The itching ears of Protestantism

[Proletarian]

2 Timothy 4:3,4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth , and be turned aside to fables

Are there more restrictions placed upon Protestants or Catholics? It would appear that Protestantism has altered Catholic doctrine in such a way as to make the religious “experience” a whole lot more enjoyable. For example…

It has removed the threat of purgatory
It permits contraception
It downplays and trivialises sin by means of sola fide.
It denies the need to confess to a priest.
It denies that we are justified by our faith AND our works
It permits divorce
It allows the ordination of women.
It removes the need for a supreme church authority
It elevates its adherents to ultimate authority with respect to biblical interpretation.

So according to Biblical prophecy false religion will be characterised by doctrines that are more amenable to people, doctrines that make peoples lives easier by nullifying the Word. If Catholicism is a distortion of the true Christian faith then it should (according to scripture) be characterised by doctrines that make life easier for its adherents. Yet on every count Protestantism is by far the easier alternative.

 

[thomasf]

Good post. It always seemed to me that being a protestant, particularly an evangelical that only has to ‘believe in Jesus’, was a whole lot easier. And I could never figure out what they were telling me. It seemed to simple, to easy. Especially coming from a Catholic upbringing with the sacraments. It all seemed so shallow to me and I couldn’t help but feel like it was wrong and reject it. I kept thinking “That’s it? Really?”

 

[Nella]

2 Timothy 4:3,4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth , and be turned aside to fables

Are there more restrictions placed upon Protestants or Catholics? It would appear that Protestantism has altered Catholic doctrine in such a way as to make the religious “experience” a whole lot more enjoyable. For example…

It has removed the threat of purgatory
It permits contraception
It downplays and trivialises sin by means of sola fide.
It denies the need to confess to a priest.
It denies that we are justified by our faith AND our works
It permits divorce
It allows the ordination of women.
It removes the need for a supreme church authority
It elevates its adherents to ultimate authority with respect to biblical interpretation.

So according to Biblical prophecy false religion will be characterised by doctrines that are more amenable to people, doctrines that make peoples lives easier by nullifying the Word. If Catholicism is a distortion of the true Christian faith then it should (according to scripture) be characterised by doctrines that make life easier for its adherents. Yet on every count Protestantism is by far the easier alternative.

Everything you listed above seems to be a direct smack to the Anglican church. Hmmm. Go figure.

 

[Proletarian]

Everything you listed above seems to be a direct smack to the Anglican church. Hmmm. Go figure.

Ummm…yeah, along with 99% of the other 30,000 protestant sects, cults, and denominations.

Believe it or not I have a particular fondness for the Anglican Church; particularly the High Church tradition.

 

[brosam]

It has removed the threat of purgatory

Of course. It’s Unbiblical and denies the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement.

It permits contraception

This is what is commonly known as adiopheron.

It downplays and trivialises sin by means of sola fide.

Explain, please.

It denies the need to confess to a priest.

Where does the Bible say that we have to confess our sins to a man to absolve us of our sins?

It denies that we are justified by our faith AND our works

Where does the Bible say that we’re justified by works?

It permits divorce

Divorce is a civil matter that takes place in the court. We have no authority to prevent it. However, if it’s done for Unbiblical reasons, then we can (and do!) exercise church discipline.

My church just removed a man last winter because he left his wife for Unbiblical reasons.

It allows the ordination of women.

Actually, the vast, vast majority of Christian churches don’t ordain women.

It removes the need for a supreme church authority

Where is this in the Bible?

It elevates its adherents to ultimate authority with respect to biblical interpretation.

It does? I’ve been a Christian for about twenty years and a preacher of the Gospel for twelve or thirteen years and have never seen this. Can you substantiate this claim?

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

Yawn,

 

[Little_Mary]

It’s easy to first decide what your theology will be and then go pick and choose the parts of scripture that fit. (sound familiar, Luther?)

That’s what protestants do and that’s why there are sooooooooooo many protestant denominations.