Question:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – in message 1. Best One-Sentence Summary: blah de blah de blah… yap yap yap… troll troll troll yada yada yada troll troll troll _ mega shovelage of a massive pile of plagiarized bull _ 1. Because William Suzanne posted his huge and unoriginal screed to alt.recovery.catholicism, alt.religion.christian.presbyterian, alt.religion.christian.last-days, and alt.religion.christian.pentecostal. NONE of the four groups has the least bit of interest in pro-catholic proselytizing- and it would appear that William Suzanne was just trying to start an interfaith ( and inter-no-faith) flame war between all the groups. Miranda You do I hope realise just how ‘fowel and lowley’ this response makes you look… Or do you ?
You know, Ed, I don’t really think she does understand that. duke, American-American ***** First Principle and Foundation: Man was created to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by this means to save his soul; and the other things on the face of the earth were created for man’s sake, and in order to aid him in the prosecution of the end for which he was created. *****
Response:
ROTFLMAO Pastor Steve, this post of your’s IS one of the reasons Christianity is falling apart. Its falling like a house made of playing cards. WHY? Because of the in-fighting within Christianity. Each sect still at each other’s throats claiming that they have the "right way" while all others have the "wrong way". Last time I checked, that is very immature thinking. Christianity has become strife with "self-righteous" church leaders misguided with the thought that they carry the only "true" message of Christianity. That is how new sects of Christianity pop up. Here is a list of Christian sects: Catholic Eastern Orthodox Nesterian Monophysites Waldensian Mennonites Lutherians Anglicians Methodists Episcopalians Baptists Presbyterians Congregationists Quakers Ecumenical movement Reform Chruches Church of Latter Day Saints Jehovah Witnesses Armstrongism Unification Church Christian Science Unity Scientology These are just some of the over 100 different sects in Christianity. All who are arguing like kids fighting over the same toy on who is more "right" then the others. If anything Christians and Christianity should learn from the Buddhists and their Faith of Buddhism. When a Christian meets a Christian of a different sect they see a "heretic" or an "un-believer of the "true path"". Very immature. But when a Buddhist meets a Buddist from another sect, they see another Buddhist and greet each other knowing that each is following a true path of Buddhism. THAT is what Christians should be doing, NOT trying to belittle another Christian sect. Time to loose the immaturity Paster Winter. Rev J Semerko – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy. That is kind of silly. Don’t you read the newspapers? The RCC is the "Great Whore" The "harlot daughters" are the denominations that worship the same false gods as the "Great Whore" (the Catholic trinity). Most of the false christian churches are daughters of the RCC. That is another reason that no one can be saved in a trinity church. Revelation 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: The RCC "sitteth on many waters", she is international. Revelation 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Catholic "indulgences" and false religion have made many "drunk" with her false religion. Revelation 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The "beast" is the economic community that the "Whore" (the RCC) rides on. The nations support the Vatican. Revelation 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: The pomp and jewelry and scarlet robes of the RCC. Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. The RCC is the mother of all of the trinity denomintations. Revelation 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. No organization has murdered (as "heretics") so many real Apostolic Christians as the Roman Catholic Church! History knows no other possible organization than the RCC to fit verse Rev 17:6. Pastor sTeve Winter — Apostolic Oneness Pentecostal /*/ PreRapture Ministry http://www.pentecostal.biz for Bible studies (text and audio) Have you obeyed Acts 2:38 as Paul taught in Acts 19:4-6?
