What Was the Apostasy?

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NO - that’s not right. The counter claim, YOUR counter claim is that the RCC is God’s authorized church. That’s a POSITIVE claim. Not a negative claim.
And now you are succumbing to logical fallacy! (See: False Dichotomy) 😛 So let’s all stop calling each other illogical, shall we?

I believe the counter claim would be “There was no apostasy” not “The Catholic Church is God’s authorized church”. These are two separate claims whose validity are independent of one another.

In this case, those making the existential claim, namely that there was indeed an apostasy of the early church shoulder the burden of proof.
 
And now you are succumbing to logical fallacy! (See: False Dichotomy) 😛 So let’s all stop calling each other illogical, shall we?

I believe the counter claim would be “There was no apostasy” not “The Catholic Church is God’s authorized church”. These are two separate claims whose validity are independent of one another.

In this case, those making the existential claim, namely that there was indeed an apostasy of the early church shoulder the burden of proof.
Just to be clear… you do not believe that the RCC is God’s Church?

You may well not believe it but many on this board do. They believe that there was not apostasy and that the RCC is the exact same movement as founded by Christ. The two are not separate claims. They are one in the same, unless you believe that RCC is authorized but first went through an apostasy and then became reauthorized… in which case (or some other such example) you would be right, my statement would be a false dilemma. Is that what you are maintaining - that there are other alternatives? If so, which alternative do you believe in?

Those who believe there was an apostasy are under no more burden of proof than those that believe that the RCC is God’s Church or those that believe that there is a god, or anyone who as a faith-based religious belief.
 
Just to be clear… you do not believe that the RCC is God’s Church?

You may well not believe it but many on this board do. They believe that there was not apostasy and that the RCC is the exact same movement as founded by Christ. The two are not separate claims. They are one in the same, unless you believe that RCC is authorized but first went through an apostasy and then became reauthorized… in which case (or some other such example) you would be right, my statement would be a false dilemma. Is that what you are maintaining - that there are other alternatives? If so, which alternative do you believe in?
Ah! I never said that I didn’t espouse both propositions! I merely pointed out that your definition of what constituted the negative argument is wrong.

Maybe an example is in order:

The positive existential claim (with respect to this specific thread) is that “there was an apostasy of the early Christian Church.” The contrary position would be “there was not an apostasy of the early Christian Church.”

Notice this doesn’t mean that a person accepting the negative automatically is claiming that the Catholic Church is then said “true Church”. Maybe it’s the Orthodox Church. Maybe it’s one of the various Protestant denominations that don’t even believe in a visible church in which apostasy can even occur!

It does just so happen that I accept both that:
  1. There was no apostasy. (Due to the negative nature of this existential claim I do not bear the burden of proof).
  2. The Catholic Church is the same Church founded by Jesus. (If this were the topic of this thread I would indeed bear the burden of proof for this claim).
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Snow:
Those who believe there was an apostasy are under no more burden of proof than those that believe that the RCC is God’s Church or those that believe that there is a god, or anyone who as a faith-based religious belief.
Yes apostasy advocates are under no more burden of proof than Papal advocates however that is not the nature of this thread. As I have demonstrated these are two different claims. I guess it is possible (though difficult) to discuss both at the same time, yet this does not diminish the standard of proof by which the affirmative argument for the apostasy must meet.

Did that make sense?
 
The problem with this whole discussion is that the Mormons started this discussion by Saying the Catholic Church apostasized but have yet to say how or when.

I’ve been having a discussion with MFBukowski for a while now on this thread. He identified a series of doctrinal statements that he felt were the apostasy. We are now going through the scriptural basis of each one to show him that these were not points of th apostasy.

Snow on the other hand, says " I believe that the apostasy is the loss of God’s authority to administer the affairs of the church in His name and it started during the period of NT authorship and was pretty much a done deal within several generations afterward."

I don’t even understand what he means by this, but it is clearly different than MFBukowski’s view of the apostasy. So there is no consistent view from the Mormons on what the Great apostasy was. Doesn’t that seem very wierd…
 
So that’s where the Mormons who are posting on this thread have taken this now? (Some I have on ignore due to my conclusion that they are not posting for any productive purpose, so I don’t see all the posts.) But gauging from some of the other posts, it would appear that having stated that there was some Great Apostasy, that some of the Mormon posters are now stating it is OUR obligation to prove there wasn’t? That’s really amazing.

