Posted on 12/03/2014 10:23:22 AM PST by NKP_Vet
In a new video, megachurch leader and author Rick Warren is calling for Christians to unite with Roman Catholics and “Pope Francis,” who Warren recently referred to as the “Holy Father”—a move that is raising concerns among Christians nationwide and is resulting in calls for Warren to repent.
Warren made the comments following his visit to the Vatican last month, where he spoke at an interfaith conference on the “Complementarity of Man and Woman.”
“We have far more in common than what divides us,” he said in the two-minute video released by the Catholic News Service on Wednesday, described as being an outline for “an ecumenical vision for Catholics and Protestants to work together to defend the sanctity of life, sex and marriage.”
“They would all say, ‘We believe in the Trinity; we believe in the Bible; we believe in the resurrection; we believe in salvation through Jesus Christ,” Warren asserted, speaking of the various denominations within Christianity, of which he included Roman Catholicism. “These are the big issues.”
The author of the bestselling book “The Purpose Driven Life” then sought to defend Catholics from those who take issue with the practice of seeking the intercession of Mary and the various deceased persons that have been sainted by the Vatican.
“Sometimes protestants think that Catholics worship Mary like she’s another god, but that’s not exactly Catholic doctrine,” Warren contended. “People say, ‘What are the saints all about? Why are you praying to the saints?’ And when you understand what they mean by what they’re saying, there’s a whole lot more commonality [that we have with Roman Catholics].”
“There’s still real differences—no doubt about that,” Warren stated. “But the most important thing is, if you love Jesus, we’re on the same team.”
He closed by speaking of his belief that Christians and Catholics serve as co-laborers for the cause of defending life and family.
“When it comes to the family, we are co-workers in the field in this for the protection of the sanctity of life, the sanctity of sex and the sanctity of marriage,” Warren said. “So, there’s a great commonality and there’s no division on any of those three.”
But Warren’s comments have raised concern from Christian leaders nationwide, who are now calling the Saddleback leader to repentance. Matt Slick of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) repudiated each of Warren’s points.
“Sure, there are Catholics who love the real Christ, the one who died on the cross for our sins. That is not the problem,” he said. “The problem is the Roman Catholic Church’s false teachings concerning Mary and salvation.”
“Rick Warren says both the Catholics and the Protestants believe in the Bible. But, there is a significant difference between the Bible of the Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church, which has added seven books,” Slick wrote. “[T]here are numerous problems in the apocryphal books, such as the teaching of salvation by works [and] the offering of money for the sins of the dead.”
“Warren implies that both Protestants and Catholics have the same view of salvation,” he continued. “Though it’s technically correct to say that Catholics believe in salvation through Jesus Christ, they reject justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Instead, it teaches that good works of various kinds are necessary for salvation.”
The Christian apologist then pointed to several Roman Catholic teachings on Mary, mainly from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), such as that Mary “by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation” and that “[b]y asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the ‘Mother of Mercy,’ the All-Holy One.”
“Rick Warren has not only failed to recognize the problems in these serious areas, but he has lent his credibility as a Protestant pastor in support of the Roman Catholic Church,” Slick wrote. “This should never be done by any Protestant pastor who takes the Bible seriously. I must conclude that Mr. Warren does not take the word of God seriously and/or he does not understand the damnable teachings of Roman Catholicism regarding salvation.”
“Rick Warren needs to repent,” he said.
Oh, and on FR it is considered appropriate to give a courtesy ping to someone when you are talking about them, eve a Mod.
You read WAY too much into what I posted.
Perhaps true; but we PROTs control the highly biased one we have now.
Boo hoo hoo hooo hoo
It’s the Catholic way!
I have weak arms; but a STRONG mind.
Let me help...
Fear not, little flock.
He(she?) sees all - knows all.
Not true.
I just presumed you were tagging all my posts to the moderator. Didn’t want to be redundant.
Most common outcome of Protestant minister sexual abuse has been no action. Second most common? Minister leaves and moves along to the next loosely or not at all affiliated church. Last place? Criminal charges.
So again, other than anti-Catholic vitriol, why single out Priests and the RCC for your abhoration?
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Now, please find scripture that shows that belonging to the Roman Catholic Church is required for salvation. If you can't your statement stand as pure hyperbole.
Oh dear, you think the moderator biased?
I was simply pointing out the consequences to you, of what the moderator stated about making repeated assertions. Don’t know why you would draw such an inference.
You were sent the link to my page where the rules for the Religion Forum are posted with the advice to “Please study the page carefully if you wish to continue posting in the RF.”
Your comment “I post links that are not blacklisted on FR and they are taken down” seems to show you did not study the page.
Please do so and you will see that the links you posted are not allowed on the Religion Forum.
Your posts are being screened so we don’t have to remove any more of your posts with the “blacklisted” links.
If the “censorship” on the RF is too restrictive for you, you can click on News/Activism forum link when you log in.
So you damn billions to hell. Got it. Now I’ll refer you to my previous post.
I am still waiting on our Catholic friends to explain the Islamic cresent moon in there symbols yup still waiting.
I guess I goofed. I should have labelled that so you knew where it came from and that it wasn't me. Here, I'll fix that.
From God's word (aka Scripture
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Now, please find scripture that shows that belonging to the Roman Catholic Church is required for salvation. If you can't your statement stand as pure hyperbole.
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