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.
After watching the Catholics elect Obama in ‘08, they have no room to gloat.
Just the fact that he claims infallibility in anything makes him the fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecies in that he speaks great blasphemies.
You missed the point.
Mormons and Catholics complain all the time about negative posts while have no problem posting negative articles themselves.
Suggest you look at your own house and what is happening in the aftermath of Vatican II, the mass ordination of homosexual priests and the antics of Frankie.
Its ok, we know it isn’t aimed AT protestants. Like all propaganda, it is really more for internal consumption to keep the flock assured that they are correct.
Sorta like a soviet propaganda poster hanging in a Moscow subway.
I suspect so. I seldom see anything that gives me any unease. Same old hooey.
So what happens if a pope “goes bad”?
I know Catholics think popes are chosen by the Holy Spirit, but you only have to go back to the Middle Ages and Renaissance to find there were some pretty corrupt popes.
Perhaps the Protestants need their own Reformation? However, I agree with 2ndDivisionVet that the conservative denominations, that remain oriented on scripture, have stood fast against the socialist secular humanism that began infecting Protestant seminaries in the 1960s and has grown since then. Also the hierarchical Protestant denominations, less those few like LCMS and Baptists, have encouraged the social humanist agenda of the seminaries they control. FYI, I am a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The light of Jesus alone? What about the Father and Holy Spirit?
Sort of funny when Catholic colleges, schools, religious orders, and charities are going full deviant sex rights.
Sorry.
“The Pope can only be “infallible” when speaking about FAITH and MORALS”
“Pope Innocent III (1198-1216 AD) forbade people from reading the Bible in their own language. Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241 AD) forbade members from possessing a Bible. Pope Paul IV (1555-9 AD) forbade the possession of translations without permission of the Inquisition. Pope Clement XI (1700-21 AD) condemned the reading of the Bible by the laity.” from http://www.netbiblestudy.net/catholic/
I suppose the word of God has nothing to do with faith and morals.
I believe that as CHRISTIANS, all of us need to focus on what is central, the gift of salvation God gave us through His Son Jesus. With the threat against Christianity from secular humanists, anti-Christian socialists, communism, and Islam, we need to remember what we have in common, not in difference.
There are multiple variations of Catholicism as well as in Protestantism, but we must all focus on Jesus, our Savior.
As was said at the time of the American Revolution (paraphrase) United we stand, divided we fall.
See also my post # 48
Actually the article sounds like something that forgets about the Orthodox Church, as if we don’t exist (in the West, anyway) or are not worth remembering!
In reality, the atheist-sodomite-muslim conspiracy is destroying Western Christian civilization so fast that Western Christians will NEED the Orthodox East to save them from total destruction!!!!
I’m really tired of all these articles that bash Catholics.
Oh, wait...
The seven churches in Asia in the Book of Revelation. Jesus found fault with every single one, some worse than others. He nevere told one person to leave any of those churches. And they were real churches with real Christians worshipping in them. Their descendants may still be Orthodox Christians in Turkey today, I don't know; there has been a lot of persecution.
Surprise, surprise, surprise!! "lest there be a falling away first" comes to mind. Of course the Catholic Church led the way by including pagan practices to entice pagans to join long before there was a Protestant. Protestant churches are daughters of the Catholic Church and simply incorporating societal practices learned from the mother church.
Truly a flawed and poorly reasoned article. You would have to not understand churches and the differences between Christian churches and those who are cut off and are Christian in name only.
Christ taught this difference in the opening chapters of the final book of the New Testament. Somehow, the author of the article is unfamiliar with Christ’s words.
“Protestants bailed out when they accepted artificial birth control in the 1930s, leaving the Catholics alone to battle Hollywood and pornography. “
Ah, you might want to rethink your claim about battling Hollywood and pornography alone. It is false.
As to Catholic use of artificial birth control...
“Mary Gautier, editor of The CARA Report, said the average size of a U.S. Catholic household is the same as the national average, 2.6 persons per household.”
It's the only organization that matches the criteria. No other entity even comes close.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.