I’m curious to hear thoughts on the church extending blessings to gay marriage.
Is Catholicism even representative of Christianity? Or is the Bible a fluid collection of texts to be selectively curated by Catholic leadership from canonization through time?
Protestant thoughts? I understand the Methodist church has been open to homosexuality for quite a while.
Did Bud Light cause this?
It seems simply that the Catholic leadership is yielding to social pressure. Their Douay-Rheims bible still states Rom 1:26, “For this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections. For their women have changed the natural use into that use which is against nature.”
The KJV says the bold as “vile affections”
A little NIV nugget: Virginia Mollenkott was the stylist on the New Testament translation committee of the NIV. With her efforts the NIV states: Rom 1:26, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.”
This subtle change from “shameful affections” to “shameful lusts” makes a distinction between lusts of the flesh and love, one for another.
It seems clear that the Catholics have allowed social pressure to put less significance to Romans 1:26, and consider the “shameful affections” to just be another sin, if even that. I just don’t know, or understand their thinking.
The Methodist church has been one of the leaders of the social gospel.
Yes, they have.
At what point would it be safe to say the “Christian” moniker no longer applies? How much of the Bible can be edited, manipulated or ignored by an organization before it’s something else entirely?
Or will Christianity evolve (or devolve) as a belief system, sloughing unpopular precepts as it goes?
It always has been, but I disagree with quite a bit of their doctrine. One thing is that the foundation of Catholic church included bringing in the kingdom (of heaven).
Once they quit preaching the Gospel, they are not Christian. And that Gospel is clearly laid out:
1 Corinthians 15:1, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
The Church has evolved and does so continuously. Many of the Christian churches should check themselves against the church of the Laodiceans. This church is gone so far from Jesus that He no longer resides among the congregation, but stands outside knocking on the door wishing to come in.
Rev 3:14, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
It isn’t even too late for the Methodist church.
Religion is man-made
The Bible is GOD made
But who canonized the Bible?
Isn’t that a Catholic term? Hasn’t this been an ongoing process for centuries.
I cannot find the word “canon” in the Bible. Must have something to do with man placing his approval on the what a particular group of men believed at some particular time in history. It is of no consequence IMO.
I simply stand on the KJV as the word of God. It keeps things simple for us simple minded people.
I think this is the heart of my question. If the Bible is not actually infallible, and it’s created/curated by humans, then how much authority does it convey outside of current “accepted practices”, which seem to be undergoing change?
If you don’t believe that the Bible is the word of God, then you can read anything into whatever you want. The reader has huge latitude to interpret in anyway they wish, as in saying social norms have evolved since the scripture was written.
There many different interpretations of the Bible by many who earnestly believe it is the word of God. And of all those groups think they have the exact answer/meaning.
Of course. But that wasn’t what I said. By omission, you misquoted me, or at least, changed the meaning of what I said.
You stated that if you don’t believe it’s the word of God, the Bible is open to interpretation and any meaning. I countered with there are many who believe who have come to many different conclusions about what that word means and all those folks all believe their view is the most accurate. Therefore any and every interpretation is valid and there is no single inherent meaning as long as the person interpreting believes in God.
Which makes it valid as a great work of literature but not as a prescribed set of rules for society to follow (as it is so often used).
To the point of this thread then, the Catholic Church’s evolving interpretation that gay marriage is not against the “law” of the Bible and therefore okay is as equally valid as any other interpretation and should not send the uproar through the larger Christian community that it has.
The Bible has been curated, organized and validated by man, though. Specifically the Catholic Church, who is now seemingly beginning to alter stated beliefs they previously canonized and have enforced within realms of influence throughout history.
Who’s to say the current notion isn’t as much influenced by God as the original canonization? Catholics didn’t write the books they canonized, obviously, but they did curate them and every believer since has simply accepted their decision as influenced by God. What’s different now? Same group, same texts…. now they don’t know what they’re talking about? It’s their book.
Satan is at work with deception,
be careful is all i will say
If understood what the pope said correctly, the Catholic Church hasn’t yet strayed that far from where they have been for centuries. Or maybe you were making a hypothetical point. Did you see what the pope said?
And they canonized some books that are not in my KJV.
Maybe every Catholic believer. I sure don’t.
Yeah. It’s a step in that direction though. He can’t make a wholesale change to a group that’s generally resistant to change.