Did you know that the pagan priests of the god Dagon wore fish-hats? Those are the fancy hats you referred to.
The myth of grace-only & easy-believism shattered forever
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Paul Christensen
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The factual history of a newborn baby being thrown into the flames to be burned alive by a Roman Catholic Bishop under Bloody Mary, a Roman Catholic English Queen, totally destroys any argumental support you can ever give me to convince me that the Roman Catholic church is anything but a demonic fraud; so you might as well give up trying.But you don't document your false histories, nor do you give reliable sources, you just assert them. The JW's and the SDA's do the same thing as you.
By "reliable source", I mean any recent Ph.D. in history, secular or Protestant, who would agree with your bigotted myth making. I don't accept so called historians before 1960, because scholarship has matured past 18th century propaganda that flooded the world. What has been discovered in archives all over the world does not support your hate speech. Proper documentation is your enemy.
By "documentation", I mean primary and secondary sources, which you never use. You don't even provide a link that verifies your false assertions because that would expose the biased source. You give no name to this woman allegedly burned alive, no date, no place, no ecclesiastical directive, and no eye witnesses yet you have repeated this fabrication twice.
Primary, secondary and tertiary sources are broadly defined here as follows: Primary sources are sources very close to the origin of a particular topic or event. An eyewitness account of a traffic accident is an example of a primary source. The Bible and the Early Church Fathers are primary sources. A tertiary source is an index or textual consolidation of primary and secondary sources. Some tertiary sources are not to be used for academic research, unless they can also be used as secondary sources, or to find other sources.(wiki) This you never do. Anything printed that bashes Catholicism you accept as fact. What you hate doesn't exist. Just cardboard caricatures.
The author of this book is a sociology professor and not even Catholic:
BOOK REVIEW
Anti-Catholicism has a long history in America. And as Philip Jenkins argues in The New Anti-Catholicism, this virulent strain of hatred--once thought dead--is alive and well in our nation, but few people seem to notice, or care.
A statement that is seen as racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, or homophobic can haunt a speaker for years, writes Jenkins, but it is still possible to make hostile and vituperative public statements about Roman Catholicism without fear of serious repercussions. Jenkins shines a light on anti-Catholic sentiment in American society and illuminates its causes, looking closely at gay and feminist anti-Catholicism, anti-Catholic rhetoric and imagery in the media, and the anti-Catholicism of the academic world.
For newspapers and newsmagazines, for television news and in movies, for major book publishers, the Catholic Church has come to provide a grossly stereotyped public villain. Catholic opinions, doctrines, and individual leaders are frequently the butt of harsh satire. Indeed, the notion that the church is a deadly enemy of women--the idea of Catholic misogyny--is commonly accepted in the news media and in popular culture, says Jenkins. And the recent pedophile priest scandal, he shows, has revived many ancient anti-Catholic stereotypes.
It was said that with the election of John F. Kennedy, anti-Catholicism in America was dead. This provocative new book corrects that illusion, drawing attention to this important issue.
Another non-Catholic author:
As we all know and as many of our well established textbooks have argued for decades, the Inquisition was one of the most frightening and bloody chapters in Western history, Pope Pius XII was anti-Semitic and rightfully called “Hitler’s Pope,” the Dark Ages were a stunting of the progress of knowledge to be redeemed only by the secular spirit of the Enlightenment, and the religious Crusades were an early example of the rapacious Western thirst for riches and power. But what if these long held beliefs were all wrong?
In this stunning, powerful, and ultimately persuasive book, Rodney Stark, one of the most highly regarded sociologists of religion and bestselling author of The Rise of Christianity (HarperSanFrancisco 1997) argues that some of our most firmly held ideas about history, ideas that paint the Catholic Church in the least positive light are, in fact, fiction. Why have we held these wrongheaded ideas so strongly and for so long? And if our beliefs are wrong, what, in fact, is the truth?
In each chapter, Stark takes on a well-established anti-Catholic myth, gives a fascinating history of how each myth became the conventional wisdom, and presents a startling picture of the real truth. For example,
In the end, readers will not only have a more accurate history of the Catholic Church, they will come to understand why it became unfairly maligned for so long. Bearing False Witness is a compelling and sobering account of how egotism and ideology often work together to give us a false truth.
- Instead of the Spanish Inquisition being an anomaly of torture and murder of innocent people persecuted for “imaginary” crimes such as witchcraft and blasphemy, Stark argues that not only did the Spanish Inquisition spill very little blood, but it was a major force in support of moderation and justice.
- Instead of Pope Pius XII being apathetic or even helpful to the Nazi movement, such as to merit the title, “Hitler’s Pope,” Stark shows that the campaign to link Pope Pius XII to Hitler was initiated by the Soviet Union, presumably in hopes of neutralizing the Vatican in post-World War II affairs. Pope Pius XII was widely praised for his vigorous and devoted efforts to saving Jewish lives during the war.
- Instead of the Dark Ages being understood as a millennium of ignorance and backwardness inspired by the Catholic Church’s power, Stark argues that the whole notion of the “Dark Ages” was an act of pride perpetuated by anti-religious intellectuals who were determined to claim that theirs was the era of “Enlightenment.”