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – As a student of history, I suggest Mr. Armstrong become familiar with it. Since most people are wholly ignorant of history, and have no desire to learn it, I guess Mr. Armstrong is safe. Those crusades sure were peaceful, and a great testimony to the Muslims. Any way, here is a link addressing much of Armstrongs calumny. http://solagratia.org/RC.html RG Get a clue, folks- why else would William Suzanne x-post this huge bunch o’crappola to alt.recovery.catholicism, alt.religion.christian.presbyterian,alt.religion.christian.last-days, and alt.religion.christian.pentecostal EXCEPT to start a flame war and foment discord betwen the ng’s. It’s called trolling – and it’s rude. If he’s not a troll ( unlikely) and is so sure of his faith -and wants to proselytize, I suggest he get himself over to the $cientology, Muslim and Mormon ng’s- and stay out of ours. Miranda
duke, American-American ***** First Principle and Foundation: Man was created to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by this means to save his soul; and the other things on the face of the earth were created for man’s sake, and in order to aid him in the prosecution of the end for which he was created. *****
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 1. Best One-Sentence Summary: blah de blah de blah… yap yap yap… troll troll troll yada yada yada troll troll troll _ mega shovelage of a massive pile of plagiarized bull _ 1. Because William Suzanne posted his huge and unoriginal screed to alt.recovery.catholicism, alt.religion.christian.presbyterian, alt.religion.christian.last-days, and alt.religion.christian.pentecostal. NONE of the four groups has the least bit of interest in pro-catholic proselytizing- and it would appear that William Suzanne was just trying to start an interfaith ( and inter-no-faith) flame war between all the groups. Miranda
Why don’t you take yourself and your trash mouth back to ARC where it belongs. duke, American-American ***** First Principle and Foundation: Man was created to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by this means to save his soul; and the other things on the face of the earth were created for man’s sake, and in order to aid him in the prosecution of the end for which he was created. *****
Response:
As a student of history, I suggest Mr. Armstrong become familiar with it. Since most people are wholly ignorant of history, and have no desire to learn it, I guess Mr. Armstrong is safe. Those crusades sure were peaceful, and a great testimony to the Muslims. Any way, here is a link addressing much of Armstrongs calumny. http://solagratia.org/RC.html RG
Get a clue, folks- why else would William Suzanne x-post this huge bunch o’crappola to alt.recovery.catholicism, alt.religion.christian.presbyterian,alt.religion.christian.last-days, and alt.religion.christian.pentecostal EXCEPT to start a flame war and foment discord betwen the ng’s. It’s called trolling – and it’s rude. If he’s not a troll ( unlikely) and is so sure of his faith -and wants to proselytize, I suggest he get himself over to the $cientology, Muslim and Mormon ng’s- and stay out of ours. Miranda
Response:
Why doesn’t the Roman Catholic Church tell people that their "call no man father" guy can, once a year, turn one of the Mary ceramics into the true flesh and blood of Mary? What’s that – the hundredth time in a year?
** Ceramic ones are pretty rare these days. The last one I saw was molded plastic — ABS I think. The colors and details were excellent. It would be a simple matter to drill tear ducts and install an olive-oil reservoir behind the head. A couple of drops of red food coloring in the olive-oil should do miracles. — Rich, 805-386-3734, www.vcnet.com/measures, remove ^ from adr.
Response:
Why doesn’t the Roman Catholic Church tell people that their "call no man father" guy can, once a year, turn one of the Mary ceramics into the true flesh and blood of Mary?
What’s that – the hundredth time in a year? BAM
Response:
in message – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 1. Best One-Sentence Summary: blah de blah de blah… yap yap yap… troll troll troll yada yada yada troll troll troll _ mega shovelage of a massive pile of plagiarized bull _ 1. Because William Suzanne posted his huge and unoriginal screed to alt.recovery.catholicism, alt.religion.christian.presbyterian, alt.religion.christian.last-days, and alt.religion.christian.pentecostal. NONE of the four groups has the least bit of interest in pro-catholic proselytizing- and it would appear that William Suzanne was just trying to start an interfaith ( and inter-no-faith) flame war between all the groups. Miranda
You do I hope realise just how ‘fowel and lowley’ this response makes you look… Or do you ?
Response:
23. The Catholic Church accepts the authority of the great Ecumenical Councils (see, e.g., Acts 15) which defined and developed Christian doctrine (much of which Protestantism also accepts).
Why doesn’t the Roman Catholic Church tell people that their "call no man father" guy can, once a year, turn one of the Mary ceramics into the true flesh and blood of Mary? Then, they could take that statue and attach it securely to a rocket and then shoot her off into space. Think of the number of pilgrims that would even endure great hardship to attend this glorious and holy event. Unbelievers would see the old gal, in the flesh, rocketed into space and immediately become Roman Catholic. Catholics could then testify that they saw Mary ascend with their own eyes. Hey, if a "call no man father" guy can turn snack food into the second person of the "trinity", then changing a ceramic already worshipped as "Mary" into the real gal should be small potatoes, eh? Just think of it, WHOOSH!!! There she goes! Think of the faithful multitudes gazing into the clouds. Think of the OFFERING after the show, I mean event… Would it not count as a miracle? Just a humble suggestion to enhance the Roman Catholic faith and worship. Pastor Winter — Apostolic Oneness Pentecostal /*/ PreRapture Ministry http://www.pentecostal.biz for Bible studies (text and audio) Have you obeyed Acts 2:38 as Paul taught in Acts 19:4-6?
