Results 1 - 12 of 12
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Paulfromnys | 25714 | ||
The RC church had it's birth when a group of men accepted the sanction of the Roman empire to make Christianity the official state religion in 325 AD. The true church testified that the only place any had with GOD was to repent and take Jesus Christ as Lord. The Roman empire in no way shape or form did this, and yet she entered into a unsanctioned relationship with this new group claiming to be a church, the Roman Catholic church. Most Genuine believers rejected this arraingement preffering rather to remain true to Jesus and suffer persecution. Much later the Roman church iniated this persecution because believers would not acknowledge her authority in the faith of Jesus. The main bone of contention spiritually for Luther was the with holding of scripture from the common man by the RC church. In political matters it was the sanctioned practice charging money to help one fare better in the after life which Luther could not abide. |
||||||
2 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | EdB | 25783 | ||
I take it then you fel the church went wrong when it becasem the state religion of Rome? From what your saying I conclude you feel it was compromised by non believers at this point. Interesting! You sight the withholding of scripture and indulgences as theproblems that came to the head with Luther. Any thoughts about the compromises you felt entered the church in 300 AD era? Had the compromises the early non-believers brought become so ingrained that they were no longer an issue? I'm not passing judgement on what you said I just would like to explore it more. EdB |
||||||
3 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Paulfromnys | 25827 | ||
Well I'm not strongly grounded in the history, or unfolding of these things, just shooting from the hip. I believe what happened at niciae is very much akin to what happened when Israel asked for a king to be over her like the other nations(1 Samuel 8:19,20). Israel was experiencing much distress at the time, but she had a covenant relationship with GOD to live and overcome through. This she rejected in order to deal with her problems as other nations(unbelief, arm of flesh). What this truly was GOD revealed in 1 Samuel 8:7. This is exactly what I believe those believers embracing Constintine and the covering of the Roman Empire did at Niciea. ED: Any thoughts about the compromises you felt entered the church in 300 AD era? The church is by defination those who live in a real moment to moment communion with GOD as their Father through the attonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing added, nothing taken away. You cannot join the church, you MUST be born into it. So the straight foward ansewer to that question is that the believers embracing the protection and sanction of the Roman Empire left the church, and began the first expression of Babylon sinse the attonement of Christ. As such these would be the members of the spirit wishing to destroy the faith of Jesus Christ in the lives of men. ED: Had the compromises the early non-believers brought become so ingrained that they were no longer an issue? It's my personal belief that the adversary had succeeded in taking the hearts of many from their first love. By this I mean that many were moved by stress and pressures from a complete intrustment of themselves to Christ in love, into trying of themselves, and apart from the faith of GOD to deal with the many things confronting the early church. These things are a testimony to us, today. |
||||||
4 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | EdB | 25909 | ||
Hi Paul I heard today that over fifty percent of the churches in America have an attendance of less than 75 and that 50 churches a week close. I know when I talk to non attenders and ask why they don't attend. I get one of three answers. First they don't believe you have to attend a church to satisfy God. Secondly everyone knows everyone else and I'm treated as an outsider. Thirdly now do I know which church to attend they all say their right. That last answer bothers me the most. Since the reformation we have fragmented the church almost without end. I asked this question for a reason, I wanted to know what everyone thought was the major problem with the Catholic church and does or could that problem effect a protestant church today. You mentioned that in 300AD many left the church to form a babylonic church. Are you inferring an authentic church continued other than the Catholic church. While I’m sure there were splinter groups and such I can find nothing to verify this do you have anything? EdB |
||||||
5 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 25922 | ||
Ed, those findings you cited on the state of the churches in our country are interesting but more than that, they are downright disburbing. And I have no reason to question their accuracy. I fear they are sadly true...... But, you know, the trend CAN be reversed. There is no excuse for a church to become exclusive and clanish and treat visitors as imposters. There is no excuse for waving any denominational flag as if it were the symbol of the only church that held the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Most of the mortal wounds that are being struck on churches are self-inflicted...... But a church doesn't have to commit suicide. There is another option. Let me tell you about one that is alive and well. I know of a church in the downtown area of a moderate-size city. It is not clanish. It welcomes all visitors warmly. It preaches and teaches the Bible. It places no premium on man's mere opinions about God and His word. It exalts Christ, not denominationalism, although it is a member of the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. It is vibrant. It is alive. It is large and continues to show steady growth...... I know these things to be true about it, because it is the church that my wife and I are members of. We rejoice and are glad always to enter this house of the Lord. --Hank | ||||||
