Is Christianity about to triumph or fail?

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Though not living in the the U.S I hope you pardon my intrusion as an observer.It appears to me that just as much as there are restrictions to the growth of the Christian belief in China there are impediments in the U.S. as well judging from the contributions.What is important is not the growth of the organised Church,though it could mean the same thing in a way but the number of people who will embrace the teachings of Jesus Christ and be saved.Belonging to an instituition per se will not assure you salvation but the Faith in the Scripture.The biggest threat to people in the U.S being saved is their focus on secularism.In this regards we should make a global effort to pray for people in the U,S. and Europe and ask Almighty God to give them the gift of faith.
 
One sign of the Church’s weakness is its lack of unity. Why is it that, when the bishops release a collective statement on not honoring with awards those who defy Catholic teaching, Notre Dame can hardly wait to bestow such an award? How is it possible that the President of Notre Dame, a Catholic priest, can openly defy all the bishops of the United States?

The factionalism in the Church is contributing to our fall.

“United we stand, divided we fall.” Abraham Lincoln
 
Paranoia aside, can there actually be some within the Church who are striving to destroy the Church?
 
I read the diatribe as long as I could and asked myself, “what is missing”? I am a strong believer in covenant theology. Our part in the equation is obedience? Obedience to the commandments, and to the law of love. Never ever can we make God into our image. I think there lies the trap. When we think we can, we have fallen to the demise of our own ego’s. Our part of the equation is to love and to be obedient. If we are truly being obedient then there is only one Church that Jesus formed, and that is the Church founded on Peter. Any other church is based on a disobedient follower who has formed the truth into his own image and not the image given to us by God.

While the Catholic Church may be the Church that Christ established based on Peter, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, still it may need to be chastised from time to time for not being obedient and using the grace God has given it. There is a long history of chastisements that were inflicted to OT people for their lack of obedience and submittable to the worldly ways of their time.

The real issue is have we have not used the grace that God has given us to stand up to the atrocities of our time? May God help us for our lack of faith.
 
Originally Posted by embraced
Emphasis Added:There are many who would say we as believers should try as hard as we can to point out the errors of others, in politics, in social conditons and so on, well we should stand for those thinga that are good and right. Those things that bring forth good fruit, but the condition of the spirit in each man, they must find their way to connect with the divine and live according to what they feel is right to them.

According to a statement regarding truth, Pope Benedict XVI said “there is NO room for emotion between reason…and…truth.” Faith based on emotion is bound to fail.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
One sign of the Church’s weakness is its lack of unity. Why is it that, when the bishops release a collective statement on not honoring with awards those who defy Catholic teaching, Notre Dame can hardly wait to bestow such an award? How is it possible that the President of Notre Dame, a Catholic priest, can openly defy all the bishops of the United States?

The factionalism in the Church is contributing to our fall.

“United we stand, divided we fall.” Abraham Lincoln
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The question is, are we “on the brink of destruction,” “the point of no returns” or will the pendulum swing back?

Relying on the prophecies of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 and in a later vision to Sister Lucia letting her know that WWII was about to happen (through a sign in the sky that was determined by scientists as other than an aurora borealis), there will be persecution of the Church and war as “punishment for sin” but through this, the Church would be purified. IOW, it won’t be the “end of the world” but the end of a period of time. Of course, prophecies are conditional, that is, if Communism spread its atheistic viewpoint, and it sure looks like that is happening practically all around the world.

In the 1930’s, Our Lord appeared to St. Faustina Kowalska revealing His Divine Mercy for all people–that we must be merciful and that our trust in Him will shower us with graces. In one vision, Jesus tells her, “Speak to the world about My Mercy. . . It is a sign for the end times (meaning that which began with the descent of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church). After it will come the Day of Justice (848 in the “Diary”) . . . You will prepare the world for My Final Coming.(429). . . Tell souls about this great Mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of Justice, is near (965).”

True, the Church is divided, including the local churches, as I can witness from my own observation, especially evident in the last election. As usual, the source of the Great Divide is the abortion/life issue, with other related issues around it.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
There cannot be any doubt that Christianity ruled the West in the Middle Ages. Does it any longer rule? Why or why not? What are the symptoms of Christianity now at the point of collapsing, or now at the point of a rebirth and expansion?

Admittedly, this is a vast subject that can go in a thousand directions at once. Perhaps we should try to limit the discussion as much as possible to Christianity in the United States?

