kelman
Posts: 5081
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: ManimalX
quote:
Although, worldwide RC is losing numbers and evangelical Protestantism is gaining significantly in third world countries. God is gracious as He brings the truth to those nations..."So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.".
...reminded me of Matthew 7:14, ""For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few". It sure seems like an argumentum ad populum (that is, an appeal to popular support of a certain position) is one of the weakest debate positions a Christian can take. Another weak argument is the appeal to antiquity. Once a sovereign papacy was established and unscriptural doctrines tumbled forward at lightning speed, the method of reading-back into Scripture was cemented. No longer were doctrines established from Scripture. Instead, RC first established doctrines and then searched high and low for something which could be used as support.
Thus began the system of not using the Bible to find truth but using it as a means to find something anything that was at best tangential or extraneous.
We can use an analogy between secular governments and that of RC. On the one hand, dictatorships can appear to be tidy and without dissent compared to the sometimes "messiness" of a democracy. Yet, who would ever want to renounce his freedom of speech?
quote:
I hesitate to use the next two verses, Mt 7:15-16, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?", because even though the Roman church is FULL of false prophets and bad fruit (as non-Roman denominations are as well), there is still a lot of good fruit being produced by our brothers and sisters in the Roman denomination in terms of charity and justice on the behalf of the poor, hungry, orphan, widow, and downtrodden around the world. My fear is the corruption of those fruits by a rotten gospel message (trust in the Roman Church for salvation rather than Christ). Yes, God has created man with the desire to help others. We see this all the time in the secular world. However, God has ordained that His Truth be broadcast to the world and only true believers can do this. And while acts of mercy are certainly biblical, the spread of the true Gospel is the main concern for the true believer.
_____________________________
beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow
|
Forum Tools
Printable Version
RE: Why do we need a Pope? - 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread