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.
Yeah, I knew that and thank God she escaped that apostate organization for the freedom that is in Christ. Now that she has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit there is no way she would revert to the cult of Catholicism.
CB does not damn anyone to hell and has no power to do so and does not even claim to have that power.
Unlike the Roman Catholic church.
Seems like the RCC and Catholics have it backwards.
Nobody is saved until they become damned. All are damned until they become saved.
And it's God who does the judging.
Pointing out what He told us in Scripture is not damning anyone to hell.
What a typical blame the messenger knee jerk reaction.
Actually, John 3:18, those words are Jesus’ very own words.
You know, the Jesus that Catholics say His words are held in higher esteem than anything else in Scripture.
And now Jesus Himself is being tried and found wanting by Catholics.
What chutzpah.
As usual, backwards Catholic thinking.
It's not *if you aren't in the Church, you are not a follower*
It's *if you aren't a follower, you aren't part of the church*.
Nobody becomes a follower of Christ by joining a church.
People become the church by following Christ.
Oh, the irony........
You noticed that too, eh?
Have you read the rules, particularly about the websites that may not be linked (or text posted) and understand those rules?
When you have you will be released from having your posts monitored.
Yep, the Church.
Do you ever have time to worry about your own soul, or does the Catholic bashing consume all that you have?
Now the cat is out of the bag.
First I was *poorly catechized*.
Now there's the admission that I wasn't.
She was born and raised Catholic. That means she’s a lapsed Catholic and any time she wants to start going back to Mass she only needs to go to Confession.
I have been crucified in Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
The metmom who was baptized and raised Catholic, died in Christ and no longer exists.
There is no * still Catholic*, no *indelible mark on the soul*.
There is nothing that the blood of Jesus can't address and that includes any claims to ownership of my soul by anyone but HIM.
If there ever had been a mark, which there isn't anyway because there's no Scriptural substantiation for it, it cannot withstand the power of Jesus to deliver it and set it free and erase that alleged mark.
I belong to HIM and the only seal on me is the seal of the Holy Spirit as promised to all who believe in Him and receive Him for salvation.
I’m not worried about my soul.
It has been saved by Jesus and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
And you’re spending time here doing what exactly?
You are skirting and running from the clear implication of the question I posed. And again I refer you back to my original summation of the dilemma that puts you in.
Aye.
you are really hung up on the gay priest thing and you seem to know nothing about the settlements in the relatively few cases that there were....and public schools, scouts, protestant denomination clerics ALL surpass Catholic clergy in those kind of offenses....that excuses none of them, just puts them in perspective...
I most certainly do and have the seal of the Holy Spirit.
Not one of them purports to be the vicar of Christ.
I could care less about gay priests.
What I do care about is the fact that a supposed church moved these predators from one unsuspecting parish to another.
What dilemma?
I’m saved and it isn’t the Catholic church that did it.
It’s Jesus.
My soul is secure in Him.
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.