How does the current power structure and hierarchy of the catholic church in any way reflect gods word?

Question

Where in the bible does it even suggest that we should have a quasi-governmental powerhouse dictating God's political policies? How is being one of the richest organizations on the globe reflect the spirit of giving and love that is lauded by the bible? How can we ,as (wo)men ELECT divinity via a pope? How does that catholic church reflect the bible in any way?


I am looking for reason why not statements of agreement.

Answer 1

The current hierarchy of the Church Christ founded is exactly as Christ set it up - priests overseen by bishops, with one bishop holding "the keys to the kingdom", the universal symbol of supreme authority.

The Catholic Church, in Christian giving and love, provides more human services to the needy people of the world than ALL other churches COMBINED. Money isn't the root of evil. LOVE of money is. The Church usues its money to express love of God's people. Do I detect a note of jealousy?

Elect divinity??? The Pope isn't divine. He is a man, a sinner, whom God has chosen to hold authority over His Church. It works. 2,000 years of unity of belief, unity of teaching, unity of worship, just as Christ commanded. Record of religious tradition without such genuine authority - 500 years of disintegration into thousands of conflicting manmade deniminations, in direct opposition to the stated will of God, "that they all may be ONE".

Anyone who knows the history of the Bible should realize that the Bible cannot contain anything contrary to Catholic teaching. The Catholic Church compiled the Bible for its own use. It should go without saying that the Bishops of the Catholic Church, in compiling the 73 divinely inspired books, did not include anything that was contrary to the teaching and practice of their own Church.

Answer 2

Yes, it's possible for an individual to be mistaken in their interpretation of the Bible. That's why the Catholic Church sets up a checks-and-balances system that prevents one person's interpretation from undermining or even destroying the entire Faith. This is also where Protestantism went terribly wrong: the founder of each denomination decided that he knew more about what the Bible really meant than the guy before him. Wesley didn't agree with Luther, so you have Methodism. Calvin had another interpretation, and there you have the Presbyterian church. Because the Catholic Church is the ultimate judge of how Scripture is interpreted, it's safe to accept something taught by the Church as the truth. By the time a doctrine is proclaimed, it's gone through a rigorous examination by many people, not just one or two. The decree may sound tough, and it is. . .but that's the only way to avoid heresy. Edit: Just because the Church compiled the first set of Scriptures, that doesn't mean that those who come afterward won't misinterpret the Bible's contents to their own -- or worse still, someone else's -- destruction. Martin Luther is a prime example of that very thing. Think in terms of a poem, rather than a letter. I can write a poem and know exactly what I intended for it to mean, but the next person who reads my work may have a completely different idea than what I meant. I'm the only one who can say for sure that yes, this person is reading my work the way I intended, or no, they are way off base. Same thing with the Church and the Bible. If there's a question about interpretation by a fallible human being, go back to the source for the true answers.

Answer 3

>>>How does the current power structure and hierarchy of the catholic church in any way reflect gods word?>>>

The Church is structured the same way Heaven is structured. Christ is the King of Heaven, and He empowered Simon Peter (and his successors) with all earthly religious authority. See Matthew 16.

>>>Where in the bible does it even suggest that we should have a quasi-governmental powerhouse dictating God's political policies?>>>

See Matthew 16. Also see the verse where it has Christ giving the apostles the power to bind/loose on earth that which is bound/loosed in Heaven.

>>>How is being one of the richest organizations on the globe reflect the spirit of giving and love that is lauded by the bible?>>>

What is your evidence that the Catholic Church is one of the richest organizations on the globe?

Even if it is, the Church does a great amount of good with its resources. It's the largest single provider of charity and humanitarianism in the world.

>>>How can we ,as (wo)men ELECT divinity via a pope?>>>

You're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. Nowhere does Catholicism teach that the Pope is divine. Absolutely nowhere.

>>>How does that catholic church reflect the bible in any way?>>>

Almost every Catholic theological teaching is backed squarely by the Bible -- and the handful that are not (such as Mary's Assumption into Heaven) are certainly not contrary to the Bible.
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Answer 4

I was brought up Catholic: went to Catholic School, Church, Sunday School.

I am not a Catholic anymore; I am a non-denominational Christian. I believe in the emphatic Word of God in the Scriptures.

The Catholic Church is a system. It is more political than it is religious. They choose and name Saints, which is an utter insult to God.
Why? Because Scripture says that a "Saint", which is a "set aside one", is already named by God before the Foundation of this World, or better translated, "at the time of the overthrow of Satan"; those were the souls who stood loyally on the side of God when Satan was defeated after rebelling and wanting the throne of Christ. How dare a person name a saint, when they have already been named, and nobody can call someone a saint unless they were one of those who fought against Satan back way before Adam and Eve or anyone else came here in the flesh? The answer is that you cannot name a saint, period.
Each Church has the right to have a leader, and if the Catholic Church names a pope as their leader, thats their business, and its okay. But if you want to know in what ways the Catholic Church system reflects the Bible, the answer is quite simple:

It doesn't. Anyone who disagrees does not know what the Word of God says, period.

Answer 5

1. The Vatican is not about political policy, but about the Faith. Does She take to task certain issues in the political arena? Yes (abortion, euthanasia, human rights, etc.). Why? We live in a world that is run by state and world governments, laws and rules designed to keep civilization manageable and running smoothly. What happens when governments turn their backs on God and pass legislation that is morally corrupt? Who will take a stand against them, leading and guiding the people especially when morality is turned upside-down?

2. I don’t know how much money the Vatican has but do you really think its bad to have a lot of money? The Catholic Church does more for the poor, the homeless, the uneducated than any other institution in the world, and the money She gets comes from donations. I’d invite you to look at any other corporation of equal size and tell me if they are as charitable as the Church? The amount of money someone has doesn’t determine whether their righteous or evil; what they do with it does.

3. Elect divinity via a pope? Sorry, don’t understand the question.

4. The Catholic Church wrote the bible.

Answer 6

It doesn't.

That is (one of the reasons) why Martin Luther and other men of his time separated from the Church. The Bishop of Rome (aka the Pope) is deriving authority not from the Bible but from the political structure of the Church. That structure is a relic from the time of Constantine through the Dark Ages, when the Church wielded immense political power (far more than it does today) and required the hierarchical authority in order to consolidate and expand that power.

If you are concerned with the politics, character, and theology of the Catholic Church, then do likewise...leave. There are a number of churches out there that (in my opinion) make a better attempt to follow the model of the early church as set out in the New Testament.

Answer 7

The hierarchy of the Catholic Church has a basis in the Bible, but by far it is primarily made for practical purposes, and it works. Look at the thousands of Protestant denominations there is so much division, whereas there is only one Catholic Church (well maybe a few more if you include the Eastern Rites), thus they are able to have a uniformity in beliefs.

Answer 8

Throughout the ages God has established an organized government within his people. Abraham--Isaac--Jacob---Moses---Joshua---all the way down the line and they each have in turn appointed the people to work under them and to follow them. This is nothing new and people would be wise to accept what God has placed in effect "Thou art Peter (rock) and upon this rock I will build my CHURCH (not Churches) and the gates of Hell shall not prevail over her"

Answer 9

It's called apostolic succession, and it is biblical. A web search of the term will provide many sources of information as well as Bible references.

The rest of your question is rhetoric.

Answer 10

I can't give a good answer for this here, but I highly recommend this book:

Elaine Pagels _The Gnostic Gospels_

It explains a lot about how the church ended up as it did, and it's clear and easy to read.