If necessary, spin-off threads may need to be developed.
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The Gates of Hell “SHALL NOT” prevail against the Church (Matt 16) seems really clear to me 👍
 
*The Gates of Hell “SHALL NOT” prevail against the Church (Matt 16) seems really clear to me *

Yes, but the gates sure have been clanging a lot since the Reformation and the so-called Enlightenment.
 
Charles Darwin, who was not an atheist, unwittingly handed the atheists of his day a scientific instrument by which they hoped to discredit the old teleological argument for God. Karl Marx apparently misunderstood Darwin, thinking this was precisely what he had meant to do, and in a letter to Darwin asked him to publicly declare himself on the atheist side. Darwin refused the request, explaining to Marx that in any case he had noticed that throughout history when religion was vigorously attacked, it found in that attack a reason to come back stronger than before.

Are we again in that situation described by Darwin, even if Darwin unknowlingly helped to put us there?
 
There are days when I doubt my own sanity.

Whether America has become a godless nation may well be hotly disputed. But would a godly nation sit idle and allow the mass slaughter of the unborn year after year? Would a godly nation elect to the presidency a man who will not contest the view that the slaughter of the unborn is consistent with a woman’s “right to choose”? Would a godly nation elect a majority to Congress who defend the killing of the unborn as a “right to choose”? Would a godly nation (and its godly lawmakers and jurists) allow the legalization of hard-core pornography as an expression of so-called “free speech” protected by the United States Constitution? Would a godly nation tolerate courts who strike down religious expression in public places? Would a godly nation allow the free and increasing use of profane and vulgar language on radio, television, and in the movies? Would a godly nation tolerate the public schools teaching the young that sexual perversions are just “alternate life styles”? Would a godly nation tolerate the now routine public ridicule of religion and religious leaders (including Jesus Christ)? Would a godly nation respectfully sit still and passive while lunatic judges without consulting anyone define marriage as a union of two people of the same sex?

For these and at least another hundred reasons it is difficult to make a case that America is any longer a godly nation. Every single instance of ungodly conduct listed above was not even on the horizon in America fifty years ago.

Some of us are old enough to remember.
 
Charlemange your post is most reassuring, it is my hope that that are are many more who share your thoughts.
 
antonabe said:
Charlemange your post is most reassuring, it is my hope that that are are many more who share your thoughts.
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The results of the Presidential election show those folks who still have a conscience and know how to use it are running just a few percent behind the folks who don’t, ie. those who voted for bo. There is hope yet, we just have to keep yelling loudly and clearly, WE WON’T ACCEPT WHAT THIS ADMINISTRATION IS TRYING TO SHOVE DOWN OUR THROATS.
 
ELTS

*There is hope yet, we just have to keep yelling loudly and clearly, WE WON’T ACCEPT WHAT THIS ADMINISTRATION IS TRYING TO SHOVE DOWN OUR THROATS. *

Yes, there’s something to be said for yelling, as Martin Luther King proved. Only now there may be even more people than us willing to yell back! Not a pleasant thought.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
ELTS

*There is hope yet, we just have to keep yelling loudly and clearly, WE WON’T ACCEPT WHAT THIS ADMINISTRATION IS TRYING TO SHOVE DOWN OUR THROATS. *

Yes, there’s something to be said for yelling, as Martin Luther King proved. Only now there may be even more people than us willing to yell back! Not a pleasant thought.
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“Those” people have always shouted, demonstrated and made themselves obnoxious. By our yelling, I meant perseverence, consistentcy and also making ourselves and our protests more visible.
 
elts

*By our yelling, I meant perseverence, consistentcy and also making ourselves and our protests more visible. *

How can we make ourselves more visible when the media ignore us every chance they get. Do you have a specific suggestion that would get us more visibility without being “obnoxious”?
 
Charlemagne_II said:
elts

By our yelling, I meant perseverence, consistentcy and also making ourselves and our protests more visible.

How can we make ourselves more visible when the media ignore us every chance they get. Do you have a specific suggestion that would get us more visibility without being “obnoxious”?
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Maybe picket the media???
 
*Maybe picket the media??? *

Sounds interesting. Could you be more specific?
 
Charlemagne_II said:
*Maybe picket the media??? *

Sounds interesting. Could you be more specific?
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Pro Lifers picket abortion mills. Why not media headquarters. Of course we would have to be certain the publication didn’t own the sidewalks in front of their doors. I would love to see this happen, wouldn’t you? The squeaky hinge gets the oil. :cool:
 
Phone in Larry King Live. I think I hear Richie Cunningham in the background at this moment complaining about how the Vatican caused so many problems for him and Hanks filming Angels and Demons. Pretty unbelievable. Absolutely hilarious if it wasn’t so tragic. :confused:
 
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