Pope: Other Christian Denominations Not True Churches
LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy — For the second time in a week, Pope Benedict XVI has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, reasserting the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church and saying other Christian communities were either defective or not true churches.
Benedict approved a document released Tuesday from his old office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which repeated church teaching on Catholic relations with other Christians.
Quite the statement. It does go a long way towards explaining why every church I've attended since I left the Catholic Church has had a membership of about 80% former Catholics. The Truth is found in reading the Bible, and the Truth (Jesus) will set you free. You do not need a priest, bishop, cardinal, or pope, standing in as a mediary between you and our God.
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7 comments:
as a former non catholic, i'd have to say the bible disagrees with you. :)
but, let us both not get started.
If you're saying the the mediary between us and the Father is Jesus, I agree. This isn't a forum for theology, but I'll just simply say I believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and noone gets to God but through Him; not a church. The Church is the Body of Christ, which is made up of all believers around the globe, who worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, regardless of the church denomination they are in. I will refrain from delving further into other problems I have with traditions and practices of the aforementioned denomination; such as, transubstantiation, veneration of dead human beings, worshipping an obedient human woman who simply loved God and obeyed His will in her life, and many others.
KD
preach it, brother!
If you're saying the the mediary between us and the Father is Jesus, I agree. This isn't a forum for theology, but I'll just simply say I believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and noone gets to God but through Him
and here, i wholeheartedly agree, 100%, and it makes me not any less catholic of faith.
The Church is the Body of Christ, which is made up of all believers around the globe, who worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, regardless of the church denomination they are in.
we make distinction, and believe in both, tween the Body of Christ (His Real Presence in the Eucharist), and the mystical body of Christ, made up off all believers. those not with us in faith, we refer to as separated bretheran.
you are still my brother in Christ, though we have familial disagreement that prevents us from wosrhipping as we should: as one family in Christ.
I will refrain from delving further into other problems I have with traditions and practices of the aforementioned denomination; such as, transubstantiation, veneration of dead human beings, worshipping an obedient human woman who simply loved God and obeyed His will in her life, and many others.
i understand your objections, and your reasoning to not want to delve into them here.
but,anytime, anyday, you have my email. i would be happy, and honored, to explain where we get these notions from and why we adhere to them. beleive it or not: they do have scriptural support.
if you understand it, you still wont likely agree, but us catholics will seem a little less strange to you.
this is NOT an attempt to debate, or challenge you. i wanna be clear on that.
its just from one friend to another
Gino, I wish you could be here with us on Saturday night at our MN blogger event. I'd love to sit with you, Uncle Ben, Nightwriter, and whoever else; and talk about God. I worked with a gal one time who was going into a convent, and she gave me her best arguments as well, and I didn't buy them then. I do believe there are certain doctrines that are non-negotiable, but there are alot of other things that are fun for sitting down and hammering out with brothers. I may take you up on the e-mail dialogue. Have to run now.
I'm home from work now. I just wanted to mention also that Catholics are not strange or foreign to me. I was an altar boy, and grew up on everything they had to offer. My father was a pretty devout Catholic his entire life. I chose to leave the church at 27; he chose to leave at 51, and became an ordained minister in a non-Catholic denomination at age 53. I don't doubt any individual Catholic's veracity, heart, or love for God. There are just way too many teachings and traditions that I find too Pharasaical compared to what the Word actually says.
kd
i'll intro my background just so you know from where i come:
raised catholic, and catholic schools 12 yrs.
left the faith for atheism/agnoticism at 14.
accepted deism at about 18, and followed a unitarian type personal creed (that i invented myself).
became christian fundemantalist at 27.
re-entered The Church at 29, (leaving my fundie friends in a state of puzzled bewilderment.)
i have considered eastern orthodoxy at 29, and again at 36.
and still think about it occasionally today.
honestly, i think i love Mother Church too much to actually become orthodox.
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