Is there a Biblical basis for having a pope? What about the doctrine of infallibility?
The New Testament contains five different metaphors for the foundation of the Church (Matt. 16:18, 1 Cor. 3:11, Eph. 2:20, 1 Pet. 2:56, Rev. 21:14). One metaphor that has been disputed is Jesus Christs calling the apostle Peter "rock": "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).
Since He was a human being as well as God, we can safely assume He was in great pain1) Jesus famously cried to the heavens and asked while upon the cross, asking God why he had forsaken him. The fact that Jesus asked this puzzles me. Why would Jesus wonder this if he was indeed the Son of God, God incarnate, and aware of his ultimate fate long before his death?
At the very least you need the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament.PeteAtoms said:2) Can one believe in the New Testament without believing in the Old Testament? I have read that the OT serves as a way to frame the Jesus as the messiah. It was described as "foreplay" to the NT by my religions professor. It seems that the OT main purpose in Christianity is to serve as the foundation of proving Jesus was the fulfillment of Jewish prophesies concerning a coming savior (Jesus). If you are not Jewish however, why is it important to believe Jesus fulfilled ancient semitic prophecy? Why can't you believe in Jesus without believing in Judaism?
1) Jesus famously cried to the heavens and asked while upon the cross, asking God why he had forsaken him. The fact that Jesus asked this puzzles me. Why would Jesus wonder this if he was indeed the Son of God, God incarnate, and aware of his ultimate fate long before his death?
Roughly how many of the Catholics you know believe that the Earth is ~6,000 years old or that Noah's Flood was a global event? And has your priest ever disabused people of that notion, that you noticed?
I don;t know about the Flood specifically, but my Catholic mother (and by extension my two youngest sisters) is very much a Young Earth Creationist. Which bugs the heck out of me, she doesn't even have a religious excuse for it!
Well, a literal interpretation of this particular part of the Bible, when so many people (including Catholics) don't interpret the entire Bible literally, seems odd when it is at odds with science . . .
The Protestants had fun doing it too, Domination, but that was a long time ago.
I am sorry I brought up YEC if it's going to derail the thread . . .
purge the hereticsIt always have been, the Catholics on the other hand preferred to burn Protestants at the stake without any Biblical obligation to do so, and amazingly, some of them (Civ_King, I'm looking straight at you) continue to justify it.
Do you think the crucifix is an appropriate symbol for your religion?
Would a more positive symbol which focussed on neighbourly love instead of one which focusses on a guilt trip be more appropriate? No idea what that symbol would be, but my question is not a practical one anyway.
purge the heretics
He who hears the Apostles hears Jesus, he who rejects the Apostles rejects. What has been bound on Earth has been bound in Heaven. For it has been bound on Earth that heretics who can not be returned to the full message of Jesus Christ shall perishWhy am I not surprised
According to the Bible, we still worship the Lord, and so do not deserve to be stoned to death
Temptation and guilt are still very closely associated.