Paul Christensen
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Good point. If the Holy Spirit provides each and every believer with the same infallible interpretation of Scripture, every believer would have the same interpretation - ie, the interpretation of the HS. But that is not reality. So I call it “your” interpretation, because the reality is, there are different interpretations of Scripture, depending on which church or person you talk to.
If the same Holy Spirit teaches every believer the same thing, how come there are different interpretations? Which interpretation is correct? Yours? If I rely on you to teach me the Bible, can you guarantee that you are teaching me infallibly?
No, I don’t. The Catholic Church, which is the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1Tim 3:15) and is guided by the Holy Spirit, interprets the Bible for me. As for you, you haven’t even got the confidence to tell me that your understanding of the Bible is infallibly correct.
The Catholic Church is not based in the Vatican, just the Roman Catholic Church. You quote Paul's letter to the Ephesians and Ephesus was no where near Rome. You also quote Paul's letter to the Pastor and elder Timothy (1st Timothy) but he was a pastor and elder in Asia Minor and we have no record that he had any association with the church in Rome. The fantasy of "papal succession" claims an authority handed down from the Apostle Peter through successive popes, but the office of the " pope" didn't even exist until well after emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as a state religion. There were "bishops" of the city state of Rome, but no such thing as a pope. The head of the Church was acknowledged as Jesus Christ in scripture well after His death and resurrection by the Apostle Paul, not any one man. You can believe what you want, but I prefer to dwell in the land of reality.
First of all, this verse doesn't say works are irrelevant to salvation - it says works alone don't lead to salvation.
Secondly, no one is saved until after they die and are judged and granted salvation by Christ.
Thirdly, if works are irrelevant to salvation, please explain the following verses:
”a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24);
”faith without works is dead” (James 2:26);
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’. And if you invoke as Father Him who judges each one impartially according to his DEEDS, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile” (1Peter 1:14-17);
“Strive for … the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14).
Firstly, this verse doesn't say works are irrelevant to salvation.
Secondly, repentance is “works” - are you saying you can be saved without repentance? Keeping God’s commandments is also “works” - are you saying Christians can disobey God’s commandments - ie, sin - and still be saved? If so, good luck with that - no one escapes the Judgement.
I don’t think Paul lied, but if I understand you properly, you claim that when Paul speaks of being “instruct(ed) … for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” (2Tim 3:15), he is referring exclusively to the Scriptures. But the Scriptures Paul is referring to in this verse are “the Sacred Writings”, which is the Old Testament.
So can you please explain how the OT can “instruct” anyone “for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ”, because I can’t find any such instructions in the OT (I can find any reference to “Jesus Christ” in the OT, let alone anything about salvation through having faith in him).
Regarding 2Tim 3:16, by “All Scripture”, Paul is referring to “the Sacred Writings” (v.15), which is the Old Testament. So, can you please provide an example of how the OT is “profitable” to Christians for
(a) “doctrine”;
(b) “correction”.
Furthermore, “training in righteousness” and “every good work” refer to works of the law of Moses, so how does this relate to “salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” (v.15)? Doesn’t Paul tells us in Gal 2 that no man is justified by “works of the law”?
You didn’t answer my question, so I’ll try again: Catholics are baptized and accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, so how can you say they are “perishing without Christ”?
You don’t know that the “good thief” on the cross next to Jesus knew the Old Testament. He may not have been a Jew or a proselyte.
All those who received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) knew nothing of the New Testament Scriptures so who gave them the knowledge of Christ? It was the CHRUCH, not the Scriptures.
So much for your claim that it is essential for Christians to study the NT and to know it back-to-front!!
According to you, if I call my biological father, “Father”, I have disobeyed Jesus, for He said, “call no man your father upon the earth” (Matt 23:9).
Did the Holy Spirit inspire you to come up with this interpretation? If so, the Holy Spirit must be an idiot!
Paul Christensen
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I guess the Roman Catholic bishop of Bloody Mary queen of England's time had the correct interpretation of the Bible when he threw a newborn baby into the flames as its mother was burning at the stake for just owning an English Bible.
Which verse say "Thou shalt not wear a fancy hat and use high-sounding titles"?
Wait ... don't tell me you're inventing fake laws, like the Pharisees did!
I didnt think a man could put so many lies into one line, but you did, well Done.
See this bit
1Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1Jn 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
1Jn 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
they dont agree with you.
God bless
There is no doubt that there some Catholics have sinned grossly and make terrible mistakes, giving the Church a bad name. The Church is both divine and human - the divine part is perfect; the human part is far from perfect.
Paul Christensen
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I've seen a picture of a pagan priest wearing the same style of fish hat that the pope wears!
Paul Christensen
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Oh? So the rat-bag popes giving their directives from "the chair of Peter" had sinned grossly and made terrible mistakes giving the church a bad name? Weren't they supposed to be infallible and true representatives of Peter in terms of Apostolic succession?
What about the speech given by pope John Paul II in South America which incited mobs to burn Protestant churches and murder their members? I don't see anywhere that the pope spoke out against those atrocities, so he must have approved of them.
I love this stuff - it downright hilarious! Seriously, some folks are so gullible - it's kinda disturbing what they're willing to believe.
You have a vivid imagination, I'll grant you that. Even if your amusing claim is correct, which verse say "Thou shalt not wear a hat that is (supposedly) shaped like a fish"?
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