[quote=JonHorton;2055168]
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I deal with facts. It is a fact that the Catholic Church is described by many as a man-made institution but has survived 2k years with the same doctrine. It is a fact that the Methodists, for example, do not even remotely resemble Wesleyan Methodism. It is a fact that Lutherans, with some rare exception, do not at all resemble Martin Luther's Lutheranism. Yet, the Church remains true despite every conceivable upset against Her. Ponder that. Men may fall, but the doctrine stays the same. Even Protestant groups which have had groups splinter off have not themselves remained faithful to their original doctrines. Ponder that.
Which doctrine of which faction of the catholic church would you have me ponder? Funny how Pharisaical Judaism also makes the claim that their doctrine hasn't changed in millenia, and they claim that their traditions are the true ones. Nor do they admit that their traditions add to or take away from Torah. Yet, historically, the rcc has added many things to its doctrine over the centuries. There seems to be a real parallel here. One priesthood with fading glory in exchange for another one sounds like a raw deal to me.
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What is it you hate, untruth or being told you're not in possession of the full truth? There is much animosity which springs forth from the woodwork against the Catholic Church, but yet disparate doctrines, disagreements over important aspects of doctrine, etc. do not elicit the same, if any, response.
What I hate is any system that attempts to place men between God and His people. All those systems look the same...Pharisaical Judaism, Roman catholicism, Mormonism, SDA, satanism, Islam, even much of the reformed churches, all have a wrong unbilical view of what authority looks like. They all think they should look like the levitical priesthood, and they all claim to have replaced Israel.
It all comes down to which side of Moses one chooses to stand. Go to the foot of Sinai and see what God wanted to establish.
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Is not untruth damaging? Is everything just a free for all with exception to certain doctrinal foundations? Do we ignore the principles of sound engineering because someone has a foundation and calls sand rock? Do we just let them go off the cliff and out to sea?
It is not a free for all, it is for God to determine who and what people he calls His elect. It's funny how the roman church started all this confusion by claiming that Torah was nailed to the cross, effectively taking the foundation out from under the true faith, then it blames every one else for the chaos.
If you want to discuss another group that has existed from the beginning, how about the ones who the roman church has been murdering in mass every time they pop up in history as a cohesive body well into the reformation era.
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A peculiar form of charity is being implemented here. In fact, it's soul-murder because it's heresy.
Heresy takes many forms. A priesthood that denies the word of God to the individual in order to wield authority for itself...that is soul murder.
Ponder that.
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