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Post by Doc on May 18, 2016 1:28:58 GMT -5
That's my story, lol.
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Post by packdog on May 18, 2016 8:27:19 GMT -5
good choice. i was raised catholic...kinda...but i never bought it and was atheistic/agnostic most of my life. i became Christian in 2009. it was odd but my higher education convinced me of the Word despite it trying to explain away God at every instance. i am very knowledgeable in the history of the Catholic Church as though i have a wide range of specialty (religion, history in general, and anthropology) my true specialty is European History from the Crusades up to the Reformation along with Christianity in general. what that Word says goes quite against such an institution and they knew it. in a larger sense it's another form of "ye shall be gods" or man as god. a pagan religion with a Christian dressing.
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Post by Doc on May 18, 2016 23:41:55 GMT -5
good choice. i was raised catholic...kinda...but i never bought it and was atheistic/agnostic most of my life. i became Christian in 2009. it was odd but my higher education convinced me of the Word despite it trying to explain away God at every instance. i am very knowledgeable in the history of the Catholic Church as though i have a wide range of specialty (religion, history in general, and anthropology) my true specialty is European History from the Crusades up to the Reformation along with Christianity in general. what that Word says goes quite against such an institution and they knew it. in a larger sense it's another form of "ye shall be gods" or man as god. a pagan religion with a Christian dressing. You certainly seem to be an educated man, no doubt. Please help me to understand a few things...when you have the time....
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Post by Doc on May 18, 2016 23:46:30 GMT -5
Catholicism is a denomination, and is, therefore, a subset of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. A Christian refers to a follower of Jesus Christ....Catholic, Protestant, Gnostic, Mormon, Evangelical, Anglican or Orthodox.
What are the main differences of those 7, in your honest opinion?
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Post by Doc on May 18, 2016 23:48:30 GMT -5
I know that's a huge question, but if you can simplify your view on the differences, would be much appreciated.
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Post by packdog on May 19, 2016 8:41:22 GMT -5
Catholicism is a denomination, and is, therefore, a subset of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. A Christian refers to a follower of Jesus Christ.... Catholic, Protestant, Gnostic, Mormon, Evangelical, Anglican or Orthodox.
What are the main differences of those 7, in your honest opinion? catholic didn't start off as a subset. it means universal and was coined as such by the early fathers to distinguish it from the other forms of Christianity spreading, namely the gnostic interpretations. but it changed and Constantine incorporated a lot of the pagan traditions into it to make it more amiable for the populace to accept. the biggest differences you see from a Protestant (or Reformed) and a Catholic has to do with a lot of these traditions. it changed a lot over the years but the institution of the Pope, Mary worship, confession to a man, purgatory, and doctrinal thought such as Transubstantiation among others will distingiush a Catholic from a Protestant the gnostics started off as pagans re-imagining Christ in a pagan way. they usually invert the Old Testamnet and view the Creator as the evil spiritual force and saw Jesus as a spiritual liberator that came in a purely phantasm like state. it originated all over the Roman Empire as during the Pax Romana (a period of peace and relative security for the empire) religious freedoms were allowed for the most part so long as you incorporated the emperor. these mystery schools/cults had many versions but Marcion and Valentinius were the biggest influences of the spread of gnostic thought. it became such a problem the church fathers got the idea to make a universal church and solidified the cannon of the New Testament by tracing texts back to the Apostles (not at the council of Nicea which people still believe due to that Dan Brown novel though a lot of the pagan traditions i associate with the Church were esablished there). this Catholic (re: universal church) and Apostolic Succession thought would be abused later by the Catholic Church in laying out doctrine to bolster it's political power Mormon's seem like a cult to me. no way i buy what Joseph Smith is saying and the trances and appearances of angelic beings is common throughout history. Muhammed, greek oracles, mr. smith, and tons of other mystics and religious people have done this. having another messiah after Jesus satisfied the prophecies of the OT doesn't make sense and i see this as another form of man as god (in fact, in my opinion there is only actually two religions, Christianity and man as god) evangelicals just take a more literal approach to the Bible. very protestant, usually baptists. will hate the papacy. some go to extremes Orthodox is the other half of the original Catholic Church. the Iconoclastic controversy caused the catholic Church to break off early in the 9th century i believe. things like paying worship to statues or relics was viewed by the current emperor as the reason the christians in the Balkans were constantly being terrorized. the religion was being swept out in the area in favor of arab monotheism and things such as learning came to a cease. the crack down on icons didn't go over well in Rome. the Pope denounced the edict against icons while the city states revolted. charglemane would side with Pope later and the tradition of icons such as saint's blood, holy waters, madonna and child statues/pictures, etc. would permeate the Roman Catholic Church to this very day Anglican is just the name given to churches tied to the Church of England. born in the reformed era and owing a lot to Calvinism and Lutherism, it still keeps a lot of the catholic appearance. it has been referred to by some as Catholic but reformed but the belief is very much protestant
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Post by Doc on May 19, 2016 13:30:46 GMT -5
Thank you for that thorough break down. I want to further my education on these matters. Much appreciated.
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