It’s really too bad that they have no evidence of their claim, but their lack of evidence to establish ANYTHING to support their claim (or any part of the Book of Mormon story for that matter) does not convert the obligation to provide evidence to anyone else. It is the Mormons who have come out with this assertion ~ starting with their founder Joseph Smith ~ that there was some “Great Apostasy” and the church originally founded by Jesus Christ had to be re-established, or “restored” as they tend to describe it, by Joseph Smith. It is therefore up to the Mormons to establish exactly what was the “Great Apostasy”, when did it happen and what is their evidence?

They can’t answer the questions for the simple reason that most Mormons ~ at least those I know personally as well as many if not all of those who I have seen post to this forum ~ know little or nothing about any faith except their own, and perhaps, if they are a convert, something about their prior faith. I’ve never personally met any Mormon that knew ANYTHING about Early Church History. What they know is the Joseph Smith Story and how the original faith was “lost”. That’s IT.

Just to give an idea of how little most Mormons know about other faiths, I have had numerous Mormons tell me, in all seriousness, that the Greek Orthodox Church consists of Jews. It seems they cannot distinguish between Orthodox Jews and Orthodox Christians. I have also been solemnly told by a very sincere Mormon that to “genuflect” is to give the sign of the cross.

When someone has THAT level of lack of information, it is difficult for them to come up with things such as a definition of some “Great Apostasy”, much less evidence for the event. Since most Mormons only know “it happened” without really examining the issue any further, it’s far easier to simply say “you guys prove it didn’t happen”.

I submit that this is a pointless exercise as long as no Mormon is willing (or perhaps even able) to establish what they’re talking about. If the Mormons want a serious dialogue about this question, there are many posting to this forum who are ready to engage them, that is very apparent. But first, as has been pointed out before, they need to at least provide some basis for discussion. To do so, the Mormons interested in genuine discussion (not childish provocation) would need to establish
  • What WAS the Apostasy?
  • When did it occur?
  • What is the evidence?
If and when they actually provide such a starting point for discussion, it may be worthwhile to continue. Otherwise, what is the point? Anyone truly interested in truth would be leaping at the chance to provide this sort of thing. Those that say it’s our job to provide evidence that it did NOT occur do not appear to be interested in the truth, but have another agenda.
 
Ah! I never said that I didn’t espouse both propositions! I merely pointed out that your definition of what constituted the negative argument is wrong.

Maybe an example is in order:

The positive existential claim (with respect to this specific thread) is that “there was an apostasy of the early Christian Church.” The contrary position would be “there was not an apostasy of the early Christian Church.”

Notice this doesn’t mean that a person accepting the negative automatically is claiming that the Catholic Church is then said “true Church”. Maybe it’s the Orthodox Church. Maybe it’s one of the various Protestant denominations that don’t even believe in a visible church in which apostasy can even occur!

It does just so happen that I accept both that:
  1. There was no apostasy. (Due to the negative nature of this existential claim I do not bear the burden of proof).
  2. The Catholic Church is the same Church founded by Jesus. (If this were the topic of this thread I would indeed bear the burden of proof for this claim).
Yes apostasy advocates are under no more burden of proof than Papal advocates however that is not the nature of this thread. As I have demonstrated these are two different claims. I guess it is possible (though difficult) to discuss both at the same time, yet this does not diminish the standard of proof by which the affirmative argument for the apostasy must meet.

Did that make sense?
Yes, it makes sense but it is not really relevant for these discussions. Let me phrase it this way:
  1. The RCC is God’s authorized Church today by virtue of it being the exact same Church as founded by Christ 2k years ago, having continued in an unbroken line. teaching the same doctrinal truths and being invested with Christ’s authority to act in His name.
or
  1. The RCC is not God’s authorized Church today by virtue of there having been an apostasy whereby doctrine and practices were changed, and authority lost.
Certainly there are other possibilities. God doesn’t exist. God doesn’t have a church. There was an partial but not complete apostasy and the RCC reformed itself… etc, but those are not relevant to this discussion.

When phrased the way I put it above, Catholics bear a burden of proof. You don’t get out of your burden just by reworking the semantics.

As I said in the OP, I don’t intend to prove that there was an apostasy, or prove that the RCC is in error. I am merely explaining the belief and gaving some supporting evidence or context for it.
 