Response:
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy.
That is kind of silly. Don’t you read the newspapers? The RCC is the "Great Whore" The "harlot daughters" are the denominations that worship the same false gods as the "Great Whore" (the Catholic trinity). Most of the false christian churches are daughters of the RCC. That is another reason that no one can be saved in a trinity church. Revelation 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: The RCC "sitteth on many waters", she is international. Revelation 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Catholic "indulgences" and false religion have made many "drunk" with her false religion. Revelation 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The "beast" is the economic community that the "Whore" (the RCC) rides on. The nations support the Vatican. Revelation 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: The pomp and jewelry and scarlet robes of the RCC. Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. The RCC is the mother of all of the trinity denomintations. Revelation 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. No organization has murdered (as "heretics") so many real Apostolic Christians as the Roman Catholic Church! History knows no other possible organization than the RCC to fit verse Rev 17:6. Pastor sTeve Winter — Apostolic Oneness Pentecostal /*/ PreRapture Ministry http://www.pentecostal.biz for Bible studies (text and audio) Have you obeyed Acts 2:38 as Paul taught in Acts 19:4-6?
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy. 2. Alternate: I am a Catholic because I sincerely believe, by virtue of much cumulative evidence, that Catholicism is true, and that the Catholic Church is the visible Church divinely-established by our Lord Jesus, against which the gates of hell cannot and will not prevail (Mt 16:18), thereby possessing an authority to which I feel bound in Christian duty to submit. 3. 2nd Alternate: I left Protestantism because it was seriously deficient in its interpretation of the Bible (e.g., "faith alone" and many other "Catholic" doctrines – see evidences below), inconsistently selective in its espousal of various Catholic Traditions (e.g., the Canon of the Bible), inadequate in its ecclesiology, lacking a sensible view of Christian history (e.g., "Scripture alone"), compromised morally (e.g., contraception, divorce), and unbiblically schismatic, anarchical, and relativistic. I don’t therefore believe that Protestantism is all bad (not by a long shot), but these are some of the major deficiencies I eventually saw as fatal to the "theory" of Protestantism, over against Catholicism. All Catholics must regard baptized, Nicene, Chalcedonian Protestants as Christians.
Snip rest Basically The rest of the 150 are reasons NOT to be a prod. Actually,the Popester AGREES with these.. HOWEVER, the fundamental assumption is made of the EXCLUDED MIDDLE!!! Symbolically, ~A == B IFF A EOR B It’s Either Catholic, Prod or nuttin’ folks. It’s like a landlord once told me before I moved into a cold,polluted apartment just South of 6th and Pearl Street Denver Colorado, "You don’t really need to READ this, do you?? No reasonable person could object to anything in it!!" If you believe this then the other 147 reasons seem pretty good reasons NOT to be a prod. If you don’t exclude the middle, then read Martin Luther instead.. It’s more fun!!! Pope Bobby II 69th Clench of the Stark Fist of Removal Reformed Overcoming Church of the Subgenius.
Response:
blah de blah de blah… yap yap yap… troll troll troll yada yada yada troll troll troll _ mega shovelage of a massive pile of plagiarized bull _ Miranda
Nothing to add. I just wanted to see these sections again. maf and dog,aa #1954, EAC Cruise Director and Lounge Pianist, respectively posted to aph, 12/01/02
Response:
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church
You appear to be new here. Some advice to you? Very few people will read these long postings. It’s usually better to just post the web link rather than "copy/past" every thing from that link. Cross posting to all these different groups is considered trolling and is usually done to insight a war of words between the different groups. And finally, this type of postings is pushy preaching and doesn’t belong to Catholicism. We wait to be first asked about our religion and then give an explanation as best we can or send the questioner to a reliable source who is better able to answer that person’s interests. Scott
Response:
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, <flush I could understand posting this to the RC newsgroup but wideband posting to inappropriate groups is called spamming.
