The Catholic Legacy - Reply to "padzac"

padzac wrote:
I am picking on the Catholic Church as an institution.
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okay, so you wanna pick on the Vatican. fine.
friend, the catholic church is far more than just a religious institution- it is also a political entity/ symbol, without which civilisation as we know it wouldn't have come be (despite the fact that they were solely to blame for many atrocities).
You can deny it all you want, hurl all the abuses you want but the world knows that the Vatican is the symbol of christian civilisation.
It was partly due to their influence through their good and bad, that gave rise to political giants like Martin Luther, who transformed Europe, the Vatican and christianity forever.
its finance, political power and influence surpasses that of any of the other denominations, most governments and nations.
with its long and colorful history, it become a very convenient target for many wannabe godmen.
the theology, is far more complicated than you and i could possibly fathom.
the vatican has made a statement to say that it does not have a monopoly of "truth", knowing very well that human interpretations of god's word cannot be absolute - they should know the truth in that, as the bible as we know it in its many forms was first edited by them.
as in most theocracies and religious institutions, godmen do abuse the powers vested in them, and coruption would set in.
Friend, it is impossible for you to understand christian theology, and to know heresy, unless you first you first study the position of orthodoxy.
Christian churches today formulate their own theologies, with insufficient debate – they do not allow their theologies to formulate the churches, leading to confusion. Orthodox churches on the other hand fear change as they do not wish for corruption of values that they hold dear – hence the impatience of the “progressives”.
This is the problem with christianity today – unbridled freedom – so much so, everyone believes that he is right for the sake of convenience. Those who break away organise their own churches that formulate their own theology.
And guess what – you too are free to think and do what you like – based on the books that were agreed upon.
Peace.

21/05 21:50:42