So that’s where the Mormons who are posting on this thread have taken this now? (Some I have on ignore due to my conclusion that they are not posting for any productive purpose, so I don’t see all the posts.) But gauging from some of the other posts, it would appear that having stated that there was some Great Apostasy, that some of the Mormon posters are now stating it is OUR obligation to prove there wasn’t? That’s really amazing.

It’s really too bad that they have no evidence of their claim, but their lack of evidence to establish ANYTHING to support their claim (or any part of the Book of Mormon story for that matter) does not convert the obligation to provide evidence to anyone else. It is the Mormons who have come out with this assertion ~ starting with their founder Joseph Smith ~ that there was some “Great Apostasy” and the church originally founded by Jesus Christ had to be re-established, or “restored” as they tend to describe it, by Joseph Smith. It is therefore up to the Mormons to establish exactly what was the “Great Apostasy”, when did it happen and what is their evidence?

They can’t answer the questions for the simple reason that most Mormons ~ at least those I know personally as well as many if not all of those who I have seen post to this forum ~ know little or nothing about any faith except their own, and perhaps, if they are a convert, something about their prior faith. I’ve never personally met any Mormon that knew ANYTHING about Early Church History. What they know is the Joseph Smith Story and how the original faith was “lost”. That’s IT.

Just to give an idea of how little most Mormons know about other faiths, I have had numerous Mormons tell me, in all seriousness, that the Greek Orthodox Church consists of Jews. It seems they cannot distinguish between Orthodox Jews and Orthodox Christians. I have also been solemnly told by a very sincere Mormon that to “genuflect” is to give the sign of the cross.

When someone has THAT level of lack of information, it is difficult for them to come up with things such as a definition of some “Great Apostasy”, much less evidence for the event. Since most Mormons only know “it happened” without really examining the issue any further, it’s far easier to simply say “you guys prove it didn’t happen”.

I submit that this is a pointless exercise as long as no Mormon is willing (or perhaps even able) to establish what they’re talking about. If the Mormons want a serious dialogue about this question, there are many posting to this forum who are ready to engage them, that is very apparent. But first, as has been pointed out before, they need to at least provide some basis for discussion. To do so, the Mormons interested in genuine discussion (not childish provocation) would need to establish
  • What WAS the Apostasy?
  • When did it occur?
  • What is the evidence?
If and when they actually provide such a starting point for discussion, it may be worthwhile to continue. Otherwise, what is the point? Anyone truly interested in truth would be leaping at the chance to provide this sort of thing. Those that say it’s our job to provide evidence that it did NOT occur do not appear to be interested in the truth, but have another agenda.
Ditto;
To give any credence to a supposed “total Apostacy” one will need to provide a date, province and names for proof to hold any water. Placing an emphasis on a assumption by reading between the lines of scripture or history does not prove any apostacy, only an unproven assumption, not to mention a distortion of the original text meaning from a bias perspective. This is called “reading into the text” what is not there, this is how heresies are evolved and aquited by “Truth”.
 
So that’s where the Mormons who are posting on this thread have taken this now? (Some I have on ignore due to my conclusion that they are not posting for any productive purpose, so I don’t see all the posts.)
Well that’s not exactly true, now is it. You put me on ignore - supposedly put me on ignore, because you made some false accusations and I challenged you to provide support for or prove of your claims. Rather than back up your (false) claims, you promptly insulted me and The Church of Jesus Christ and put me on ignore.
But gauging from some of the other posts, it would appear that having stated that there was some Great Apostasy, that some of the Mormon posters are now stating it is OUR obligation to prove there wasn’t? That’s really amazing.
Honesty is an wonderful thing. You should try it. That is not what I said and you know it. Pretending that is what I said is simply dishonest. I said here and elsewhere that those that make claims bear burdens of proof. If you are going to claim that the RCC is God’s Church, you bear the same burden as one who claims that, for example, there was an apostasy.
It is the Mormons who have come out with this assertion ~ starting with their founder Joseph Smith ~ that there was some “Great Apostasy” and the church originally founded by Jesus Christ had to be re-established, or “restored” as they tend to describe it, by Joseph Smith. It is therefore up to the Mormons to establish exactly what was the “Great Apostasy”, when did it happen and what is their evidence?
Still not being exactly honest - are you. Mormons didn’t “come out with this assertion” re the apostasy. It was a long standing and widespread belief in Protestant circles long before 1820.

Further - even though you pretend you are ignoring my posts, you know perfectly well that I have posted some evidence and said when it happened.

As a matter of fact, I post some evidence, again, right now and then you can incorrectly maintain that I didn’t.

With the apostasy and attendant loss of authority came the loss of direct revelation. As revelation ceased, man was left to his own devices to interpret doctrine and create doctrine. In a world where God directs the affairs of his Church, he could simply reveal his will to his prophets, and that is what he did with his apostles who wrote inspired, revealed doctrine. The prime example in an apostate state is the doctrine of the Trinity. For hundreds of years the concept evolved and changed until the Church was divided over it. Although divided, prior to Nicea, if there was such a thing as orthodoxy, it some version of Arianism. Then, being without revelation, Constantine, a non-Catholic, a murderer, called, paid for, and convened, his council to decide the issue. The Pope wasn’t present and there is no evidence that he was even involved. Constantine participated in the debates, inserted HIS position (consubstantiality) into the Creed and ultimately threaten - and followed through on the threats.

Take a look at the Creeds of the 4th and 5th century for examples of the influence of Greek philosophy rather than the influence of revelation:

ccel.org/creeds/athanasian.creed.html
They can’t answer the questions for the simple reason that most Mormons ~ at least those I know personally as well as many if not all of those who I have seen post to this forum ~ know little or nothing about any faith except their own, and perhaps, if they are a convert, something about their prior faith.
More dishonesty. I for one answer this questions. I follow the posts of 2 other members of The Church of Jesus Christ and they do as well.
I’ve never personally met any Mormon that knew ANYTHING about Early Church History. What they know is the Joseph Smith Story and how the original faith was “lost”. That’s IT.
I guess that’s a reflection of the kind of people you hang out with.
Just to give an idea of how little most Mormons know about other faiths, I have had numerous Mormons tell me, in all seriousness, that the Greek Orthodox Church consists of Jews. It seems they cannot distinguish between Orthodox Jews and Orthodox Christians. I have also been solemnly told by a very sincere Mormon that to “genuflect” is to give the sign of the cross.
Here’s the part where you simply resort to insults and name-calling instead of engaging in productive debate.

Insulting and name-calling is the first, middle and last resort of those that have no argument.
I submit that this is a pointless exercise as long as no Mormon is willing (or perhaps even able) to establish what they’re talking about. If the Mormons want a serious dialogue about this question, there are many posting to this forum who are ready to engage them, that is very apparent. But first, as has been pointed out before, they need to at least provide some basis for discussion. To do so, the Mormons interested in genuine discussion (not childish provocation) would need to establish
  • What WAS the Apostasy?
  • When did it occur?
  • What is the evidence?
Drop the dishonesty and respond to my post that address all three issues.

HONESTY - try it. You may like it.
 
Ditto;
To give any credence to a supposed “total Apostacy” one will need to provide a date, province and names for proof to hold any water. Placing an emphasis on a assumption by reading between the lines of scripture or history does not prove any apostacy, only an unproven assumption, not to mention a distortion of the original text meaning from a bias perspective. This is called “reading into the text” what is not there, this is how heresies are evolved and aquited by “Truth”.
Really. I would love to hear your theory about how providing a province makes a “total Apostacy” credible.

Could you tell us your theory re: provinces?

… but to address your challenge:

Asia,
Phygellus / Hermogenes
Fall, 67

Now I don’t know what the significance of that is but it is your theory so you’ll have to address it.
 
With the apostasy and attendant loss of authority came the loss of direct revelation. As revelation ceased, man was left to his own devices to interpret doctrine and create doctrine. In a world where God directs the affairs of his Church, he could simply reveal his will to his prophets, and that is what he did with his apostles who wrote inspired, revealed doctrine. The prime example in an apostate state is the doctrine of the Trinity. For hundreds of years the concept evolved and changed until the Church was divided over it. Although divided, prior to Nicea, if there was such a thing as orthodoxy, it some version of Arianism. Then, being without revelation, Constantine, a non-Catholic, a murderer, called, paid for, and convened, his council to decide the issue. The Pope wasn’t present and there is no evidence that he was even involved. Constantine participated in the debates, inserted HIS position (consubstantiality) into the Creed and ultimately threaten - and followed through on the threats.
Snow, This is the third view of the Apostasy from as many Mormons, but lets address this one as well.

You don’t actually say what the apostasy was, but you state that it happened in 67 in Asia. As proof of the apostasy, you submit that revelation stopped in the Catholic Church.

