As a former Reformed Minister, I am utterly appalled by your comment. Did you not know that the molestation of children is 3 Times higher in Protestant Churches and 5 times higher in Baptist and Pentecostal churches? Did you know that Protestant and Evangelical pastors are also 18 Times more like to have affairs? The Insurance industry has all the current Data on claims againsts all churches in...more

As a former Reformed Minister, I am utterly appalled by your comment. Did you not know that the molestation of children is 3 Times higher in Protestant Churches and 5 times higher in Baptist and Pentecostal churches? Did you know that Protestant and Evangelical pastors are also 18 Times more like to have affairs?

The Insurance industry has all the current Data on claims againsts all churches in the US. Do your homework and you will realize the molestation of children is a tradgedy in all churches, but the Catholic Church is still the safest place for children compared to all other Christian groups.

1.7 % of Catholic Priests in the US had claims put against them, but only 1.1% was realized. So, in other words you are willing to throw 98.9% of all Catholic Priests under the bus, because of what a small minority did?less

Sorry I'm jumping in here so late. Lutheran, where in the bible does it say one can sepparate oneselves from the church founded by Christ? In fact, doesn't St.Paul say avoid those who cause division and who break unity? Neither Luther, nor my hero of college days Calvin called a council through their bishop to discuss and debate their views about the state of the Church. If they did, then it w...more

Sorry I'm jumping in here so late.

Lutheran, where in the bible does it say one can sepparate oneselves from the church founded by Christ? In fact, doesn't St.Paul say avoid those who cause division and who break unity? Neither Luther, nor my hero of college days Calvin called a council through their bishop to discuss and debate their views about the state of the Church. If they did, then it would have been at least biblical.

There is no biblical support for starting your own church outside of Christ Church founded on the Apostles.

As a former Reformed Minister, I realized how truly unbiblical and unapostolic being Protestant was and rejoined the only church founded by Christ with whom His authority, promises are kept and guarded.less

Moreover, the more Left they lean in their theology the quicker they will cease to be Christians. Too far left or too far right; either maxim will not serve the whole Gospel. When someone spouts Social Justice, you know for a fact they are not Pro-Life or Pro-Traditional Marriage while they do want to serve the poor, help the sick, and protect the environment. When someone spouts Hierarchy of V...more

Moreover, the more Left they lean in their theology the quicker they will cease to be Christians. Too far left or too far right; either maxim will not serve the whole Gospel.

When someone spouts Social Justice, you know for a fact they are not Pro-Life or Pro-Traditional Marriage while they do want to serve the poor, help the sick, and protect the environment. When someone spouts Hierarchy of Values they are not that involved in helping the poor or the sick or saving the environment, but they believe in protecting human life and traditional marriage as the basis for all other rights.

I believe we need to serve all areas; be pro-life(no abortion, no euthanasia, no death penalty, no war unless attacked, no-invitro fertilization), protect traditional marriage(no more divorce and remarriage, no adoption of children by gays, strengthen marriages by counseling before marriage), serve the poor and sick(where government, churches and corporations work together for the common good), protect the environment(Be good stewards doesn't mean you have to believe the hype about global warming, you just need to be conservationists because it is the right thing to do).less

As a Catholic now who spent 20+ years as a Reformed Minister and Evangelical, I would tell you two things; that the Catholic Church has always fought against Socialism and Marxism, and that the Catholic Church fights for the poor and the laws of subsidiarity without going to the extreme of Left Leaning Liberation Theology that villifieds the rich or even middle class. Liberation Theology is a theo...more

As a Catholic now who spent 20+ years as a Reformed Minister and Evangelical, I would tell you two things; that the Catholic Church has always fought against Socialism and Marxism, and that the Catholic Church fights for the poor and the laws of subsidiarity without going to the extreme of Left Leaning Liberation Theology that villifieds the rich or even middle class. Liberation Theology is a theology that seeks to undermine who Christ is as savior for everyone who seeks Him, either rich or poor.

I love being Catholic where the fullness of the Truth lives.less

Logic contends that if each one of these gods have a different Truth, then they are not all the same. If they are not all the same, then we clearly do not worship the same divinity. Christian Truth says Jesus is the only way. This goes against all the other faiths, so you must choose which God is the one you will follow. Christianity contends there is only one God, so all others are false.

Oh, Ed. Grow up. Stop being an Anthony Robbins wanna be who adds scripture in here and there.

