In reply to post 403:
During the time the Church of Rome was a perilous sailing voyage from these shores, my ancestors purchased a Jesuit priest to keep him from the roving bands of the Protestant Reformation in MD who would perform acts of torture upon his person before they hanged him. He thus became property of the Manor Lord, and untouchable under English Common Law without serious repercussions, and purchased his freedom when the blood frenzy of Priest hunting had abated.
You speak of churches in the home, but that is just what the Church was, the family altar stone and chalice are in the museum at Georgetown, and I recall Mass being held in homes (including our own), in my youth. None of the oft claimed idolatry or devil worship, mind you, just the celebration of the Eucharist.
Since Vatican II, that practice of holding Mass in a private home has all but disappeared in the US, along with much else. I do not like this Pope, and have noticed changes in Church leadership with which I am not comfortable, but for 1400+ years my ancestors have been Roman Catholic, and thus I will stay. In no wise does that mean my prayers are not
to, in the Holy Name of, and by the Blood of, Jesus Christ.
There seems to be a particular glee taken at the fall of Catholic Church hierarchy, a happiness for the exposure of corruption that would justify those spiritual descendants of Henry Tudor, a questionable spiritual leader, and the brutal outrages and thefts and obscenities perpetrated by his successors in the name of god. Yes, noncapital god, despite capital being the primary thing taken besides lives.
The condemnation of countless Irish people to starvation, slavery, and squalor, the forced conversion of others to the Church of England on pain of being stripped of title, land, and assets (and lives), and the justification of atrocities perpetrated upon "godless heathen" here who had already converted to Christ, by those too lazy or greedy to send emissaries with a cross instead of a sword, and the looting of millions of acres of land and what personal goods were worthy of plunder were all done in the name of God.
No, none is without sin, and the next time Creflo Dollar needs a new plane or (oh wait, He did call Billy home) the collection plate falls short, or some highly visible hypocrite diddles the help and makes runs in their makeup on television while going home to half the mansion they had, remember that.
None is without sin.
We are all equal in the eyes of Almighty God. As for that corrupted hierarchy, as it is written, if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. It won't be the first time in 2000 years that the leaders of the Church have been corrupt, evil or sinful, and the Catholic Church has no monopoly on that, just a longer history to have had those problems in.
There are 1.2 Billion Roman Catholics in the world, some 900 million to one billion Protestants. We all suffer those who would hold themselves high and fall, in both the Roman Catholic Church, and in the myriad protestant denominations. Lest we forget, the reason Henry Tudor broke with Rome and declared himself Lord of all things Secular and Sacred, was that the Pope would not grant yet another dispensation to permit him to put another wife aside and claim legitimacy of the offspring of the next.
Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others had more altruistic reasons for their break, but that has not made their spiritual descendants immune to the destructive spiritual influences that can befall all men (and women).
But presently, there is no better way to leave the door open to Islam than to slam it on the Christian religion, and there is nothing more sad than those who would be Christian spiritual leaders falling from Grace, whatever denomination. In so doing, that is used by our mutual adversary to pry people from the road to Salvation.
In this we are exhorted In 1st John, in Thessalonians, in 1st Corinthians, and elsewhere to question the spirits, to test them, and be certain they are of The Christ. Across the Christian denominations, this is no time to be Biblically illiterate, for to be so is to be deceived. Nor is it time to fall prey to the (for want of a better term) ecumenically partisan ravings of those who take satisfaction in corruption in those of another Christian denomination.
We, those of us who confess with our lips (or keyboard, in this case) that there is one All Powerful God, (YHWH, Jehova), that we are saved from our own sins by the Blood shed by His Son (Jesus Christ, Yeshua) through whose sacrifice we are saved, had better unite against the severe spiritual forces which seek our mutual destruction, wherever those are found, had best read our Bibles, know our Lord and Saviour, and gird our loins for the spiritual battle yet to come.
