Religion, Theology, and all that good stuff

[kmc]

The official decree of the papacy is the official decree of the believers. Of course there are self-described Catholics who are pro-war, just as there are pro-choice Catholics and anti-war evangelicals. However, the Church's stance on the war is quite clear. There are, of course, cafeteria Catholics who can pick and choose what they believe and what Papal decree they follow. I'd rather not have to deliberate over what the Pope thinks when making my own decisions.

I didn't know the Mafia was a Catholic organization.

[JACkory]

Voltaire boasted that within one hundred years of his time the Bible would be non-existent, replaced by his own work. Fifty years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society bought the house and printing press of Voltaire and printed stacks of Bibles in his living room.

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Pro-war and anti-war are personal decisions. Evangelicism is too big an umbrella covering too many different POVs on the subject for anyone to state unequivicably that "Evangelicals are Pro-war". You can't assume that just because some prominent evangelicals have come out in favour of the military presence in Iraq that all evangelicals are "pro-war" just like you can't say that all Catholics are against birth control, even though the official position of the Church is.
Furthermore, "Evangelical" is not meant to describe a unified congregation of believers and is not a "church" like the Roman Catholic church. It is not an entity that prescribes dogma. It is a label that some Christians accept and embrace. But in reality you're likely to find just as many non-evangelicals within a specific denomination (as "Evangelicism" does cross denominational lines) as "evangelicals".
I am not an evangelical Christian.
My beliefs are best described as Orthodox Reformed Protestant with MUCH respect for the Puritan mindset.

[JACkory]

The differences between evangelicals and Roman Catholics, for example, help explain why one group supports the war in Iraq, and another officially stands against it.

This is the post I was responding to.
It would be nice if you could give a few examples of how you come by this opinion. What are the differences that necessitate a different stance on the war?

[kmc]

The war was just an example, albeit in retrospect an easy and ultimately flawed one. But consider, JAC, that the question asked if the differences between denominations were viewed as important or not. My contention is that they are important because different interpretations of Biblical truths have tremendous implication in the real world.

[kmc]

My post, of course, assumed an incorrect cohesion of thought within the evangelical community. That was not so. But to hear them spoken of, you'd think evangelicals stood as one community FOR the Bush administration.

[kmc]

Then again, this isn't current events, and I am nowhere near qualified enough to speak of evangelicals. Catholicism, on the other hand...

[JACkory]

kmc said:

The war was just an example, albeit in retrospect an easy and ultimately flawed one. But consider, JAC, that the question asked if the differences between denominations were viewed as important or not. My contention is that they are important because different interpretations of Biblical truths have tremendous implication in the real world.

I agree.
I just thought it might be a good idea to point out that "evangelicalism" is an inter-denominational label. Unlike the Catholic Church, there is no "evangelical leadership" handing down directives to it's adherants.
...Or maybe there is, but if that is the case then it's subordinate to the denominations that "evangelicals" belong to.

[JACkory]

I respect Catholicism immensely.
But by the same token, I have my own issues with their doctrine and methodology.
That, however, is for another time and another place.

[kmc]

But to change gears, I've been interested, JAC, in your discussion with Phil concerning the humanism in Jesus's teachings. I would be interested in your definition of humanism before attempting to engage you in this discussion. Because from my perspective, there's nothing in Jesus's message that was not humanist.

[Rit]

I'm reading the Book of Job again at the moment, for kicks. It's the only bible book i can stand.

i did try to read the Book of Revelations just now, and i gave up at about Ch 15. It seems to me that the poem is hyper-paranoid. Too much for my blood.

[Rit]

Jesus was a humanist. fully and completely.

say, i wonder if anyone here's read the Gnostic gospels.

[Nepenthe]

I haven't read the Gnostic gospels but I do truly believe the Apocropha should have been cannonized. The book of Job contains some of the most revealing and interesting stuff in it. Good book indeed.

And Jac, I know you favor Calvin and Puritanism and that is probably where we are complete polar opposites from a christian perspective. It seems like another form of legalism involved for me there. Kind of like the Pharisees in Biblical times. I take a Luther stance and of course it makes sense, its in my Quaker roots, its in the blood.

Can't help but think how much the Quakers did for this country.....

The first woman to be executed was a Quaker, and executed by the Puritans.

Quakers were the first to petition a govenor in the US for religious freedom. Rhode Island consisted of 36 consecutive Quaker Govenors and they were indeed the most religiously tolerant next to William Penn.

Not too mention what they did for the native americans and they were the abolitionists.

What does everyone think about the retail stores abandoning Merry Christmas and even now calling their tree a Holiday Tree instead of a Christmas Tree?

[Rit]

yup Tuatha, kMc's point about the slight differences between Christian sects making all the difference in their respective reasoning and application into the real world was great.

[Nepenthe]

The Mafia is not a Catholic organization. But they are indeed all Catholics, the Italian that is, and are deeply involved in the Politics of it.

I am reading a book called Hitler's Scientists, same guy wrote a book called Hitler's Pope. I am curious about that one.

I have nothing against Catholics, I have a very big problem with their doctrine and the Papacy.

[Rit]

this Mafia-Catholic connection is one of the most spurious things i've heard of.

Hitler's Scientiests? yeah, he employed top minds.. the essence of the Nazi state was to rationally and abstractly pursue efficiency to its ends. the Concept of Efficiency acting as a justification for certain "policies" that needed to be pursued, also acting as a justification for putting aside democratic ideals for allegience to a charismatic leader who would see it to its unimpeded end.

Catholics are loveable.