Anyone else see a visable effect of the holy spirit?

[godsent]

What i mean is that for a good 1500 years there was one christian church(catholic). I mean within those 1500 years there was no divide of itself. Then comes along a selfish and spoilt king with another such person martin luther who decided they wanted change from the catholic church.

This happened.But now look at the effect, within 500 years the there are many protestant churches each claiming they hold the correct interpretation of scripture.

And which church remains firm and stands up against the divide and its altered doctrines?..the 1 Holy and apostolic Catholic Church.

It seems as though we can see a visible effect of the holy spirit remaining firm in the eyes of the rebellious.

Just wanted to get that off my mind

 

[Prodigal_Son]

godsent:

What i mean is that for a good 1500 years there was one christian church(catholic). I mean within those 1500 years there was no divide of itself. Then comes along a selfish and spoilt king with another such person martin luther who decided they wanted change from the catholic church.

Ever hear of the Schism? West follows Pope, East follows patriarchs, everybody gets a little frustrated. Around 1050 AD was its peak. Study up: newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm

Just wanted to mention that.

Your main point is true, that the unity of the Church is the work of the Spirit, and that people’s egos get in the way of that. But the Church has ALWAYS been subject to spintering.

 

[Lazerlike42]

The difference is all in Sola Scriptura. Ever since the ascension, there have been little heresies popping up here and there. There were plenty in the first few hundred years of the Church, and even a few schisms. However, these were all short lived. There was really no one lasting heresy or schism. Even with the Schism in 1050, the Eastern Orthodox held onto the vast majority of the faith that they had taught and held, because they affirmed the authority of Tradition.

However, as soon as Sola Scriptura popped up, things got really bad, and now 500 years later there are 30,000 different denominations. This goes to the very heart of the debate. Catholics say the Holy Spirit will guide the Church into all truth. Protestants say the Holy Spirit will guide all believers into all truth, and that truth is to come through reading their Bibles. So we can see that the Church has maintained a constant teaching, whereas those who have thrown away the Church in exchange for the Bible only are hopelessly splintered about in 30,000 ways.

 

[BlestOne]

Lazerlike42:

The difference is all in Sola Scriptura. Ever since the ascension, there have been little heresies popping up here and there. There were plenty in the first few hundred years of the Church, and even a few schisms. However, these were all short lived. There was really no one lasting heresy or schism. Even with the Schism in 1050, the Eastern Orthodox held onto the vast majority of the faith that they had taught and held, because they affirmed the authority of Tradition.

However, as soon as Sola Scriptura popped up, things got really bad, and now 500 years later there are 30,000 different denominations. This goes to the very heart of the debate. Catholics say the Holy Spirit will guide the Church into all truth. Protestants say the Holy Spirit will guide all believers into all truth, and that truth is to come through reading their Bibles. So we can see that the Church has maintained a constant teaching, whereas those who have thrown away the Church in exchange for the Bible only are hopelessly splintered about in 30,000 ways.

Lazer…not to sound morose…but this is good news to me. Look at what is happening with all these 30,000 denominations, they are self destructing. No, I mean it in a good way…God never meant for us to abandon Tradition or just believe in the Bible…or even worse yet, interpret it for ourselves. We are not capable! As they move further and further from the truth the faithful come home to us. It may look like we will never acheive unity, but truth be told, we are closer than ever. What is the one thing that Luther protested against? Authority right? That is still where the problem lies. Another poster in another thread stated that she came to the Catholic Church because she was taught at the whim of her pastor and his interpretation. That is what happens when churches break off from a central authority, they proclaim that they know better and this is the right way…then someone else comes along and says, no you are wrong…this is the true way…and so on…with each division, they are taking away from the other. At some point there will be a million Protestant religions and they will be so confused by what the truth really is that they will be forced to go back, further and further until they find their way home. Will they all make it home? God we hope so, but in reality, probably not until something happens…it will have to be something huge at this point but God has a plan…I will trust in his plan!

 

[Chipper]

Lazerlike42:

The difference is all in Sola Scriptura. Ever since the ascension, there have been little heresies popping up here and there. There were plenty in the first few hundred years of the Church, and even a few schisms. However, these were all short lived. There was really no one lasting heresy or schism. Even with the Schism in 1050, the Eastern Orthodox held onto the vast majority of the faith that they had taught and held, because they affirmed the authority of Tradition.

However, as soon as Sola Scriptura popped up, things got really bad, and now 500 years later there are 30,000 different denominations. This goes to the very heart of the debate. Catholics say the Holy Spirit will guide the Church into all truth. Protestants say the Holy Spirit will guide all believers into all truth, and that truth is to come through reading their Bibles. So we can see that the Church has maintained a constant teaching, whereas those who have thrown away the Church in exchange for the Bible only are hopelessly splintered about in 30,000 ways.

Somewhat agreeable. But I believe if those people really practiced Sola Scriptura, then the bible would lead them right back into the Catholic church. The problem is that none of those protestants really practice Sola Scriptura. It is usually Sola Benn Hinn, or Sola Some Pastor, Sola My congregration or even Sola Self.

Regards,
Calvin