Yes it is… perhaps many of the non-Catholics who spam the RC newsgroup with anti-RC garbage (and then lack the intelligence or courage to actually discuss their issues)… should consider that. Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com – Still Only $9.95 – http://www.uncensored-news.com <<<<<<< The Worlds Uncensored News Source <<<<<<<<
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – As a student of history, I suggest Mr. Armstrong become familiar with it. Since most people are wholly ignorant of history, and have no desire to learn it, I guess Mr. Armstrong is safe. Those crusades sure were peaceful, and a great testimony to the Muslims. Any way, here is a link addressing much of Armstrongs calumny. http://solagratia.org/RC.html RG from a link… An Ecumenical Council Officially Condemns a Pope for Heresy this article shows that the author does not understand Papal Infallibility. The Church Fathers’ Interpretation of the Rock of Matthew 16:18 Total fantasy spin… yes the fathers said Peter was the Rock but that is not what they meant…. Forgeries and the Papacy Says that there were forgeries ans yes there were, but Papal primacy was not built on them as the author is wont to argue. Upon This Rock": Jesus is Speaking TO Peter ABOUT the Rock , more nonesens about how Peter is not the one being spoken to… as usual White forgets (conveniently) up.
If you don’t like White, how about the Church fathers- http://www.christiantruth.com/mt16.html
Response:
Do us all a favour and quit trolling. While I tend not to see a lot of stuff crossposted form the lutheran and episcopal groups, the baptist and adventist groups tend to cross post to the catholic group with some frequency. While I am not a fan of this sort of message no body from the originating groups tends to criticize when a member of their group spams others in the hopes of ’spreading the truth’. Interesting isn’t it?
To the best of my knowledge nobody from the Episcapol group is doing this sort of crossposting, and if they were I’d be asking them to quite just the same.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – As a student of history, I suggest Mr. Armstrong become familiar with it. Since most people are wholly ignorant of history, and have no desire to learn it, I guess Mr. Armstrong is safe. Those crusades sure were peaceful, and a great testimony to the Muslims. Any way, here is a link addressing much of Armstrongs calumny. http://solagratia.org/RC.html RG
from a link… An Ecumenical Council Officially Condemns a Pope for Heresy this article shows that the author does not understand Papal Infallibility. The Church Fathers’ Interpretation of the Rock of Matthew 16:18 Total fantasy spin… yes the fathers said Peter was the Rock but that is not what they meant…. Forgeries and the Papacy Says that there were forgeries ans yes there were, but Papal primacy was not built on them as the author is wont to argue. Upon This Rock": Jesus is Speaking TO Peter ABOUT the Rock , more nonesens about how Peter is not the one being spoken to… as usual White forgets (conveniently) that Peter is also called Cephas which means rock in aramaic… not stone, not pebble and the fact that Jesus was probably speaking Aramaic and that was transliterated into Greek. *sigh* blah blah blah… So much that was refuted centuries ago that people still dredge up.
Response:
As a student of history, I suggest Mr. Armstrong become familiar with it. Since most people are wholly ignorant of history, and have no desire to learn it, I guess Mr. Armstrong is safe. Those crusades sure were peaceful, and a great testimony to the Muslims. Any way, here is a link addressing much of Armstrongs calumny. http://solagratia.org/RC.html RG
Response:
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy.
<snip Translation: With the RCC, other people have done all my thinking for me and besides — it’s so pretty! — Darklady http://www.darklady.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dark-Lady
Response:
Do us all a favour and quit trolling.
While I tend not to see a lot of stuff crossposted form the lutheran and episcopal groups, the baptist and adventist groups tend to cross post to the catholic group with some frequency. While I am not a fan of this sort of message no body from the originating groups tends to criticize when a member of their group spams others in the hopes of ’spreading the truth’. Interesting isn’t it?
Response:
Do us all a favour and quit trolling.
Response:
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian,
<flush I could understand posting this to the RC newsgroup but wideband posting to inappropriate groups is called spamming.