Well, personal revelation never stopped in the Catholic Church. There are Catholic mystics right into this century. However, a major test of the validity of personal revelation is whether it deviates from those revelations given to the Apostles. As Paul said in Galatians 1:8-9:: " But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach (to you) a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed"

MF Buskowski gave me a list of items if which he claimed that current Catholic teachings varied from that of the Apostles back in post 98. I showed where every one of those items were either scriptural or were not actually Catholic Doctrine.

As for the trinity: here is the apoligist reply to that and a lengthy article that demonstrates the scriptural and ECF basis of the trinity doctrine: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=232005&highlight=holy+trinity

As you can see, the doctrine of the trinity was not an invention of Constantine as you assert…

I submit to you that Joseph Smith’s revelations were a true Apostasy as were Martin Luther’s, because they created new , non-apostolic doctrines.
 
The problem with this whole discussion is that the Mormons started this discussion by Saying the Catholic Church apostasized but have yet to say how or when.

I’ve been having a discussion with MFBukowski for a while now on this thread. He identified a series of doctrinal statements that he felt were the apostasy. We are now going through the scriptural basis of each one to show him that these were not points of th apostasy.

Snow on the other hand, says " I believe that the apostasy is the loss of God’s authority to administer the affairs of the church in His name and it started during the period of NT authorship and was pretty much a done deal within several generations afterward."

I don’t even understand what he means by this, but it is clearly different than MFBukowski’s view of the apostasy. So there is no consistent view from the Mormons on what the Great apostasy was. Doesn’t that seem very wierd…
I bet that is untrue.

Ask MFBukowsk if he believes that the Great Apostasy was the loss of authority to administer His Church in His name.

When he answers you, come back and acknowledge that you are incorrect.

K?
 
Snow, This is the third view of the Apostasy from as many Mormons, but lets address this one as well.

You don’t actually say what the apostasy was, but you state that it happened in 67 in Asia.
No, that’s incorrect. I didn’t say that. The poster asked for geography, dates and names. I provided such as taken from Paul in 2 Timothy where he claims that all there had turned from him. I hardly claim that was the apostasy. It was merely a piece of it.
As proof of the apostasy, you submit that revelation stopped in the Catholic Church.
That is incorrect. I didn’t say that. Loss of revelation is merely evidence, not proof of the apostasy. I believe that it is better understood as a result of the apostasy.
Well, personal revelation never stopped in the Catholic Church.
Okay - but I am not talking about personal revelation.
There are Catholic mystics right into this century. However, a major test of the validity of personal revelation is whether it deviates from those revelations given to the Apostles. As Paul said in Galatians 1:8-9:: " But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach (to you) a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed"
MF Buskowski gave me a list of items if which he claimed that current Catholic teachings varied from that of the Apostles back in post 98. I showed where every one of those items were either scriptural or were not actually Catholic Doctrine.
I didn’t read those posts but I bet that if I did what I would find is that that you demonstrated that said Catholic teachings were in accordance with your interpretation of scripture, which is not necessarily the same things are being in alignment with scriptures themselves.
As for the trinity: here is the apoligist reply to that and a lengthy article that demonstrates the scriptural and ECF basis of the trinity doctrine: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=232005&highlight=holy+trinity
Perhaps you can condense it for me. Where does the bible cover homoousious?
As you can see, the doctrine of the trinity was not an invention of Constantine as you assert…
That is incorrect. I never said that it was an invention of Constantine. In fact the general opinion is that Constantine barely even understood the Trinity. He, however, paid for Council, called it, convoked it, presided at it, participated in it, recommended at minimum one key part of it even though up to that time that particular belief had a sullied history, and then threatened (and followed through on the threats) anyone who disagreed.
I submit to you that Joseph Smith’s revelations were a true Apostasy as were Martin Luther’s, because they created new , non-apostolic doctrines.
You may not agree with JS’s beliefs but you are applying the word apostasy incorrectly. He hardly “fell away” from anything since he wasn’t a part of it to begin with. Moreover, you are equating apostasy with implementation of non-apostolic doctrines. That is also a misuse of the word. In a Church where revelation from God continues, of course you have teachings that were not originally taught by the apostles… unless you believe that God said all that he has to say and has no more truth to reveal. Besides that, the Catholic Church is full of non-apostolic teachings so that is hardly a fair tact.
 