Fuller Graduate Adams is being honored today at St. Monica's Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA http://www.stmonica.net/

Fuller Graduate Adams wasn't Episcopalian, he was Catholic by the way. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pastor-of-catholic-couple-killed-by-somali-pirates-praises-their-bible-outreach/ They went to St. Monica's Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA http://www.stmonica.net/

Fuller Graduate Adams wasn't Episcopalian, he was Catholic by the way. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pastor-of-catholic-couple-killed-by-somali-pirates-praises-their-bible-outreach/ They went to St. Monica's Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA http://www.stmonica.net/

What this story doesn't tell is the love of the Adams family who were devout Catholics from California and Phyllis and Bob were devout Evangelicals from Seattle. Their combined interfaith mission was to bring the Word of God to the Somali people. Catholics and Evangelicals working and dying for the Word of God. What an awesome example! http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pastor-of-catholi...more

What this story doesn't tell is the love of the Adams family who were devout Catholics from California and Phyllis and Bob were devout Evangelicals from Seattle. Their combined interfaith mission was to bring the Word of God to the Somali people.

Catholics and Evangelicals working and dying for the Word of God. What an awesome example!
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pastor-of-catholic-couple-killed-by-somali-pirates-praises-their-bible-outreach/

Peace be upon their souls and may God turn the hearts of the Pirates to Jesus someday for repentance.less

IN Catholic Churches, Jesus is on the cross to remind us of the sacrifice he paid for our sins.We also have crosses signifying the risen Christ too. We have both. 800 years before there was a Protesant crosses became more useful to teach the passion of our Lord by showing him on the cross. By not seeing Him, you cannot understand the torture he went through for our sins. By showing him on the cro...more

IN Catholic Churches, Jesus is on the cross to remind us of the sacrifice he paid for our sins.We also have crosses signifying the risen Christ too. We have both.
800 years before there was a Protesant crosses became more useful to teach the passion of our Lord by showing him on the cross. By not seeing Him, you cannot understand the torture he went through for our sins. By showing him on the cross and the pain he endured, it might be less likely to sin against him because you see what your sins did to him. Without Jesus on the cross it is easier to sin, because you don't see the Lamb slain for your sins.

If you have a cross at all in your church, then I encourage you to take it down since it is graven right?less

You have the official teaching above RevRan. I've read all Vatican 2 documents, and this area has never been taken out. There is a short version and long version. Augustine and Origen's versions are both acceptable and we have not declared anything dogmatic on it.

Revran, do you even know what an Albigensian is? They denied Matter, forbid marriage and having children, were extremely austere to a point of death. They also denied the Humanity of Christ. These are your forefathers? I'm not surprised. Your connection to these groups is historically unattainable. The Anabaptist line came out of many strains of Protestants as well as some Waldenesians. Waldene...more

Revran, do you even know what an Albigensian is? They denied Matter, forbid marriage and having children, were extremely austere to a point of death. They also denied the Humanity of Christ. These are your forefathers? I'm not surprised.

Your connection to these groups is historically unattainable. The Anabaptist line came out of many strains of Protestants as well as some Waldenesians. Waldenesians have no history of record anywhere before Peter Valdo. Whether he was the founder of this group or not is irrelevant. Did he take their name or did they take his name. It doesn't matter. The point, he was Catholic and was excommunicated, so your group was a pre-Reformation Protestant.

Albigensians died out in the area of Cathar France. I don't think you want to say they are your forefathers since they reject basic Christian beliefs like the humanity of Christ. Anabaptist came out of many groups, like the Mennonites.

You have no history before this, and you can't even come close to proving it.
Anyone with a shred of historical knowledge would laugh at your lineage assertion. Albigensians were not even Christians since they denied the humanity of Christ. No Protestant or Baptist Seminary teaches this made up history.

Everyone's heritage and lineage as a Protestant or Baptist or Evangelical was Catholic at some point, and the Catholic lineage goes back to the Apostles. This is irrefutable history.less

DEMONcrats!

