Brother Ed, Sorry for jumping in the conversation and barraging you with criticism, but like Dave said, it is to be expected because we do not share your beliefs. Moving on...
This:
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[/i][/b] [color:"0000FF"]Matthew 16:18-19 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; [color:"FF0000"]and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [/color] And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.[/color]
Does not say this:
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He was addressing the first one who would hold the office of covenantal head over the people of God -- St. Peter.
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There is the promise. It is iron clad and bound by the precious Blood which Jesus shed on the Cross. Notice to WHOM Jesus was addressing this.
I'll give you this. Jesus will keep his church as surely as he died, and Jesus was definitely talking about Peter. Your leap from the text to the doctrine of Papal Succession doesn't follow.
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This is completely unlike the mess we view as Protestantism, in which, as my first post [color:"FF0000"]made by Protestants[/color] states, there is a confusion which borders upon the lunatic. Having dozens of differing ideas on baptism, salvation, ordinances vs sacraments, the number of sacraments, even the existence of hell, is not a testimony to the protection of the Holy Spirit upon the Protestant Rebellion. Neither is the wholesale moral depravation we are seeing in most "mainline" churches today as they allow for "gay marriage" (an oxymoron if I ever heard one!), abortion "rights", live sexual arrangements, feminism, female "preachers and priests" and a host of other moral degeneracies. Again, where is the protection of the Holy Spirit? Seems considerably absent to me.
I'm not sure if you read my last post or not, but you are still referring to Protestantism as being united, when it's obvious that it isn't. The testimony of the Holy Spirit is evident among those who believe God according to his Word. This argument of yours also does not follow.
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And lest you start thumping your chest about how YOUR denomination is more conservative and will never allow for such things....let me remind you that at one time, so were these. Let me further remind you that already the PCA has changed the wording of the Nicene Creed to appease the feminists among them. Won't be too many more years before they have "wimmen preachas".
Apply the above criticism to the statement below:
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Your lack of understanding of the truth does not change the truth. Neither is it changed by the many in the Catholic Faith who mangle it, oppose it (as I said, they SHOULD leave), or fail to live it properly.
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In closing, let me ask you this: in a country filled with pagans, when the average pagan looks out of his villge and sees 15 different Christian assemblies, all preaching something different, even to the point of telling him different ways to get to Heaven, how can he not feel that Christianity is a religion of simple minded idiots?
Some are seen as simple minded idiots because they act as such, others are seen that way because the "word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." I am quite filled with horror myself when I see "the name of God profaned among the nations" because of many so-called christian groups. I also don't see pagans giving any respect to the Catholics.