Response:
1. Best One-Sentence Summary:
blah de blah de blah… yap yap yap… troll troll troll yada yada yada troll troll troll _ mega shovelage of a massive pile of plagiarized bull _ 1. Because William Suzanne posted his huge and unoriginal screed to alt.recovery.catholicism, alt.religion.christian.presbyterian, alt.religion.christian.last-days, and alt.religion.christian.pentecostal. NONE of the four groups has the least bit of interest in pro-catholic proselytizing- and it would appear that William Suzanne was just trying to start an interfaith ( and inter-no-faith) flame war between all the groups. Miranda
Response:
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy. 2. Alternate: I am a Catholic because I sincerely believe, by virtue of much cumulative evidence, that Catholicism is true, and that the Catholic Church is the visible Church divinely-established by our Lord Jesus, against which the gates of hell cannot and will not prevail (Mt 16:18), thereby possessing an authority to which I feel bound in Christian duty to submit. 3. 2nd Alternate: I left Protestantism because it was seriously deficient in its interpretation of the Bible (e.g., "faith alone" and many other "Catholic" doctrines – see evidences below), inconsistently selective in its espousal of various Catholic Traditions (e.g., the Canon of the Bible), inadequate in its ecclesiology, lacking a sensible view of Christian history (e.g., "Scripture alone"), compromised morally (e.g., contraception, divorce), and unbiblically schismatic, anarchical, and relativistic. I don’t therefore believe that Protestantism is all bad (not by a long shot), but these are some of the major deficiencies I eventually saw as fatal to the "theory" of Protestantism, over against Catholicism. All Catholics must regard baptized, Nicene, Chalcedonian Protestants as Christians. 4. Catholicism isn’t formally divided and sectarian (Jn 17:20-23; Rom 16:17; 1 Cor 1:10-13). 5. Catholic unity makes Christianity and Jesus more believable to the world (Jn 17:23). 6. Catholicism, because of its unified, complete, fully supernatural Christian vision, mitigates against secularization and humanism. 7. Catholicism avoids an unbiblical individualism which undermines Christian community (e.g., 1 Cor 12:25-26). 8. Catholicism avoids theological relativism, by means of dogmatic certainty and the centrality of the papacy. 9. Catholicism avoids ecclesiological anarchism – one cannot merely jump to another denomination when some disciplinary measure or censure is called for. 10. Catholicism formally (although, sadly, not always in practice) prevents the theological relativism which leads to the uncertainties within the Protestant system among laypeople. 11. Catholicism rejects the "State Church," which has led to governments dominating Christianity rather than vice-versa. 12. Protestant State Churches greatly influenced the rise of nationalism, which mitigated against universal equality and Christian universalism (i.e., catholicism). 13. Unified Catholic Christendom (before the 16th century) had not been plagued by the tragic religious wars which in turn led to the "Enlightenment," in which men rejected the hypocrisy of inter-Christian warfare and decided to become indifferent to religion rather than letting it guide their lives. 14. Catholicism retains the elements of mystery, supernatural, and the sacred in Christianity, thus opposing itself to secularization, where the sphere of the religious in life becomes greatly limited. 15. Protestant individualism led to the privatization of Christianity, whereby it is little respected in societal and political life, leaving the "public square" barren of Christian influence. 16. The secular false dichotomy of "church vs. world" has led committed orthodox Christians, by and large, to withdraw from politics, leaving a void filled by pagans, cynics, unscrupulous, and power-hungry. Catholicism offers a framework in which to approach the state and civic responsibility. 17. Protestantism leans too much on mere traditions of men (every denomination stems from one Founder’s vision. As soon as two or more of these contradict each other, error is necessarily present). 18. Protestant churches (esp. evangelicals), are far too often guilty of putting their pastors on too high of a pedestal. In effect, every pastor becomes a "pope," to varying degrees (some are "super-popes"). Because of this, evangelical congregations often experience a severe crisis and/or split up when a pastor leaves, thus proving that their philosophy is overly man-centered, rather than God-centered. 19. Protestantism, due to lack of real authority and dogmatic structure, is tragically prone to accommodation to the spirit of the age, and moral faddism. 20. Catholicism retains apostolic succession, necessary to know what is true Christian apostolic Tradition. It was the criterion of Christian truth used by the early Christians. 21. Many Protestants take a dim view towards Christian history in general, esp. the years from 313 (Constantine’s conversion) to 1517 (Luther’s arrival). This ignorance and hostility to Catholic Tradition leads to theological relativism, anti-Catholicism, and a constant, unnecessary process of "reinventing the wheel." 