Yep, our view of the Church is completely different. When you are speaking about the Church, are those comments exclusive to the Catholic Church, or does it include other churches such as the Orthodox churches too? I’m not sure how Protestant churches fit in with your view of the Church which is both human and divine. I believe in the priesthood of believers in which makeup The Church consisting of redeemed sinners who are united to Christ by faith. The Church is the body of Christ which members come from all different denominations and branches of Christianity.
As far as infallible divine guidance, I think that is subsist in the Catholic Church alone, if I didn’t believe so, I would be Eastern Orthodox, if it were not either of the two, I would be a deist!
I look at the Catholic Church like this, you have a bunch of rowers rowing a boat towards a destination, many of great and mighty men by themselves, but alone they wouldn’t hit the mark of their destination without, a helmsmen, or coxswain if you will, who as a fellow team member, pilots the rowers towards the end destination! The rowers enter the water, having seen the destination on the other side of the waters, so what the do is, line up the vessel and shoot a back azimuth. The rowers will do their best to stay inside the confines of the azimuth, but all in all, if they do happen to stray, the coxswain will fine tune the direction of the boat, as their guide. The rowers love the coxswain, they work in union with him, trusting that he will ensure ,they reach their destination! Each man is also calculating, the wind that blows, considering the waves that render, and utilizing the current that draws, but the coxswain enables them to hit each mark with precision, almost as if he has been given a special gift to read the wind, anticipate the waves and feel the currents draw, he was made to be their coxswain, and they were meant to be on that rowing team. All the pilgrim voyagers rowing that sturdy vessel, know they could not out man the wind, the waves, nor the current, so they work with the wind ,waves and current. A fine tuned, well oiled, rowing machine unstoppable with the coxswain at the helm, all working in union with one another, reading the wind, rendering off the waves, and following the currents draw, its almost like they had no choice, but to reach the end, eventually! Truth be told, the wind was at their back, the waves were rendering them on track, and the current was drawing them towards their final destination all along. Almost as if it was predestined
Eastern Orthodox have much of the same, they have seen the end, and shot their back azimuth true, they have some of the best rowers on any team, but they lack a coxswain at the helm to aid the mighty team on their voyage! The rowers have been working beside one another, it would seem like it were for, a couple thousand years, so they knew just how much, or how little effort to apply to the oar, in order to render the vessel on their azimuth! One problem is that all the rowers are looking back, in order to make a judgment on going forward, and the water is a great chasm to cross without a coxswain, good thing the wind is at their back, the waves are rendering them on track, and the current is drawing them, despite embarking on their voyage without a coxswain. But with such an experienced team working in union, they are bound to reach the destination, as long as the wind blows, the waves render and the current draws they are bound for glory!
Non-catholic Christians on the other hand have a different story, they have been instilled some great wisdom from past voyagers, they were told where the goal line is for starters, they have been shown how to paddle, taught how to read the wind, waves and current as well. But much was lost in translation in their vessel, they have come to disagree on the proper way to read the wind, water, and currents. They now have a vessel full of great men, with great strength, but lack cohesion, and organization. Soon their paddles start to slap against one another’s as they argue over which direction the pilgrim voyagers of old had traveled, the shout at the coxswain, but he is not there, they entered that vessel without him. They seek out the wise men, with great memories to reiterate what the voyagers of old had told them, but this wise man, and that wise man disagree, so some form camps to rally behind each wise man that they see fit to follow. The vessel they embarked upon has now been fractured, in all the chaos and paddle slapping, the vessel has broken into pieces, now each man must grab hold of his own piece of wood, many men float aimlessly, others paddle each and every direction, yet the current draws, the wind blows, the waves crash, and the coxswain of old offers up a life line, and many curse him and paddle off, while many others grab hold, as the wind blows, the waves crash and the current draws many torwads the end!
I think you get the idea of what I was trying to convey!
. In a way, I can understand that since there are Protestants out there who say the same things about you as being Catholic in what you say about Protestants. Those Protestants see you as apostate, and consider you to be a not true Christian too. So, I do understand your hostility in a way. - peace and grace to you!