The Church, the entity, not the buildings of any single denomination is composed of some 2.2 billion people--incidentally, a third, roughly, of all the souls on Earth.
I need not proclaim the significance of that number to you, but for all who read this, according to the Prophet Zechariah (13:8-9)
Zechariah 13:8-9 King James Version (KJV)
8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
The scripture is common to all versions, Catholic and Protestant. In the words of Our Saviour: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear.".
Sorry to broach the barrier between religion and politics, but there is a point here to be made, politically, as well.
Like it or not, religion factors in, in that the core beliefs of people often determine political affiliations. There are notable examples of those who conspicuously pay lip service to their religion while espousing antithetical views, but none can serve two masters, and their true allegiance is made manifest by their actions.
Any damage that can be done to undermine the faith and the core beliefs and morals of those who worship The Almighty through his Son, affects the political mix, those making policy, and ultimately the policies made/imposed on us all. Anything which reflects poorly upon the beliefs of billions, through the guilt of a few, can be used to make those billions seem wrong, and to elevate (or diminish the seriousness of) evil in the eyes of the uninformed masses.
In this country, those uninformed masses have been increased by the
Engel v. Vitale and other decisions at SCOTUS declaring prayer in public buildings to be an establishment of religion, later stretched to say even voluntary public prayer outside of a church building at "official functions" is forbidden under the 1st Amendment, while now the Shahada is
taught in American schools.
Ignorance of The US Constitution and its historical context, of Scripture, of The Almighty himself, of prayer, and the penumbra of loose morals and bad policy which follow that ignorance, all work to bring us to the cultural changes we have seen in our lives, and which affect secular policy at every level. Those secular policies, in turn, have affected religion as well, compounding the effect in a vicious circle.
The destruction of one Church (major single denomination) which has NOT given it's formal okay to homosexuals on the pulpit, to homosexual marriage, and steadfastly fights against abortion from the moment of conception, which comprises a majority of Christians worldwide, would have our mutual adversary, politically expressed in the Communist/Socialist/Liberal/'dirtworshiper' and even Muslim religions' overt death cults, clapping their hands with glee.
The more they can lead astray, even by infiltration of denominational and political hierarchies with those whose actions and expressions defy Christian (Biblical) belief, the better they serve their master.
The motives for triumphant headlines exposing evil actions within any Church should ever be suspect.
Confront that spirit and examine who or what it serves.
Is this expose offered in the spirit of reproval, an opportunity to bring behaviour in line with Scripture and repent, or is it instead a sensationalized expose which has the effect of turning people from all Christianity through guilt by association applied to
every pulpit with a broad brush? Because those who can be turned away will see all as hypocrites, not just the representatives of one denomination or another, and in the light of conspicuous persons who claim to be adherents to that religion espousing the murder of infants and a host of other anti-Christian positions, ones which defy actual Church Doctrine, the impact of a few proclaiming evil in league with the faith they claim has a negative effect, not just on the Catholic Church, but on all.
The weakness of the ELCA, and other denominations and synods in reference to the scripture-defying claims of homosexual marriage being sanctioned is another seriously damaging break with Biblical teachings, one which undermines scripture, and the distortions which were made about homosexuality being Biblically 'okay' are being repeated to justify that lifestyle, one which The Almighty found to be
Abomination.
Others have folded as well.
Thus, through policy justified by false prophets, a whole country is being led astray, away from the principles which founded it and the source and practice of the fundamental righteousness which have made it grow toward greatness.
All humanity is in this together, especially Christians. It is up to us, individually, to test the spirits, and maintain our relationship, our
personal relationship with The Almighty, and when possible, to show others the Peace inherent in that belief that they, too, may know Salvation. When the time comes, He will know His own.
In the meantime, we should be saddened by the fall from Grace of any Christian leader, and offer our prayers that those who are there to guide us, in fact, do so to His Glory, and not stray in search of their own.