www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Two Completely Different Churches?

Zenovia wrote:


I regard the WCC and these organisms as social forums, Churches (even the heretical Churches) have an important presence as witnesses to the human community because of their opinions and activities. However, this does not mean that all the members are in fact true Churches.

Christ never said that he had founded several Churches but one, and the idea that the Church consists of all men or all those who believe in Christ in a broad sense is false. The Church of Christ is that which is governed by the succesors of the apostles (the bishops) through the priesthood. Those who broke this succession can in no way be regarded as members of the Church.

If these people weren't heretics why are they no longer members of the Roman Catholic Church? In fact they were condemned by this Apostolic Church where their ancestors originaly came from. There's a whole list of heresies that this Apostolic Church condemned and all are held by these groups.

We Apostolic Christians have almost nothing in common with them, they do not have the Holy Mysteries and the Priesthood (Christ himself said that those who do not eat his body and drink his blood have no part in him), they believe that the Blessed Virgin gave birth to other children after Jesus, they do not venerate the saints, some believe that there will be a millenial kingdom and an earthy paradise which is a great departure from the doctrine of the Church, some even kept the Jewish Laws that were abolished by Christ, in fact no sect is identical to the other.

I understand, that you all share a common culture as Americans, Protestants and Catholics (and even Orthodox) alike but this is comparable to the common culture that the Maronites share with their Lebanese Muslim neighbours. Can we say that they both belong to the true religion?

They do have some aspects of Christianity but they are extremely incomplete as you said. How can the Church be true and incomplete at the same time?

I believe that the statement is not correct.

"Protestants are not heretics...or at least haven't been in the past. Otherwise, the Orthodox Church would not have belonged to the National or World Council of Churches. They have always been recognized as true Churches, although incomplete."

Protestants are heretics. Only certain Orthodox Churches have joined the "World Council of Churches" while the rest of Orthodoxy condemns such actions. The Romans Catholics and the Russian Orthodox in particular are not a part of the World Council of Churches because it is a heretical organization. There is only one True Church. (Think One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic not Many, one or some Holy, unCatholic, and some Apostolic)

I have been told (by an Orthodox Priest) that Satanists are part of the World Council of Churches. Like the Protestants etc., Satanists do not have a or the True Church.

I don't know of any Satanists, but I do know that the Catholics don't belong and the Orthodox have such problems with belonging that they had to set up a special commission to deal with the Orthodox concerns.

A curious website.

http://www.antichrist.net/index.shtml

CDL