WOULD JESUS KILL A MAN FOR DISAGREEING WITH HIM? Theology: The Study of Man’s Opinion About God By Deirdre Rose April 8, 2014 Do you think Jesus would kill a person if they disagreed with Him? Since the 12th Century, the institutionalized church: Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Protestants believed that they were well within their religious rights to kill a person if that person’s belief or opinion disagreed with the opinion of the institutionalized church. In fact the Roman Catholic Church led the charge in inquisitions sentencing people to death and carrying out death sentences for exactly that –disagreeing with the church - it was called religious heresy, and anyone found guilty of disagreeing with the church was labeled a heretic and sentenced to death. The church no longer has the authority to sentence people to death, but Roman Catholics still hold a form of the inquisition called the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith “founded by Pope Paul III in 1542, the congregations sole objective is to spread sound Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines. Its headquarters are at the Palace of the Holy Office, just outside Vatican City. The congregation employs an advisory board including cardinals, bishops, priests, lay theologians, and canon lawyers. The current Prefect is Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller.” - Wikipedia Eastern Orthodox and Protestants also retain a mechanism for labeling as heretics those individuals who do not agree with them. In fact if Jesus were here walking the earth today, He would be labeled a heretic because unlike the Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Protestants Jesus Christ is NOT in favor of church tradition. In speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said “… “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’[b] You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! – Mark 7:6-9 And The Apostle Paul said: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” – Colossians 2:8 However, in his Theology Class, Michael Patton of Credo Ministries voiced the Orthodox position on Tradition -- he said: “Tradition trumps all, it does because it’s an accurate interpretation of scripture and the apostles and so therefore whenever you say that laity is not encouraged to study their bible you are exactly right. Why are they not encouraged to study their bible? Because it has already been studied and it’s already been pronounced and we already have the traditions handed down to us and so that is why even Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox will be somewhat different cause Roman Catholics will still study and will still write books on the bible and still write commentaries on the bible and still have apologists, you can go to some great Roman Catholic apologetics websites, I mean like catholic is a good apologetics website, very western, very much reasoned, but you are not going to find anything like that in Eastern Orthodoxy for the most part, I mean a couple of books here and there that explain their faith and defend their faith, but it won’t really be so much of a defense because there is no need to, the church fathers have already laid out what is true. “Priests in the Eastern Orthodox Church, unlike the Roman Catholic Church may not even own a bible. “Why do you need a Bible? It’s already been interpreted, its already been told to us. “Now generally speaking that’s true, I’m not saying its true for all Eastern Orthodox, but generally speaking you see that. “ Michael Patton, Protestant The Theology Program Credo House Ministries Introduction to Theology - Disk 8 - Frame 30:42 to Frame 32:02 “Remember how powerful tradition is. It’s the most powerful teaching element you have. Its ingrained within you. It’s so hard, that’s why I told you at the very beginning of class, it’s the most difficult part of this class – it’s not the information being given, but the challenge that you have to have because you have to challenge your traditions and sometimes at the deepest level you have to challenge them – that the hardest part.” Michael Patton, Protestant The Theology Program Credo House Ministries Introduction to Theology – Disk 8 - Frame 51:34 to Frame 51:44 I don’t have anything against Michael Patton, actually I commend him for bringing Theology to the Christian laymen. Studying theology allows the layman to see what goes on behind the scenes in their church, and gives them a clear picture of what they have signed up for as their belief – exalting man’s opinion over God’s word – which is directly disobedient to God. Personally, I found the program very useful because it demonstrates to me, just how mindless people have become - allowing the Church to usurp their right to think for themselves. A benefit of the program is that it provides a vehicle for the Christian layman to learn about the sinful and oppressive origins and history of the church that they have become members of, and I think watching the program provides a perfect opportunity for people to ponder this question: Just how important is your salvation to you, is your salvation so Unimportant that you are willing to outsource your salvation to the institutionalized church – an institution burdened with past sins (inquisitions and crusades) that they have not atoned for -- the murder of countless innocent people - whose only crime was thinking for themselves – a right that is God given … It seems to me that oppressive strategies never change: slaves were prohibited from learning to read to keep them under their slave masters, and even to this day, church members are prohibited from having their own opinions about God and religion. Whats the difference -- both are mental slavery! How can anyone ever truly know God in such an oppressive environment - where one is not free to think independently about God? The Lord is clear -- the masses will not find Him, only a few – those who enter the narrow gate will find the path to heaven. The Lord commands us to enter through the narrow gate … so what on earth would possess anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ to enter through the wide gate? Youve already been told that the MANY that are headed for destruction? What other warning do you need? Personally, if I looked around and saw everybody agreeing with me -- Id be frightened. It would be a red flag for me because Jesus has already been clear – safety is NOT in the numbers … God says to find Him and eternal life, we must remain in the minority. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” – Matthew 7:13-14 So, Matthew 23:13 was already clear to me, but now what the Lord said has been reinforced: What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in peoples faces. You wont go in yourselves, and you dont let others enter either.” – Matthew 23:13 The Institutionalized Church is nothing more than an unnecessary barrier that stands between people and their God. So be careful who you choose to follow!
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 22:38:03 +0000
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