believe that, should things continue in the manner they’re going for the modern-day Protestants, they’ll eventually have nothing left to call Christian at all.
Of course, perhaps that’s the only logical conclusion Protestantism could possibly come to. It is, after all, a theologically incomplete Christianity; and perhaps that is why it has such difficulty standing the test of time. Consider the continuous splintering Protestantism has seen since the days of Luther, that continues today. Sooner or later, it will be dust; and displaced Christians will be left with two choices: return to Holy Catholic Church or give themselves to the world.
May God bless you and yours too.
Thank you.
(VIA CNN)Years before the nation’s capital legalized same-sex marriage in March, one church in Washington, D.C., opened its doors to gay couples as part of its mission to establish an “inclusive body of Biblical believers.” Pastors Christine and Dennis Wiley performed a 2007 commitment ceremony at their altar. That action split the historically black church, prompting half of the congregation to leave. Yvonne Moore not only left Covenant Baptist, where she had worshipped for nearly 40 years: she filed a lawsuit for her weekly tithes because, as she said, “They didn’t respect the members enough to listen to us.”
There were articles on CNN, 60 minutes and numerous other sites. I included links from Christian radio sources.
Second I said "Baptist" not SBC.
Third I seem to recall a split with the TBC a number of years ago over this very issue and IIRC the TBC makes up a rather large portion of the SBC.
The name is VERGA and it is polite to ping them when you mention them.
Is that like the royal "we" or something?
Did a Fairy whisper that in your ear???
Technically It could be. There is a rumor that my family is related to Giovanni Verga. He was a Sicilian Count and an author. Personally IO think if my family is related it is due to "illegitimacy" or "Slave adoption."
Yup. Those who don't think about Christian unity don't want to. They would rather bash each other. Perhaps there are many rooms in Heaven so members of the various groups of Christians can snuggle together and pretend they're the only Christians in Heaven.
; and displaced Christians will be left with two choices: return to Holy Catholic Church or give themselves to the world.
The unless is the THIRD CHOICE if you care to read it and commnet.
Family legends do make interesting stories, don’t they. I’m tenuously connected via possible ancestry to several historical figures in the United States, England and Ireland but wouldn’t claim to actually be related because it can’t be proved.
So says the Vatican.
I ain't the Vatican.
my apologies on both accounts.
Those pesky pagan Catholics.
Tiber has nothing to do with it...It's the religion of Rome which your religion is based on...Your theory is that Peter reigned from Rome...If Peter was supposedly buried at what currently is the Vatican, it was and is in Rome, the city built on 7 hills...The Roman Catholic religion...
The Vatican isn't really a city...It's little more than a religious compound within the city of Rome, The Whore of Babylon...
Oh boy! Another Protestant-bashing thread, brought to you by members of the same ... well, suffice to say “pot, kettle, black.”
“And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, ...”
Revelation is about the fall of the Roman Empire — code word Babylon in Revelation.
It is not about the Catholic Church.
And then the Catholic religion became the Roman Empire...And the new Roman Catholic Empire still persecuted Christians...And universal doesn't mean Christian...
The Catholic Church IS the Roman Empire...That's how it got its name...The Empire lost its political and military power the but the religion is still there, ready to be crashed by God...
The Vatican was not one of the traditional seven hills of Rome. The Vatican is on the west side of the Tiber, the seven hills are on the east side.
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