Monday, March 15, 2010

How Old Is Your Church?

If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex- monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560.

If you are a Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England founded by Samuel Seabury in the American colonies in the 17th century.

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was launched by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you are a Unitarian, Theophilus Lindley founded your church in London in 1774.

If you are a Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, N.Y., in 1829.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1605.

If you are of the Dutch Reformed church, you recognize Michaelis Jones as founder, because he originated your religion in New York in 1628.

If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.

If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion was born and to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.

If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as 'Church of the Nazarene," "Pentecostal Gospel." "Holiness Church," "Pilgrim Holiness Church," "Jehovah's Witnesses," your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past century.

If you are Catholic, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ the Son of God, and it is still the same Church.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post, Vincenzo~

I just might add, if you are a Scientologist, your pagan religion was invented by science fiction writer. L. Ron Hubbard, in 1952, who wanted to make some money.

Runcible said...

Zing!

Erin Garlock said...

While all of these facts may be correct, as a Catholic I have to ask you what purpose does this post serve other than to sound pompous? I'm tired of seeing Catholic elitism.

Ed Mechmann said...

"I believe... in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church".

That's why.

Ismael said...

@ Erin Garlock

The point is that all christian denomination claim to have started with Christ or to be the 'revival' of the true Church Christ founded.

History however teaches otherwise.

It's not about elitism, but about historical facts.

paxetbonum said...
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paxetbonum said...

Im a catholic and I just learned some of this just now. If its true and correct, there should be no harm posting it in this website, it would be read another way negatively posting it on other church's website.

suprman1020 said...

If you are a Catholic you are a spiritually completed Jew. Judiasm was founded in the beginning of time by Adam and Eve. ;)

Tim said...

The point is that one Church was established by God and other Churches were established by men.

One Church posesses Christ's own body and blood and perpetually re-presents it to the father as a pure act of worship. As the possessor of Christ's body and blood, one Church has stood alone in feeding it to every person on the face of the earth who need only to ask so that Christ can abide in them - not just spiritually or symbolically - but in reality.

One Church has the authority to forgive sins and leads anyone who asks down that path to God's mercy.

One Church, established by Christ, honor's His mother as He would have us honor her.

Only one Church declares to it's members, "Be holy, as your father in heaven is holy" and then through the power granted to it by God himself, gives us the means to do so.

All other Churches are like the desciples who tried to cast out demons but failed. They tell their members, "Let go and let God", "Do the best you can and rely on God's mercy" and that obedience to God is a side effect, not a requirement of faith.

See my post at http://timhollingworth.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-narrow-view.html

-Tim-

Unknown said...

Wonderful explanation, Tim!

There are more than 35,000 Christian denominations with that rely on personal interpretation of the scriptures.

Only the Roman Catholic Church is based upon Scripture, Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church.

For those who want to deny Tradition, please explain how the Church existed for 20 years before the first Epistle was written and 390 years before the canon of the Holy Scriptures was determined.

John 21:25 "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."

Joseph Reierson said...
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Joseph Reierson said...

@Erin Garlock

I'm not sure why you are sick of Catholic "elitism." Whether this post sounds pompous is irrelevant to the honest question that Vincenzo is asking, "How old is your church?" After all, Catholicism does speak of elitism: not people, just ideas.

But so does Protestantism! In reality, every new denomination was started because one person felt their ideas were more elite than the ideas they were hearing in the denomination they began; however, it would be false to say most of them aren't trying to be faithful followers of Christ.

So the question that needs to be answered is how elite are your ideas? Are they so elite to say that the Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, established a church but evil has prevailed against it even though He said it wouldn't? This is definitely about elitism, because Catholics understand that our Lord Jesus Christ was elite (as are His ideas) and He is the head of His church.

Jon Wire said...

A word on pride, with particular regard to this post: http://theolojon.blogspot.com/2010/03/god-is-big.html

;k;kpokp;ok; said...

You left out one of the big ones... the Eastern Orthodox.

Robert said...

If you are Roman Catholic, your Church was formed during the Council of Trent, 1545-1563, after the Lutherans had submitted the Ausburg Confession of 1530.
Robert at bioethike.com

Joseph Reierson said...

What Robert is trying to say is that a Church Council has the authority to determine where the Holy See should reside. So that in the future, if need be, "Vatican III" can relocate the Holy See to Valencia, Spain. Thus the faithful and Roman rite might be called Valencian Catholic. Returning to the Church's Council of Trent, the "infallible Divine truth was clearly proclaimed in opposition to the false doctrines of the day, and in this way a firm foundation was laid for the overthrow of heresy and the carrying out of genuine internal reform in the Church."

As Jon writes, pride will take us further from unity.

FredoM said...

Pilate asked: "What is truth?"
It's just the truth, nothing more...