I don’t care about the minor differences in Christianity.
At best, Roman Catholicism is pseudo-Christian. At worst, it is pagan.
Way back in the day, there were three main lines:
1. Gnosticism - An esoteric belief system where you can only understand the Scriptures through "hidden knowledge". They did not believe that Jesus was God in the flesh. They believed that Christ was not a physical being, but an idea. This line can be traced to about 150 AD. Many say the Gnostic views originated with Simon Magnus. It also has quite a bit similar to theosophy.
2. Roman Catholicism - Unlike what they would tell you, the Roman church did not begin until the emperor Constantine, who lifted the ban on Christianity to unite the fracturing empire. Many Christians became lukewarm and formed a hierarchy in Rome under the emperor. During this time, many of the Catholic doctrines were created, the most important being that only the clergy could interpret Scripture. Using this doctrine, the Catholics deceived millions of people, kept the Word of God out of the hands and ears of the masses and led everyone into the Dark Ages.
There is a pantheon in ancient Roman paganism, and there is a pantheon in Roman Catholicism, namely the canonized "saints". The "Christian" holidays of today (X-mas, Easter, Valentine's Day, etc.) almost always have pagan counterparts (Saturnalia, Ishtar, Lupercalia, etc.) They just "Christianized" the paganism.
No mention is made of the title "pope" or "pontiff" in the life of the apostle Peter in Scripture. He was not a pope, despite what they want to tell the world. The first popes were Roman emperors, hence the transfer of the title "Pontifex Maximus" (originally the title for the head of the pagan priesthood) or "supreme pontiff" from the Roman emperors to the Roman Catholic popes.
The Catholic church doesn't even follow the most basic of basic doctrines in the Bible and in Christianity: namely that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.
Here's a quotation from canonized "saint" Alphonsus Liguori in his work "The Glories of Mary":
"Listen," Exclaims St. Bonaventure, "listen, all you who desire the kingdom of God: honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and you will find life and eternal salvation." (p. 21)
". . . The designs by which He is able to dispense His mercy more abundantly to us, for desiring to redeem the whole human race. He has placed the whole price of redemption in the hands of Mary, that she may dispense it at will." (p. 37)
"The Glories of Mary" contains the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, which are Roman Catholic marks that declare the work to be sound and correct in Catholic doctrine...
We can see that the Catholic church holds Mary on a goddess-like level, something the Bible condemns. Therefore, it is not Christianity. It has more in common with old Roman paganism than Christianity.
It is from the Roman Catholic church that Martin Luther and the other reformers branched off of. While the Reformation was a good time in history (it broke the Catholic stranglehold, and some ended up breaking away from Catholic doctrine completely), many ended up keeping a lot of common ground with Catholic doctrine (such as the Anglican church).
Originally posted by Ushgarak
I like the way he associates Protestants with Catholics but not Baptists, as if Baptists suddenly sprang into existence out of nowhere, though.
The Baptists didn't "spring into existence out of nowhere". I mentioned two of the three lines already, now I'll talk about the third:
3. Scriptural Christianity - These were the ones that followed the actual teachings of Jesus. They had, for the most part, remained separate from the Catholic church. There are exceptions of course, but generally they remained out of Catholicism. Many Christians were burned at the stake or tortured by the Catholic church during the Dark Ages. Those Christians were from this line.
The doctrine of the Baptists (for the most part, outside of a few bits of leaven) has been around since Jesus' time. I'm not talking about specific names of denominations or anything of that sort. I'm not gonna say "Oh the Baptists are the only Christians," because I couldn't care less about denominations. Where are denominations in the Bible? They don't exist. Because there are only two types of beliefs according to God: those that are with Him, and those that are against Him. Jesus said as much in the Gospels.
I'm not saying the Baptists are perfect and that they have everything right, but they have a lot right in terms of what the Bible says and what they teach (which is why I personally go to an unregistered Baptist church). And I'm not saying that Protestants aren't saved or that Catholics can't get saved, I'm just saying the Catholic church is more akin to paganism than Christianity and that mainstream Protestantism has a lukewarm bent because of its close association to Catholicism. Ever seen the "Come home" ads by the Catholic church? They aren't just talking about Catholics.
Anyway, I've mentioned in another thread that the Roman empire destroyed a lot of primary source documents about the early Church, and that was done for a reason...
I probably offended the vast majority of the members on this forum with this post, but hey, what can I do? I'd rather offend you with truth than tickle your ears with lies.
This will probably (barring extraordinary circumstances) be my last post on this thread, because I'm a little exhausted with explaining to people who won't listen anyway.