The word “apostasy” comes from the Greek word “apostasia” translated as “falling away” in the KJV. It means revolt, mutiny, or rebellion. The apostasy, therefore was to be a rebellion against the authority that God established on earth.
I have searched the thread to see what has been said about this definition. In my opinion, you have presented the etymology of the word and not the definition.

Webster has this:
renunciation of a religious faith
Catholic dictionary has several definitions but I believe the one that is appropriate is
APOSTASY (ecclesiastical)
One of the three kinds of desertion recognized by the laws of the Roman Catholic Church; from Christianity, when a baptized person entirely gives up his Christian faith; from orders, when a cleric abandons the ecclesiastical state; and from religion, when a man or woman leaves the religious life without dispensation from public vows.
Catholic Encyclopedia
Apostasy a fide, or perfidiæ
Perfidiæ is the complete and voluntary abandonment of the Christian religion, whether the apostate embraces another religion such as Paganism, Judaism, Mohammedanism, etc., or merely makes profession of Naturalism, Rationalism, etc. The heretic differs from the apostate in that he only denies one or more of the doctrines of revealed religion, whereas the apostate denies the religion itself, a sin which has always been looked upon as one of the most grievous.
According to the above you have not provided evidence of an apostasy.
 
According to the above you have not provided evidence of an apostasy.
And?

I defined what I meant by apostasy. You are free to define it any way you want but it makes zero sense to define in a way different than me and they say I have failed to provide evidence.

I could define pancakes as Kentucky bluegrass and then claim my mom doesn’t know how to make breakfast but so what?
 
And?

I defined what I meant by apostasy. You are free to define it any way you want but it makes zero sense to define in a way different than me and they say I have failed to provide evidence.

I could define pancakes as Kentucky bluegrass and then claim my mom doesn’t know how to make breakfast but so what?
The title of the thread is what was the apostasy. You have made a definition which goes against the standard definition. I am challenging your definition and you come back with “And?” and so what. So what you are saying is that in order for you as an LDS to accept the doctrine of the church you have to change the definition so that it makes your doctrine right. By using the standard definition it makes your explanation untenable.
 
The title of the thread is what was the apostasy. You have made a definition which goes against the standard definition.
You mean goes against the definition you posted from the Catholic Church.

So what. The RCC doesn’t own the concept of apostasy.
I am challenging your definition and you come back with “And?” and so what. So what you are saying is that in order for you as an LDS to accept the doctrine of the church you have to change the definition so that it makes your doctrine right. By using the standard definition it makes your explanation untenable.
Are you for real? Read the OP. I clearly said that posters were asking for the LDS understanding of the Great Apostasy and then went on to explain my understanding of the LDS view. Now you complain that my understanding of the Great or general apostasy doesn’t match up with the Catholic opinion of personal apostasy.

Sheeze.
 
You mean goes against the definition you posted from the Catholic Church.

So what. The RCC doesn’t own the concept of apostasy.
This is dishonest. I posted from Catholic and non Catholic sources. So What? Don’t you think it is a little childish to post that last sentence? It sounds a little desperate.
Are you for real? Read the OP. I clearly said that posters were asking for the LDS understanding of the Great Apostasy and then went on to explain my understanding of the LDS view. Now you complain that my understanding of the Great or general apostasy doesn’t match up with the Catholic opinion of personal apostasy.
This is also dishonest. You gave a good understanding from the LDS view. I didn’t complain that it doesn’t match up with Catholic opinion. I pointed out that it doesn’t match up with the Webster Dictionary definition of Apostasy. Poster are asking when it happened. The it is apostasy. What you are saying is the LDS had a different meaning of the word than is commonly accepted. So the apostasy definition is basically defined to fit a preconceived Idea or as you wrote doctrine. Perhaps this is why you can’t definitively state when it happened because then it would become obvious that your definition is off kilter.
 
No, that’s incorrect. I didn’t say that. The poster asked for geography, dates and names. I provided such as taken from Paul in 2 Timothy where he claims that all there had turned from him. I hardly claim that was the apostasy. It was merely a piece of it.

That is incorrect. I didn’t say that. Loss of revelation is merely evidence, not proof of the apostasy. I believe that it is better understood as a result of the apostasy.

