Posted by Gold Acacia on May 16, 19101 at 12:26:28:
In Reply to: Re: Roman Catholic Organization: is the true Church posted by Philip St. Romain on May 16, 19101 at 11:31:58:
The assertion was that the Bible supports the foundation of Roman Catholicism. I was simply stating that there is no evidence of this.
In most of the letters that Paul wrote to the early churches there were exhortations to overcome the corruption that had crept into the church through various means. Even in John's vision at Patmos, the Lord is calling overcomers out of the seven churches which had already fallen to various forms of degradation. Therefore, if the church had been degraded, one must ask "What had it been degraded *from*?"
: Who says Jesus didn't come to found an orgainized religion? On what basis is this point made?
Again, the assertion made above seems to be that Christ came to found Catholicism. I only further asserted that there is no scripture to substantiate this point :-) Furthermore (and PLEASE don't take offense), in asking the popular question WWJD? What would make one think that Christ would call people out of one degraded system into another system that would eventually become degraded itself?
: This notion that we've had it all wrong for 1700 years but that there's a group who will finally do the Lord's work in the way he intended seems pretty arrogant to me.
I don't think it's arrogant at all. But just to qualify that a bit I would never say that I have it right or that you have it right, or that any other certain group has it right. However, they, you and I would most likely say that we are pretty close, perspectively speaking. The Baptists believe in emphasise full water immersion, the Pentecostals emphasis gifts of the Spirit, the Lutherines meet a certain way, as do the Methodists, the Greek Orthodox, the free groups- ad infinitum. And they ALL feel that their way of meeting is the best and most accurate to what the Lord intended.
What is the harm in examining our current practices and traditions and trying to get back to what the church originally was? In the early churches, there were very few divisions, very few doctrinal disagreements, very few of the things that currently divide us today. Particularly, there were fewer teachings regarding church practices and traditions that cause so much division and resentment in the Body of Christ.