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.
Hi Mom! Haven’t seen you in a while. Hope you and the family are all well.
narses took on JR and took exception to how JR was running HIS site.
IMO, narses is fortunate to still have an active account.
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:narses/index?brevity=full;tab=comments
Neither was narses innocent but knew well how to dish it out. When you give it out, you’d best be able to take it.
You’re darn straight the Catholic Church is the Whore.
“..Leave the whore of Babylon...”
Do you mean the city referred to in Revelation 17 and 18?
The city referred to is clearly apostate Jerusalem.
Revelation 11:8 clearly refers to Jerusalem.
“and their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt WHERE THEIR LORD WAS CRUCIFIED.”
Isaiah 1:10 refers to God calling Israel Sodom.
Isaiah 1:21 calls Jerusalem a harlot.
Jeremiah 3:6 refers to Jerusalem as a harlot.
Furthermore:
The KJV mistranslated the Greek word (porna) for harlot into whore. (further protestant butchering of the bible) The correct translation is that St. John sees the great harlot.
now that's funny....a catholic getting upset on how the greek was translated. I've noticed catholicism on more than one occasion ignores the greek until it suits their needs.
What other authority is there apart from God? What other Truth is there besides Jesus, the Living Word? What other foundation could you stand on as secure as God's Word?
What protestant martyrs in the years 68-100?
But one can easily believe in he life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as Mormonism does and other cults and liberal churches, and be spiritually dead, never having had a day of conversion where they personally come to the Lord Jesus as contrite damned+destitute sinners, trusting Him to save them on His expense and merit, and thus then live for Him.
Fixed it, but which is the point. You ignored the "Southern" in Baptist and denied the statement about there standard by treating a distinctive as meaning nothing. Just as you have dismissed all Prots as intellectually dishonest, while exampling it.
I have only seen RCs commending it. It may not speak for all but it does for the majority we encounter. And this is part of the general RC apologetics feed, which propaganda they seem driven to post the more Rome is exposed. And as said, they should be ashamed at such a spurious hit piece.
I refuse to condemn all Catholics, just because a few Catholics act like idiots. I would hope that the vast majority of Catholics feel the same way of Protestants.
Show me the ones who are reasonable. It is their defense of elitist Rome and her false gospel and traditions they warrants refutation, and gains them condemnation.
We obviously have differences - since we are different versions of Christianity - but I seriously doubt those differences make our souls unsalvageable no matter who shows up for judgement.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (Psalms 34:18)
And enough Truth can be seen in Catholicism despite the smoke and mirrors that some can be saved, as i was born again even as a RC at age 25. And most Prots -broadly speaking - are likely lost as well.
I think a better place to start is to assume you’re going to hell, and use whatever tools and beliefs you have to try to change your fate. I’m sure for most of us, the fact that we may be Protestant or Catholic is by far the least of the reasons why we deserve a trip to the underworld. If that was the only factor, humanity would be in pretty good shape, I think.
All culpable souls deserve a trip to the underworld, and a false gospel, such as tells souls they already are children of God via sprinkling as an infant, and effectually conveys they will eventually enter Heaven, thru mythical "purgatory," because they are not too bad and and the church of Rome has power with God, only helps souls to stay on their journey to damnation. Sadly.
The Roman Catholic church HAS changed on many of these things you assert are unchangable. Someone's not being straight with you.
Dogma won't change. MANY dogmas have changed, were left behind or developed that were NOT part of the Apostolic teachings the first Christians held to.
Unmarried priesthood won't change. At one time, married priests WERE allowed, then they weren't. Now, a man can be married and be ordained a Catholic priest. BTW...Catholics defend this as celibacy being a "discipline" and not a dogma.
Divorce-remarry won't change. Already in the works to allow divorced/remarried Catholics to receive Communion. Catholic annulments are pretty much a given if you want one for a past divorce so that you can remarry in the Catholic church. Ask Joan Kennedy or Teresa Heinz Kerry.
Reasons for annulment won't change. See above. I know of people who were granted an annulment based on the requester admitting they didn't ever plan on being faithful in their marriage.
One man-one woman marriage won't change. Time will tell, won't it? That's hardly a Roman Catholic-only claim. Plenty of Conservative denominations believe that and make it a part of their statement of faith.
Artificial birth control won't change. See above. RCs may claim to believe that as "dogma" but, in practice, it is not true for the majority. The RCC approves of Natural Family Planning, which is still a form of birth control.
Abortion, for any reason, won't change. Most Conservative denominations also denounce elective abortion. You cannot say "for any reason", either, because even in Catholic hospitals some abortions ARE performed when the mother's life is at serious risk (i.e., ectopic pregnancy) and she will die if the pregnancy continues.
SIN won't become NO SIN, that is, ABSOLUTES will remain ABSOLUTES. Mighty big ocean of certainty there. Catholicism isn't alone in teaching absolutes about God, Jesus Christ, sin, etc. If it's in Scripture, it's taught. That's what the Reformers believed and the state of the Catholic church clergy at that time in history was in abysmal shape and all kinds of abuses were going on. God was behind the Reformation and it's deluded to believe the Roman Catholic church doesn't change.
Note see at what Ephesians 5:11 was evidently understood as.
Which provoked this and see down to 150.
I did not see that. See above.
But one can easily believe in he life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as Mormonism does and other cults and liberal churches, and be spiritually dead, never having had a day of conversion where they personally come to the Lord Jesus as contrite damned+destitute sinners, trusting Him to save them on His expense and merit, and thus then live for Him.
I would agree. I stand corrected.
You, as one of the primary advertisers for Rome, may be blind to who self-righteous this sounds from you, after you posted such a specious hit piece, which parroted polemics we see constantly, and your second one you even failed to provide source attribution for. Which correction itself was ignored.
And both of which were refuted as multitude others were yet backed by solid apologetics, (i can show you many and where they ended), but which are ignored and the same arguments resurface on another thread. As is the RC recourse to charging their reprovers with the very thing they are guilty of.
Revelation 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore (porné) that sitteth upon many waters:
porné - Definition: a prostitute [http://biblehub.com/greek/4204.htm]
Revelation 19:2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
Now tell us how the city of Jerusalem has corrupted the earth with her fornication since 70AD.
Your point is well taken. We’re told not to add to or take away from the scriptures. In no way does the book of Mormon belong.
I’ve got no real issues with the Catholic faith, however.
I have friends that do missionary work in Africa. I am proud to say that I contribute to the cause. They tell me that some of the Africans accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They ask the Lord to come into their lives and ask forgiveness of their sins. They also tell me that some of them continue to do some rituals they’ve been doing for generations — trying to communicate with the dead ancestors and a few other things we wouldn’t agree on. There is communication barrier so it is difficult to communicate everything with them. Should we not consider these folks Christian?
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