Okay - but I am not talking about personal revelation…
Your argument is very weak here. You argue that the Church apostasized. But to do that, it would have to replace correct doctrine with incorrect doctrine. Can you show even one case of doctrinal change within the church. I asked Bukowski the same question, he gave me a list and I showed him where everyone of the doctrines he identified were consistent with scripture. The fact is, you have no list, other than the one you gave and I answered, but you were too lazy to read the evidence. (unlike Bukowski, who is actually taking the time to work through it). Furthermore, you claim that lack of new revelation points to the apostasy. Well, apostasy is changing from one doctrine to another. In the Catholic church, we believe that all doctrines were revealed to the apostles and that they have passed them down faithfully. There are still revelations, but they must be consistent with existing revelations to be believed because God doesn’t change, and therefore, neither should the doctrines.
I didn’t read those posts but I bet that if I did what I would find is that that you demonstrated that said Catholic teachings were in accordance with your interpretation of scripture, which is not necessarily the same things are being in alignment with scriptures themselves…
Its too bad that you couldn’t back up a few post to see what I was referring to. But of course the Catholic teachings are consistent with scripture. In the Catholic Church, we interpret scripture throught the prism of the apostolic tradition. We have the advantage of having had the people who wrote the scriptures describe how to interpret what they wrote and furthermore, to fill in the gaps between their writings. This was taught through word of mouth and passed on from generation to generation. By what authority to you interpret scriptures differently?
Perhaps you can condense it for me. Where does the bible cover homoousious?.
Its really disappointing that you can spend the time to write but not the time to read the answers. But for starters, ready John 1: 1-4:In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race.
That is incorrect. I never said that it was an invention of Constantine. In fact the general opinion is that Constantine barely even understood the Trinity. He, however, paid for Council, called it, convoked it, presided at it, participated in it, recommended at minimum one key part of it even though up to that time that particular belief had a sullied history, and then threatened (and followed through on the threats) anyone who disagreed…
And where do you get this information? Yes he called the council but he didn’t have a vote and the final doctrine of the trinity was consistent with scriptures (and different from Arius). Try reading what I attached in my previous post.
You may not agree with JS’s beliefs but you are applying the word apostasy incorrectly. He hardly “fell away” from anything since he wasn’t a part of it to begin with. Moreover, you are equating apostasy with implementation of non-apostolic doctrines. That is also a misuse of the word. In a Church where revelation from God continues, of course you have teachings that were not originally taught by the apostles… unless you believe that God said all that he has to say and has no more truth to reveal. Besides that, the Catholic Church is full of non-apostolic teachings so that is hardly a fair tact.
Tell me what Church doctrinal teachings are non-apostolic. That’s exactly where this discussion started. I asked MF Bukowski to give me his list, which he did, and I showed him where everyone of them was either apostolic or not really a Catholic doctrine at all. You claimed the doctrine of the trinity was non-apostolic. I gave you the proof that it was, but you were too lazy (or maybe to be fair, busy) to read it. And yes, we believe that all doctrine was revealed to the Apostles. God doesn’t change so neither should doctrine. What you have in the Mormon church is doctrine that changes when you realize that your previous doctrine was wrong. That doesn’t happen to us, since God gave us the doctrine and he is never wrong.
 
Look, I’m not asking you to take a position for the LDS church. I’m asking you to address your own beliefs. …

In any case, lets go through the points you brought up one at a time. I’ve shown you that all of them are scripturally based. You may or may not agree. In either case, I’ve done my best to show you the way back to Catholicism, the one true faith. You can do with it as you will.
What you are not understanding is that my own beliefs ARE the LDS position. I am not going anywhere as far as changing. And I am not any more interested in converting than you are. I could never believe in Catholicism. And I am not going through this exercise to make you feel better that you did your best to convert me. Everything I said about the eucharist is both my belief and the LDS belief, and I cited statements by Brigham Young to show that I believed the same thing as he did.

I really am tired of arguing. I must be getting old, or the Christmas spirit or something, but I really don’t want to continue arguing for the sake of arguing. It used to be fun, but now it seems like just a useless waste of time, because I don’t see what the purpose of this discussion is. I’m not interested in your position, and you are not interested in mine, so really, why bother?

If you knew me in real life, and know who I am, etc, you would not even bring up the possibility of me converting. Know right now, it is never going to happen. I think the only reason you might have gotten that impression is my softer attitude toward arguing. I am just tired of it, and you seem like the only one here remotely interested in dialogue, but at this point I don’t even know why a dialogue is worthwhile.
 
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