And indulgences!
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.
No, it's a great thing you are saved, and that God doesn't care about any subsequent actions. That is a lot more convenient than trying hard every day. Us silly Catholics just don't understand that God intended for there to be 500 different denominations and that it took over 1000 years before the truth was revealed to Martin Luther, Calvin, Henry VIII, and Preacher Billy Pritchard of Hogwaller, Arkansas.
If you took the time to know some faithful Catholics, you would learn how scriptural they are in their faith.
I’ve lived and worked with *faithful* Catholics and know how that goes.
No thanks.
And as far as the urban legend about living as you please, how is it going to work out for all those Catholics who blithely sin and joke that they’ll just confess it next time they go to confession and do some extra penance, or just have to work it off in purgatory for that one.
What’s really interesting is what that accusation about how a saved person thinks reveals about the person who makes those claims.
Speculations about how a saved person, who knows they’re saved, thinks and considers sin, only reveals the heart of the person doing the speculating.
excommunication condemns no-one to hell, repentance and reinstatement are always possible.Even if neither is done, the church makes no comment whatsoever as to the repose of one's soul. Condemnation is in the hands of God but through the actions of the condemned.
As far as the retention of sin is concerned, forgiveness or retention of sin is done through the church, not by the church. Christ alone can forgive or retain a sin, the priest merely says the words which ask God to forgive the sin. If the priest does not feel that the penitant has fulfilled whatever steps necessary to obtain absolution, he would advise him/her of that fact and explain what the person must do to obtain the absolution
Is it comprised of Scotsmen?
Then please show where scripture teaches the assumption of Mary.
Thou shalt not lie.
And indulgences!
...from the pastor who brought us “Chris-Lam”
Do not accuse another poster lying.
Forms of “making it personal” include mind reading, attributing motive, accusing another Freeper of telling a lie (because it attributes motive, the intent to deceive) - making the thread “about” individual Freeper(s).
Click on the link to my profile page to read all of the rules for the Religion Forum.
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Until I do, to coin a phrase - You are wrong.
LOL!
I stated one of the Ten Commandments. That’s all I did. But I’m out of here, obviously no room for Catholics in the FR religion forum on your watch.
neither do the errant priests...we all know that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ.
wrong again Kemosabe, persons within the church who did not handle things properly were at fault there....not the church.
what you bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven protects the Catholic church from erring in matters of faith and morals. If the church declared, as a matter of church dogma that Mary was assumed into Heaven, she was protected from error in so doing...Christ would not have let her err in that matter.....God did not allow the scriptures to be in error either....He can do that!
‘persons within the church who did not handle things properly were at fault there....not the church.’
So the church is comprised persons not in the church.
comprised of persons
And just where is the church without the people in it?
You can't have a church if no people are involved.
Claiming that *persons within the church who did not handle things properly were at fault there....not the church* is simply blame-shifting and evasion. The RCC is certainly to blame because the people who comprise it are to blame.
Well, there's a leap. Of what, I'm not sure, cause is sure isn't logic or reasoning.
They were agents of the church. Therefore the church is legally responsible.
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