suddenly some found they were wrong and started changing things, and they got many things wrong but later these were changed to be correct? Or was the Church correct at first but mysteriously went in the wrong direction? Seems to me Christ promised "the gates of hell would not prevail against " His Church.
2007-12-04 01:08:27 · 26 answers · asked by Debra M. Wishing Peace To All 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
In fact, Jesus established one religious organization, the Church. He appointed its first leader, and he authorized the Church with great powers to "bind and loose" in questions of forgiveness of sin, interpretation of teachings, applications in new situations, and appointment of new leaders. What the Church decided would be honored in heaven.
Even in New Testament times, men were teaching new gospels--they didn't like some teaching of Jesus. A critical work of the Church, from the beginning, was to defend Jesus' teachings against those heresies. And for 1500 years, the Church was enormously successful.
However, at the Reformation, heretics came up with a new tactic--the establishment of man-made "churches" where people could imagine themselves Christians in good standing while practicing their favorite heresies.
Luther was quite ingenious in proposing that only the Bible counted as authority, not the Church Jesus established, and anyone could read the Bible to mean anything he wanted. This was the nuclear explosion that splintered Christianity into 30,000 shards of man-made "churches."
Fact: Jesus started only one Church, and he prayed for unity. John 17:20: "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you."
Those who belong to man-made "churches" rejecting the full gospel and working against Jesus' Church are not answering Jesus' prayer.
Cheers,
Bruce
2007-12-04 05:28:26 · answer #1 · answered by Bruce 7 · 7⤊ 2⤋
So basically Catholics believe that the modern RCC is what Jesus, Peter, Paul, and the rest had in mind? Why then, was there no "Universal Bishop over the whole Church" until Pope Boniface III in the seventh century? Why are the modern Marian dogmas completely foreign to the early church? The assumption of Mary doesn't appear until the sixth century, and was called heretical by two different bishops of Rome. Maybe, given some of these historical facts, the Protestants were right, and the Church had lost it's way. That doesn't mean that the gates of Hell prevailed against it, it means that people lost their way, and God, as he always does, put them back on track.
2007-12-04 11:24:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Pride.
Desire for power.
Arrogance.
Rebellion against authority.
Human failings, in other words -- which the leaders among the reformers, including Luther and Calvin and Zwingli, possessed in no small measure. That men of the Church did as well is no surprise (does the Church not teach that we retain our concupiscence?). But the times were ripe for schism. The gates of hell did not and will not prevail against the Church, but the reformation remains its single most dramatic and far-reaching chastisement.
However, the heirs of the reformation quickly threw out the baby with the baptismal water, and the sin of arrogance prevailed. And every accusation against the Church's teachings, every fanciful revision of history, every self-righteous denouncement of the practices of the faithful, and every freelance convolution of Scripture to fit an opposing view from then until today has its root in one and only one thing: Rejection of the Church's authority, and obstinate denial that this authority derived from Christ through the apostles.
The fullness of the Christian faith as found in the Church did not change, is not changing, and will not change. And because Jesus prayed in the garden that we would all be one, I know that we will be. The work of the Holy Spirit is greater than the mess men have made of Christianity. The truth of the Gospel is alive and well.
2007-12-04 02:29:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 10⤊ 1⤋
The gates of hell have certainly tried to prevail against the church. And won some skirmishes like the ones pointed out here, but The Church prevails and shall not fail. She is making a comeback again and I and my favorite theologian will make a difference.
2007-12-04 01:54:06 · answer #4 · answered by Makemeaspark 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
More like the leadership of the Roman church drifted into error gradually. And Protestantism was not anything new. There were dissidents and malcontents within the church for 1400 years. Consider the fact that the Greek Orthodox church broke away about 500 years before Luther, for example. The Roman church usually dealt with discontent by either forming a new order (which absorbed the malcontents into their own monastic order away from everyone else), or dissidents were silenced by coercion, torture, or death.
2007-12-04 12:28:12 · answer #5 · answered by Randy G 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hi Debra,
I've never thought about it that way. Moreover, I don't believe anything was "gotten wrong." I fully understand the "model" upon which the Catholic Church was built (so to speak). the greatest difference that I see is a de-emphasis of the priesthood in Protestantism.
I do believe in the "catholic" church... or universal church, the "bride" of Christ. Or the body (depending on what scripture you like to use). But I believe that encompasses all Christians.
I also understand that the Catholic Church doesn't believe that. As I understand it, the Catholic Church believes it is the sole bride and body of Christ. I disagree with that. But that is fine, ya know?
I still consider Catholics as brothers and sisters. I hope that some Catholics believe that of me.
It sounds like you've been offended by some of the questions/posts about Catholicism. To those critics, I would say: it serves no purpose to criticize like this. Think about that next time you're thinking about posting a cruel question.
Peace to you, Debra
2007-12-04 01:53:30 · answer #6 · answered by Green is my Favorite Color 4 · 5⤊ 2⤋
The gates of Hell did not prevail against the church. That is why Jesus made Protestants. To save his church.
2007-12-04 12:36:49 · answer #7 · answered by Ned F 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Many times in the NT we are admonished to be watchful of wolves in sheep's clothing. We are told to test all things, and to be wary of false gospels, false doctrine and false teachings about Christ. Jesus even said some would come claiming I am the Christ ( admitting Jesus as Messiah ) but would teach "another Jesus". This assumes He already knew these different "denominations" would arise. Narrow is the gate, and difficult is the path that leads to the truth, there are FEW who find it. Many prefer the wide easy road, thinking God wants to make things easy for them. You will need to pray, test and search deeply to know if what you were taught is provable throughout the entire Scriptures. So no, not all denominations are true Christians. Remember what Christ spoke " Why do you call me Lord Lord and not DO the things which I say?" and " If you love Me, keep MY commandments".
2016-05-28 03:14:54 · answer #8 · answered by jennette 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My vote is for "the church (was) correct at first but (not so) mysteriously went in the wrong direction."
When many bishoprics were put in place to gain political power and as a strategical, rather than a spiritual move, the Catholic church moved away from its mission and became a secular organization. That's not to say that there weren't some spiritual people in leadership -- there were, of course. But politics corrupted the church during the Middle Ages. There's nothing mysterious about that.
In modern times, the church chose to protect itself rather than hear and protect victims of abuse, and on a certain level lost some of its moral authority because of it. And now you have a Pope who is talking about Mary as a co-redemptrix, which JP II rightly said was a heretical belief.
On the other hand, the Catholic church IS a leader at fighting for human civil rights world-wide, providing untold dollars in charitable works, and funding hospitals, homes for the aged, and caring for and educating children.
The gates of hell might not "prevail" against it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't worked against itself at times, by straying from its God-given mission.
2007-12-04 01:20:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
First I believe your definition of church is wrong. The church is all believers regardless of denomination. I do not think that the Catholic church was wrong for all of its history. However I do think around the time of the reformation the Catholic church took a wrong turn. They were teaching practices that were truly wrong. I honestly think the reformation was necessary to preserve the church. The reformation in addition to forming the protestant denominations forced the catholic church to return to righteous teachings. To leave the path they were on and get back to the truth.
Can you truly deny that there are times throughout the history of the RCC that they took a wrong turn in what they were doing?
2007-12-04 03:11:09 · answer #10 · answered by Bible warrior 5 · 7⤊ 4⤋