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.
We rightly put the number of individual Catholic denominations at millions, since Catholics around the world choose what they believe regardless of the positions of Rome - making their own truth.
You are wrong. A lesbian just got the zot but claimed they take communion regularly in the Catholic Church.
All of us believers are one church, HIS CHURCH. It doesn’t matter what the name is on the earthly building
You raise a good point. Yet he did warn the specific churches, and look ... works, and it is found 12 times in the portion of Revelation (2, 3) dealing with the 7 churches.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
“That Baptism mark is still on your soul.”
A belief not taught in Scripture by the passage often quoted to support it.
OK, gonna hijack the thread for just a moment. Could somebody give these writers a quick lesson on the difference between "tenant" - someone who rents and occupies the property of another - and "tenet" - a belief or doctrine?
Nevertheless it is true. Your loss not to believe it.
What criteria?
First of all — The Vatican is not on one of the seven hills spoken of in Revelation. It is across the Tiber.
Are you aware of the difference between impeccability and infallibility?
Why not discover why those events occurred.
Get your facts straight, then come back here.
I am tired of Roman Catholic bashing of Protestants and vice versa.
Wow...never was more truth said about the catholic cult than in this one sentence.
The catholic, by not having the Bible as the sole source of authority, now has to accept any other teaching.
For example, how can the catholic deny the Mormon's claim that the book of Mormon is not part of "tradition"?
For that matter how can the catholic deny the Islamic "tradition"?
This is what happens when you don't have the Bible as your source of authority on matters dealing with Heavenly matters.
FWIW...I am not a Mormon nor am I defending Mormonism. I merely point out that Mormon's claim their BofM is "another" teaching of Christ just as catholics claim is their "tradition". It is a cult, as is the catholic church in it's current teachings.
Thanks for putting the vice versa in there. I believe there are many more articles posted that shed negative light on the Catholic Church than vice versa.
You can say that until you are blue in the face, but just because you say it does not make it so.
“Nevertheless it is true. Your loss not to believe it.”
The Holy Spirit baptizes [immerses] believers into the Body of Christ. He does not “make a mark on your soul as a Catholic.”
This happens at the moment a person entrusts herself fully to Christ for salvation. Not at physical baptism with water.
I sure did. Sorry.
Why are you trying to tell Catholics what to believe?
Well, let's see what the vatican has to say about that.
"The ancient city of Rome was originally built on the topographical layout of seven separate hills. These seven hills were joined together by the ancient walls of Rome- the Servian walls. The Seven Hills of Rome lie in the east to the Tiber River. Later many more areas were annexed to the city. The city walls were extended to include them also and the city is now much bigger than its original territory. The Vatican and Vatican hill are included in the Areas that were added to the city much later in history." [http://vatican.com/articles/rome/the_seven_hills_of_rome-a4131]
The Catholics using that lame "across the Tiber" doesn't work. "The Vatican and Vatican hill are included".
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.