Lastly, before I resigned from being a Reformed Pastor I had many meetings with my superior elder board. We met in a room that had a statue of Knox and Calvin, with icons(pictures) of Jesus on the walls with a giant picture of the Last Supper on another wall. The room was known as the sanctuary for prayer. It was filled with iconic Reformation and biblical herooes with Jesus being on the wall too....more

Lastly, before I resigned from being a Reformed Pastor I had many meetings with my superior elder board. We met in a room that had a statue of Knox and Calvin, with icons(pictures) of Jesus on the walls with a giant picture of the Last Supper on another wall. The room was known as the sanctuary for prayer. It was filled with iconic Reformation and biblical herooes with Jesus being on the wall too.

My point, is the intent of the person. For all the statues and icons Protestants burned out of the Catholic Churches, they developed their own statues and icons to replace the former.less

Hey Ray, go and read the official 10 commandment of the Catholic Church as seen in the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This App is the shortened version of the 10 commandments. Our first commandment is this as seen as our official teaching. Catechism 2084 does include graven images. http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c1a1.htm#2084 ARTICLE 1 THE FIRST COMMANDMENT I am...more

Hey Ray, go and read the official 10 commandment of the Catholic Church as seen in the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

This App is the shortened version of the 10 commandments.

Our first commandment is this as seen as our official teaching. Catechism 2084 does include graven images.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c1a1.htm#2084
ARTICLE 1
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT


I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.3
It is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."4

So, the official position has it all. This is just an App that is the shorter version, which anyone with a 2nd grade education would know it also covers graven images.less

By the way, who is Ray Comfort? Your 1 minute of fame is over.

I guess the article's author has no clue about what GRAVEN means. I find so many uneducated Protestants think this means Catholic and Orthdox statues and Icons. The word Graven means we worship them, we do not. As a former Reformed Minister, INTENT is everything. Ask any Catholic as they bow before or kneel before a statue of Mary and ask, "Are you worshipping Mary by doing that?" Any Catholic ...more

I guess the article's author has no clue about what GRAVEN means. I find so many uneducated Protestants think this means Catholic and Orthdox statues and Icons.

The word Graven means we worship them, we do not. As a former Reformed Minister, INTENT is everything. Ask any Catholic as they bow before or kneel before a statue of Mary and ask, "Are you worshipping Mary by doing that?" Any Catholic whether educated in the faith or not will say,"No, Mary was the Mother of God and I"m just giving her the honor she deserves." Honor not worship.

Protestants in England bow and kneel before their Protestant Queen. All over the world if you have travelled outside the US;
Lutherans bow before the Cross in many countries,
Pentecostals kneel before their pastors for a healing prayer
Mennonites and Baptist kneel before the Bible
Evangelicals kneel before their musicians when they are overcome by the spirit

Also, throughout the world we kneel and bow before many men and women who have authority over us in the secular world.

Here is the US, our Protestant forefathers placed statues of Washington, Lincoln and many other great men in Washington, DC. People bow before these statues, place flowers and remember go and see these statues on President's day and birthdays.

It is all about INTENT. Augustine said in the 4th century; "We give to God adoration(Latria) and we give to Mary the highest honor(Hyper dulia) and we give to the angels and Saints honor(dulia). We only give to God what is do to him alone which is worship. You may honor created things, but may not worship them for there is but one God in three persons."less

Online, it must be nice to make infallible judgements from your armchair. It is nice to know that you accept so much of what the Catholic Church has defined. We were so nervous that you wouldn't agree with us on the Trinity. When did your church have a council to decide anything? Did your founders when they first started call a council. No they did not. They just left the denomination they ...more

Online, it must be nice to make infallible judgements from your armchair. It is nice to know that you accept so much of what the Catholic Church has defined.

We were so nervous that you wouldn't agree with us on the Trinity.

When did your church have a council to decide anything? Did your founders when they first started call a council. No they did not. They just left the denomination they were in and started a new form of Christianity with much less Truth.less

First Christian decision ever made concerning circumcission. -Did the Apostles who had God's authority go to the Bible for their decision??????????????? NO. Peter offered a revelation from a dream he had given to him by God. The decision for Gentiles not to have to participate in Mosaic law, was a decison made by the Apostles authority, not by scripture. Scripture wasn't even referenced. Sc...more

First Christian decision ever made concerning circumcission.
-Did the Apostles who had God's authority go to the Bible for their decision???????????????

NO. Peter offered a revelation from a dream he had given to him by God. The decision for Gentiles not to have to participate in Mosaic law, was a decison made by the Apostles authority, not by scripture. Scripture wasn't even referenced.

Scripture alone? The Apostles didn't adhere to it.less