"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," the document said. The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession -- the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles.
32 comments
Ehh, not really fundie. Someone saying only their beliefs are true and all others are false is basic human nature.
@inmate22841
From a man who was in the Hitler youth and then left to join the priesthood. I think he found the Hitler youth too left wing.
Still trotting out that same line of bullshit? Nazi Germany made Hitler Youth membership compulsory, and evidence showed that he was resistant, if not in actions, at least in mind to Nazism.
Ratzinger should be criticized for the Church's opposition to contraception that flies in the face of all logic, for the support of aging hatred towards homosexuals, and for ridiculous criticisms of innocuous subjects such as rock music and Harry Potter. Please, stop with the idiotic statements.
The Pope was in the Hitler Youth. Fact.
He joined the priesthood and is now head of a religion which has routinely supported fascist regimes.
What part of that is bullshit?
Its also fundie because
a) Its factually wrong
b) Its offensive to all other denominations of Christians
c) It stirs up religious hatred
d) He is an educated man, the head of the church and so should know better
e) By his own beliefs he is 'infallible' so his statements will be considered Dogma.
inmate22841 said "I think he found the Hitler youth too left wing."
To AErikson. Hey dude, this was just tongue in cheek - nothing to get worked up about; he didn't say that Ratzinger wanted to join the Hitler Youth just stated the plain fact that he was in the Hitler Youth.
General comment: Since Saint Peter was most probably a mythical figure along with his early successors who the cr@p can claim to have Apostolic Succession?
Also 'Apostolic Succession' is a very tenuous claim to make in any circumstance. Let's us assume for argument that Jesus did exist and all Christians are Christians because they had contact with previous Christians and this tree of Christians meeting Christians can be traced back in time across the generations until we meet the 12 apostles and therefore in a sense EVERY Christian has 'Apostolic Succession' of equal value to the Popes. Didn't think of it very deeply now did you?
this isn't really without some merit... i mean really, the really old denominations are the closest possible thing to "true" christianity we'll ever get... that being said, however on the flip side he has to compete with the orthodox churches for that title.... and it's really more of a burst of religious zeal in my opinion...
This is not entirely accurate.
"Because these Churches, although separated, have true sacraments and above all because of the apostolic succession the priesthood and the Eucharist, by means of which they remain linked to us by very close bonds", they merit the title of "particular or local Churches", and are called sister Churches of the particular Catholic Churches.
So the Pope also recognises the Orthodox Church as a legitimate church. The thing with the protestants, as I understand it, is that their abandonment of the Church's rituals.
What he actually said was "Other Denominations aren't Churches, because I'm the Popemaster. Ra-Speck Mah A-Thor-uh-Tie!"
It's like fighting over who has the best Pokemon, but worse, because Pokemon is a real videogame that exists.
Wait, wait, there was a subsequent edit: " ... their ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles, who may or may not have existed."
Now... this always confused me... just how are you able to trace back bishops to the original apostles? Usually that's used for bloodlines, and we all know the spotless Church (*rolls her eyes*) would never allow priests to do that, let alone Bishops...
Jesus was a Jew, not a Catholic.
If they even existed, of course.
Also, no the Catholic Church cannot trace back to the apostles, the Coptics in Ethiopia are closer to that than the Catholics (if the apostles even existed). Mostly because the Coptic church still has services in Aramaic, uses gospels that the Catholics rejected (many Gnostic, and there are still others in the OT that they use that most western churches do not, such as Enoch).
Tell that to my church, which split from the Catholic Church way before Protestantism existed because of geographical, political, and cultural differences. Are you saying that every denomination of Christianity other than Catholicism is false because Catholicism is the only branch that has a pope, the "apostolic successor?" You just love boosting your ego, don't you?
"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," the document said. The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession -- the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles.
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Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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