The One True Church dogma lives on...in the Roman Catholic Church
It should come to no surprise that not only the historic WCG and its splinters believe that they God's only one true church. This is was what the Roman Catholic Church has believed for years. Pope John XXIII in the 1960's at Vatican II at least compromised and recognize that the Protestatnts are "separated brothers". Current pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI had a statement that really may throw the concept of separated brothers out the window. Courtesy from the blogsite CrunchyCon.com, here's what I am talking about:
The Vatican has set itself on a collision course with other Christian faiths, reaffirming the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church in a corrective document designed to clear up recent "erroneous" doctrine.
The document's central claim that the Catholic Church is "the one true Church of Christ" is likely to revive a debate that has dogged the Vatican's dealings with other Christian faiths for decades.
The 16-page document, prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict used to head, describes Christian Orthodox churches as true churches but says they suffer from a "wound" because they do not recognise the primacy of the Pope.
But it says the "wound is still more profound" in the Protestant denominations, a view likely to further complicate relations with Protestants.
"Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress... it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to them," it said.
The document's central claim that the Catholic Church is "the one true Church of Christ" is likely to revive a debate that has dogged the Vatican's dealings with other Christian faiths for decades.
The 16-page document, prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict used to head, describes Christian Orthodox churches as true churches but says they suffer from a "wound" because they do not recognise the primacy of the Pope.
But it says the "wound is still more profound" in the Protestant denominations, a view likely to further complicate relations with Protestants.
"Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress... it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to them," it said.
There is no doubt that this will effect relationships with Protestant Churches in a profound manner. We really should not be really suprised about the Pope's statement. Before Benedict was Pope, he did say he wanted a "smaller" and "purer" church. This statement may be one step toward his wish.
Where do I stand with this? I have believed since the mid-1990's that the "Church" is an "invisible body" as opposed to a certain religious organization and I still believe that. I take Jesus Christ's statement "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" as every single human being having the right and responsibility to come to Christ personally as opposed to an organized church taking that responsiblility in place of the Savior. I hope the day that there will be a more progressive-minded Pope that will be bold, believe that I and many others believe and say that the Roman Catholic Church is a "part of the only One True Church". I may have been highly critical of the evangelical WCG but I applaud Joe Jr. for being bold and saying just that.
Labels: One True Church dogma, Pope Benedict XVI, Roman Catholicism
The idea that the Church is an invisible, unorganized, spiritual concept is not historic ecclesiology.
I believed in the "organism, not an organization" idea just as I left WCG. I came to hate the "one visible church" teaching. I saw it as being impossible because I knew HWA and the Watch Tower and the Mormons and all sorts of cooks could begin a new church with a new "understanding" and claim that God has raised them up for this special restoration of the truth. How can you verify their claims. They're hucksters. Or off their rocker. Or sincere but misinformed.
But I came to see later that the Catholic Church is not like that. It was never a late movement to restore the teachings of the apostles; it has always been, from the very beginning, a body that preserves the teachings of the apostles. They've always defended Christian teaching, drawing us back to the deposit of faith that was left by the fathers of the Church.
It was hard to accept the "primacy of Peter" teaching after rejecting it for years, but now it makes so much sense.
Posted by
DC |
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
I don't know if the Catholic Church -- either branch of it -- preserves the teachings of the apostles, but it certainly preserves the trappings of paganism in bowing down to idols.
Posted by
Douglas Becker |
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Uh oh, just when you thought it was save to dive into the ecumenical pool...
Actually this doesn't surprise me at all. This has always been the Catholic position, they've simply glossed over it in their efforts to lull everybody to sleep with the ecumenical movement.
As you can tell, I'm no fan of Catholicism. Their history speaks for itself - in spite of HWA.
The Catholic Church is a cult, in every sense of the word.
Posted by
FYI Again |
Friday, July 13, 2007
The CC does not have any other Gods other than the one God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- so therefore they have no idols to bow down to. (Idols are false gods.)
The CC hasn't tried to gloss over their position that they're the Church. They have just tried to explain their position more fully and accurately, just as they have in earlier centuries.
Posted by
DC |
Friday, July 13, 2007
Thanks Darren for your comments and explanations. Though I was personally baptised over 37 years ago (when I was a wee baby) in the Catholic Church, despite Jared Olar's dream (lol!) there are no personal plans for me either to return to Mother Church anytime soon. I do respect many individuals (like yourself, Jared, and JP2) but some of the theology and certain social issues of the Church I do grapple with. There are many reasons that I won't rejoin the RCC at this time (and I am NOT going to go in depth at this time---okay, maybe just one reason is the primacy of the papacy) and I think I would be too much of a cafeteria Catholic for more of the devout, practicing, conservative Catholics. I am still worried about Pope John XXIII's concept of "Seperated Brothers" (Vatican II) will eventually be thrown out of the window (and soon)and it will be tragic if that truly materialized.
Posted by
Felix Taylor, Jr. |
Friday, July 13, 2007
Except for the Jihad imprinted on the scimitar, it is difficult to tell one pagan religion from another these days.
It is truly unfortunate that there isn't any toleration amongst the pagans -- especially the ones who call themselves Christians.
Posted by
Douglas Becker |
Saturday, July 14, 2007