22. Protestantism from its inception was anti-Catholic, and remains so to this day (esp. evangelicalism). This is obviously wrong and unbiblical if Catholicism is indeed Christian (if it isn’t, then – logically – neither is Protestantism, which inherited the bulk of its theology from Catholicism). The Catholic Church, on the other hand, is not anti-Protestant. 23. The Catholic Church accepts the authority of the great Ecumenical Councils (see, e.g., Acts 15) which defined and developed Christian doctrine (much of which Protestantism also accepts). 24. Most Protestants do not have bishops, a Christian office which is biblical (1 Tim 3:1-2) and which has existed from the earliest Christian history and Tradition. 25. Protestantism has no way of settling doctrinal issues definitively. At best, the individual Protestant can only take a head count of how many Protestant scholars, commentators, etc. take such-and-such a view on Doctrine X, Y, or Z. There is no unified Protestant Tradition. 26. Protestantism arose in 1517, and is a "Johnny-come-lately" in the history of Christianity. Therefore it cannot possibly be the "restoration" of "pure", "primitive" Christianity, since this is ruled out by the fact of its absurdly late appearance. Christianity must have historic continuity or it is not Christianity. Protestantism is necessarily a "parasite" of Catholicism, historically and doctrinally speaking. 27. The Protestant notion of the "invisible church" is also novel in the history of Christianity and foreign to the Bible (Mt 5:14; 16:18), therefore untrue. 28. When Protestant theologians speak of the teaching of early Christianity (e.g., when refuting "cults"), they say "the Church taught . . ." (as it was then unified), but when they refer to the present they instinctively and inconsistently refrain from such terminology, since universal teaching authority now clearly resides only in the Catholic Church. 29. The Protestant principle of private judgment has created a milieu (esp. in Protestant America) in which (invariably) man-centered "cults" such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, and Christian Science arise. The very notion that one can "start" a new, or "the true" Church is Protestant to the core. 30. The lack of a definitive teaching authority in Protestant (as with the Catholic magisterium) makes many individual Protestants think that they have a direct line to God, notwithstanding all of Christian Tradition and the history of biblical exegesis (a "Bible, Holy Spirit and me" mentality). Such people are generally under-educated theologically, unteachable, lack humility, and have no business making presumed "infallible" statements about the nature of Christianity. 31. Evangelicalism’s "techniques" of evangelism are often contrived and manipulative, certainly not directly derived from the text of the Bible. Some even resemble brainwashing to a degree. 32. The gospel preached by many evangelical Protestant evangelists and pastors is a truncated and abridged, individualistic and ear-tickling gospel, in effect merely "fire insurance" rather than the biblical gospel as proclaimed by the Apostles. 33. Evangelicalism often separates profound, life-transforming repentance and radical discipleship from its gospel message. The Lutheran Bonhoeffer called this "cheap grace." 34. The absence of the idea of submission to spiritual authority in Protestantism has leaked over into the civic arena, where the ideas of personal "freedom," "rights," and "choice" now dominate to such an extent that civic duty, communitarianism, and discipline are tragically neglected, to the detriment of a healthy society. 35. Catholicism retains the sense of the sacred, the sublime, the holy, and the beautiful in spirituality. The ideas of altar, and "sacred space" are preserved. Many Protestant churches are no more than "meeting halls" or "gymnasiums" or "barn"-type structures. Most Protestants’ homes are more esthetically striking than their churches. Likewise, Protestants are often "addicted to mediocrity" in their appreciation of art, music, architecture, drama, the imagination, etc. 36. Protestantism has largely neglected the place of liturgy in worship (with notable exceptions such as Anglicanism and Lutheranism). This is the way Christians had always worshiped down through the centuries, and thus can’t be so lightly dismissed. 37. Protestantism tends to oppose matter and spirit, favoring the latter, and is somewhat Gnostic or Docetic in this regard. 38. Catholicism upholds the "incarnational principle," wherein Jesus became flesh and thus raised flesh and matter to new spiritual heights. 39. Protestantism greatly limits or disbelieves in sacramentalism, which is simply the extension of the incarnational principle and the belief that matter can convey grace. Some sects (e.g., Baptists, many pentecostals) reject all sacraments. 40. Protestants’ excessive mistrust of the flesh ("carnality") often leads to (in evangelicalism or fundamentalism) an absurd legalism (no dancing, drinking, … read more »
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