"Cult of Mary"

Quote: FrGamble

Nope, remember it is only after people stopped trusting the scholars who for over a millennium had poured over the Scriptures that things splintered into 3000 denominations

Those were all Catholic scholars, with a bent
on reading the Bible their way only. They
were absolutely right in never wanting it
translated into English. But despite their
best efforts to quash it, the Bible was translated
and exploded almost overnight into the schism
that still exists today. The Church thought
they owned the NT, they put it together,
after all. They guarded it's contents more
stringently than Coke and KFC guards their
secret ingredients. Like Tyndale said, he was
appalled at what the common priests didn't
know about the actual content of the NT.
It was only a matter of time until the confusion
of what it really says hit the public, the schism
was inevitable.

Quote: Nareed

I want to add I've been more acerbic on this topic than usual, because lately I've been reading some Christian thoughts on transgender people. Most read like a manual on how to push a transgender person, but particularly a transgender woman, into a depression so deep they'll commit suicide. All in the name of Christian "love."

I don't know how it is now, but in the
60's and before, the book of sexual sins
put out by the Church was twice as
thick as the book of non sexual sins.
The Church has always been abnormally
obsessed with sex, who knows why.

Here's a recent take on it. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/simcha-fisher/sex-obsessed-catholic-church-finally-talks-about-sex-finally

The padre will say, oh Bob, you couldn't
be more wrong, the Church has never
been obsessed with sex. It says so right
here in my talking points booklet.

Quote: FrGamble

There might be another premise that is wrong. Did the Church really splinter with the heresies of Arianism and the like?

Yes.

There were sporadic persecutions of "heretics." Nothing that would make Lycinius proud, to be sure, but things like evicting congregations from their churches, tearing them down and so on. Come on, the matter was serious enough to launch Councils at the time of Constantine and Justinian. And that's all before the Parthians used the splintering to pit one type of Christian against other types. Monophysites in particular enjoyed the Parthians' attention.

Quote:

Where are the Churches of Arianism, Nestorianism, or Monophysim today?

Where is the Nicean creed which Justinian established as Orthodoxy for the Roman Empire? Fact is modern Christianity bear as much resemblance to the Nicean creed as modern Judaism bears to what was practiced at the time of Jesus.


BTW, I agree 50% with the Monophysite position. Jesus had one nature. So far Moniphysism is right. It holds, though, that Jesus' nature was divine, and that's where we disagree.

Quote: Nareed

BTW, I agree 50% with the Monophysite position. Jesus had one nature..

Of course he had only one nature, anything
else is not possible. More wishful thinking,
letting what you want to be true get in the
way of reality.

Quote: Nareed

Where is the Nicean creed which Justinian established as Orthodoxy for the Roman Empire? Fact is modern Christianity bear as much resemblance to the Nicean creed as modern Judaism bears to what was practiced at the time of Jesus.

I would disagree with this. As you may or may not know we read the Nicean Creed every weekend at Mass. We even recently went back to a more faithful translation of the Latin.

Quote:

BTW, I agree 50% with the Monophysite position. Jesus had one nature. So far Moniphysism is right. It holds, though, that Jesus' nature was divine, and that's where we disagree.

Interesting, so you lean more toward Arianism.

Quote: Evenbob

Of course he had only one nature, anything
else is not possible. More wishful thinking,
letting what you want to be true get in the
way of reality.

The reality of things would seem to point to something very different and unique about Jesus Christ. The evidence points to Him being both human and divine.

By the way I want to thank you very much for your excellent link from a recent post. I am re-posting it here for those who have you blocked or missed it. You finally chose an excellent website and an excellent article that is fair and if you read it will learn a lot. Thanks again very much!

sex obsessed Church?

Quote: FrGamble

You finally chose an excellent website and an excellent article that is fair and if you read it will learn a lot. Thanks again very much!

I had to link to a Catholic source or you
would deny that the Church is obsessed
with sex. You know you would have.

Quote: FrGamble

The evidence points to Him being both human and divine.

Even the word 'virgin' is a mistranslation. It
really translates to 'young girl' but virgin
has the supernatural link, so it was left that.
All the new accurately translated Bible's
have it as young girl. So much for the 'evidence'.

Quote: FrGamble

I would disagree with this

I'd love to borrow Doc Brown's time machine and prove you wrong ;)

Quote:

Interesting, so you lean more toward Arianism.

I've only a dim idea what Arianism is, aside the fact someone named Arius had something to do with it (I think).

My point is that Jesus, like every other human being before him and every other human being after him, was of a single nature: human.

Quote: Nareed

My point is that Jesus, like every other human being before him and every other human being after him, was of a single nature: human.

To me, the Church is the first modern example
of big corporate business. They even had a
business plan, convert convert convert. Not
unlike Amway, build the base and those at the
top will thrive. But you have to constantly
be out there converting the rabble for it to
work.

Jesus was a wise reformed rabbi, but who cares
about that. Throw in the supernatural hocus pocus
and the non educated wildly superstitious populace
was hooked. The Church held it's power until the
printing press caught them with their pants down
and the world learned what the NT really said. Oh
well, progress is what it is..