A co-worker invited me to his Church the other day. I asked ‘what denomination’, and he said, “Baptist.” Oh, no. I know some Baptists who are great people, but theologically… I’d get along at a Baptist Church like I’d get along at the Democratic National Convention. And for much the same reason. The following is all from a related Facebook conversation:
“The Catholic Church as we know it today did not exist until 590 AD.”
False. The Schism between the Bishop of Rome and the Eastern Bishops, which created the Roman Catholic communion, occurred in 1053 AD.
“Gregory was the first Pope…”
False. Election by the College of Cardinals was established under Nicholaus II, who may be considered the first Pope of the new Roman Catholicism.
“The Church that Jesus started was NOT what the Catholics are.”
True. But it is also not what ANY denomination is today, most assuredly including the Baptists.
“The Catholic Church came out of that church. The REAL Church.”
There is One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, which is the body of the Christ. If you mean the ROMAN Catholic Church, then yes; it is one expression which grew from that Church. But it is not SEPARATED FROM that Church.
“Catholics wanted to keep their pagan beliefs, their idols etc.”
^That is just ignorance and spite. The Western (Roman Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) Churches split because of differences in language and culture; and specifically over the verbage of the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed, by the way, is the statement of faith of Christianity. It should bother you that you call yourself a Christian, and do not know it.
“They also changed how to be “saved”( BUT there still is only one way), memorizing something and being baptized will NOT get you into heaven.”
More ignorance and spite. The Roman Catholic Church teaches no such thing.
“The Bible says you must repent of your sins and ask Jesus to save you.”
Oh? Well, let’s skip over the fact that ‘the Bible’ is an anthology–which actually comes in several versions, with different books. And let’s skip over the fact that “repent and ask Jesus to save you to get into heaven” isn’t in any of those books. Let’s focus on the fact that repentance–and asking–are both WORKS, which you JUST SAID will not save anyone. Please sort that out.
“Mary was just a pure vessel for Jesus to come to this earth by. That is all. She later married Joseph and they had more children. She IS NOT a virgin.”
^Source that for me real quick.
“My father studied this for many years.”
But YOU did not? This is the source of so much trouble in the non-Apostolic communions. Learn for yourself! Is this not important to you?
“Got a lot of the information from very old Catholic history books.”
There is a ‘Catholic history’? I
‘So they themselves know where they really came from.’
Do you mean PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS? Why don’t you give citations?
And then of course, my favorite from a much earlier conversation:
“Jesus didn’t turn water into wine at a wedding, he turned it into wine vinegar!”
Right. Because Jewish custom had people drinking VINEGAR at weddings. I’m going to the store to buy some vinegar. I’ll watch you drink it and tell me how wonderful it is.
And finally:
“The Baptist Church goes all the way back to John the Baptist!”
Just… Look up the word ‘Essene’ for me, okay?..
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