6 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 25930 | ||
I wonder how many of those churches with less than 75 members are rural churches. In Texas and Oklahoma (and I would assume Arkansas, too) I have seen good churches in the middle of nowhere with twelve people on the membership rolls. Also, I would like to see more data on these closing churches. Churches do not always close for bad reasons. Sometimes two small congregations will merge. Sometimes the community changes in such a way as to cause the membership to dwindle. Demographics changes can also lead to church membership decline as well. So can persecution (e.g Jerusalem A.D. 70) It is interesting to read the first few chapters of Revelation and know that those churches do not exist anymore. And yet the invisible church triumphant that the saints of God belong to does and has always existed since God first established it, and God will preserve it until the return of His Son. The manifestation of the church in the world is a fluid thing, non-static in its geography and intensity. I am glad your church is so worthy of the praise you give it Hank. I too am blessed to be in a congregation where the supremacy of the Triune God and Scripture can be found in every nook and cranny of that building, its teaching and worship. We certainly have our traditions, but we pay careful heed to the words of Christ to the Pharisees: "And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?" --Matthew 15:3 (see also Mark 7) --Joe! |
||||||
7 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 25985 | ||
There are possibly any number of reasons why smaller churches are closing their doors, but it seems to me that two of them could be classified as major. The first is the fact that some denominations, especially those who have been tagged as 'mainline' churches -- e.g., Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopalian, to name three -- have over the last several years steadily decreased in numbers, both in membership and church buildings...... The second is the relatively new organism known as the 'mega church.' As the large discount houses gradually snuffed out most of the 'mom and pop' stores, so the mega churches have dramatically impacted the small neighborhood church. As the mom and pop stores could not compete with the attractive menu being presented by the hugh discount centers, so the small neighborhood church could not compete with the dazzling variety of programs being offered by the large regional churches..... The automobile (at least two in virtually every garage) has made it possible for both the super store and the mega church to flourish..... These are but two of who knows how many reasons for the sweeping changes we have seen in church attendance, or lack of it, in the last 50 years or so. But, Joe, as you say, God continues to draw people into the fold. --Hank | ||||||
8 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | CDBJ | 25994 | ||
Hank I liked your analogy, it shows you are thinking. It is my opinion that churches grow now days because believers are being feed. I quit going to a particular church years ago because they always had the same thing on the menu, salvation. I needed more meat in my diet once I was saved and starting to grow. I would look a fright, physically, if all I could get to eat were baby food. The problem now days, is that some of those big old denomination don't even offer baby food anymore, if you get my drift. CDBJ | ||||||
9 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 25996 | ||
I do get your "drift", CDBJ, loud and clear. It's sad. Some churches don't serve much on their menu but goody-goody desserts. The theme song might as well be, "Come join us. It'll make you feel good all over. We have fun and fellowship and sports and quilting parties -- and the food is always simply delicious." At a "church" my wife and attended some years ago, I once counted the number of Sundays on which the word "Jesus" was never spoken from the pulpit. As I recall, the number rose to the double digits before the man who was mis-named the pastor slipped up and mentioned the name of Jesus. I'm happy to say we no longer attend that organization. --Hank | ||||||
10 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | CDBJ | 26162 | ||
I'll be honest with you I am not even much into singing anymore. I know singing conveys praise but it hurts my throat when it's more then one song. I sure like turning pages in the Bible though on the pastors lead when following a point of doctrin. Someone said that you can usually till if a church is heading in the right direction or is on the right track without even going inside; just see how many of it's members are carrying Bibles in with them! That is a pretty good indication that they Word of God is being taught. CDBJ | ||||||
11 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 26165 | ||
CDBJ, I hadn't really thought about your idea of watching for how many members of a church carried Bibles with them, but I do believe you're right. In the church that my wife and I formerly attended for years, virtually no one carried a Bible. It was for all intents a dead church...... In the church we attend now (a large church) I believe that if you took the Bibles that were carried in, stacked them on a table and counted them, you would know almost exactly how many people attended the service on any given Sunday. And it is a live, active, vibrant church. You make a good point. The Bibles being carried in are a leading indicator of what one is likely to find inside. Could we say that going to church without a Bible is like going on a picnic without a basket full of food? --Hank | ||||||
12 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | CDBJ | 26168 | ||
In essence that is what Christ said, Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. There is food for the body and food for the spirit. It is the assimilation of God's Word that causes us to grow spiritually. CDBJ |
||||||