[DoleAndJefferson]

I do not believe the Catholic Church is an actual Church that is Representative of Jesus Christ. In reality it is a puppet of the financial Elite who want a Satanic New World Order and most of their practices are actually borrowed from Roman Paganism which is an abomination to the Lord. Their rites and latin language actually worship Satan rather than God. this new Pope is also pretty bad, he bows down to the financial elite and tells the Jews they are already saved because of Dual-Covenant theology which is heretical because Christ is the only way and Judaism has been superseded by Christs birth. I think the independent Protestant Churches should evangelize to the tricked Catholics in order to save their souls.

[The Immortal Goon]

It's weird that Protestants maintain that Christ was a complete and utter failure for 1520 years. After nearly two millennium of constantly failing (so the Protestants apparently maintain) some people decided to not rely upon Papal authority, but instead upon the book that the Catholic Church compiled based upon Papal possession of the Keys of Heaven. And then, I guess,true Christianity born in all of its glory.

I mean, there's no such thing as God so whatever. But history does exist, and there's a lot of heavy lifting to be done to try and justify how it works in this particular manner.

[anna]

I do not believe the Catholic Church is an actual Church that is Representative of Jesus Christ. In reality it is a puppet of the financial Elite who want a Satanic New World Order and most of their practices are actually borrowed from Roman Paganism which is an abomination to the Lord. Their rites and latin language actually worship Satan rather than God. this new Pope is also pretty bad, he bows down to the financial elite and tells the Jews they are already saved because of Dual-Covenant theology which is heretical because Christ is the only way and Judaism has been superseded by Christs birth. I think the independent Protestant Churches should evangelize to the tricked Catholics in order to save their souls.

That's the kind of crazy-talk stuff that evangelicals come up with that just makes them look ignorant. Don't be that kind of evangelical.

I've been a non-practicing Catholic for a few years now, but that doesn't change the fact that I know a fair amount about the faith I grew up in and lived for half my life and there's nothing in your above that's true except the part where Pope Francis probably does show more mercy than 1000 evangelicals put together of the kind who are very used to telling people they're going to hell.

[Zagadka]

I really dislike Pauline Christianity by concept, but the Catholic Church, for the ills it adds to the world and history, at least tries to balance on the positive end these days. It is insane how much power Pope Francis, or any pope, has, though.

[anna]

I really dislike Pauline Christianity by concept, but the Catholic Church, for the ills it adds to the world and history, at least tries to balance on the positive end these days. It is insane how much power Pope Francis, or any pope, has, though.

Eh. The average Catholic has no idea what Pope Francis is even saying.

He's the pope, sure, but he's also "first among equals" among the bishops, and the ancient popes had way more power than a modern pope does today. They had actual political power back then.

[Potemkin]

He's the pope, sure, but he's also "first among equals" among the bishops, and the ancient popes had way more power than a modern pope does today. They had actual political power back then.

Actually, the earliest Popes had very little power - most of the first Bishops of Rome were martyred by the Roman authorities, and even for centuries afterwards the Popes had a lot less authority in the Roman Empire and its successor states in western Europe than, say, the POTUS has in America right now. It was only the Medieval and Renaissance Popes who exercised real political, military and temporal authority, but that had almost totally collapsed by the late 17th century. By the late 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church presented a pitiful spectacle. It only experienced a revival in its fortunes when it abandoned its failed temporal ambitions and reinvented itself as a moral and spiritual power rather than a temporal or political one. As Comrade Stalin once asked, "How many tank divisions has the Pope?" Lol.

[Heisenberg]

It's also worth noting that for at least the first 400 years of the Church, the bishops in Rome were mainly just ignored by the bishops in Constantinople, Antioch and Alexandria, who saw Rome as backwards and too big for its boots. Sure, they might indulge the Pope from time to time, but usually only as a way of shutting them up - much like the way Donald Trump's staffers seem to treat him today.

[anna]

Actually, the earliest Popes had very little power - most of the first Bishops of Rome were martyred by the Roman authorities, and even for centuries afterwards the Popes had a lot less authority in the Roman Empire and its successor states in western Europe than, say, the POTUS has in America right now. It was only the Medieval and Renaissance Popes who exercised real political, military and temporal authority, but that had almost totally collapsed by the late 17th century. By the late 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church presented a pitiful spectacle. It only experienced a revival in its fortunes when it abandoned its failed temporal ambitions and reinvented itself as a moral and spiritual power rather than a temporal or political one. As Comrade Stalin once asked, "How many tank divisions has the Pope?" Lol.

Pretty much agree with all that, you were more specific than I was.

[Godstud]

Finally, this shit thread is where it belongs... under idiotic conspiracy theories.