The Roman Catholic Church recognizes only certain people as saints, and as a rule, only after they are dead. Eastern Orthodox recognize anyone in heaven as a saint, whether recognized on earth or not. Anglicans recognize a similar belief to the Eastern Orthodox, but most protestant denominations recognize anyone who is truly a Christian as …
In Christianity, the belief in the necessity of the sacraments to attain salvation and God’s grace is called sacramentalism. A sacrament is a ritual that bestows God’s grace. The sacraments developed over hundreds of years starting with baptism and holy communion. Eventually seven sacraments were declared to include confirmation, confession, marriage, ordination, extreme unction. The …
Lent started this week, and with it countless Catholics began the fasting requirements dictated by the Roman Catholic Church. “What are you giving up for lent” is often asked this time of year among Catholics. On no less than that national model of religious programming, Mike And Mike in the Morning, a significant portion of …
Lenten Fasting – Is it the one that the Father has chosen? Read More »
Celibacy is required for only one Christian denomination, the Roman Catholic Church. And it wasn’t required for the first thousand years of the church. In 1139 the Roman Catholic Church banned priest marriages. In fact, at that time Pope Innocent II voided all priest marriages and required new priests to divorce their wives. Before this …
In the Reformation, Luther and Calvin named the Pope the Antichrist. A treatise of Martin Luther written shortly before his death in 1546 was entitled, “Against the Roman Papacy; an Institution of the Devil.” Luther began his tirade, “The Most Hellish Father, Saint Paul III, in his supposed capacity as the bishop of the Roman …
I happened across a PBS documentary on the secret files of the Inquisition. In 2004 Pope John Paul II asked forgiveness for the wounds cased by the Inquisition. In the unlikely event you don’t know what the Inquisition is, the Inquisition refers to a function of the Roman Catholic Church where people who didn’t embrace …