Message from @Doctor Anon
Discord ID: 474139924975714305
But even close to the knowledge needed to define him? No.
You're acting like God is a vague concept, incomprehensible to humans, which is antithetical to the point of Christianity (ie the Incarnation).
The main issue i have with catholics is their egotistical behavior and the whole Marry issue
God is so absolute we cannot understand him, he is infinitely incomprehensible.
Jesus was a way for us to try to grapple with this issue [a secondary thing, the primary is obv to save]
Veneration of Mary is intrinsic to historic Christianity, so that should not be an issue. And the behavior of individual Catholics shouldn't interfere with how you view the actual beliefs.
God is incomprehensible in many ways and absolute. But you have to be careful not to reduce the personal nature of God just to emphasize other aspects of God.
Believe it or not traditional protestant churches exist, i go to one.
Literally all of the Church Fathers (who were directly taught by the apostles and their succesors) wrote about the values/virtues of Mary. And some of the Prot "Reformers" held very "Catholic" views of Mary.
Protestantism is antithetical to Tradition though. The moment a significant portion disagrees with an element of a tradition, they will just start their own church.
Praying to marry is something i'd strongly opposed to, i view it as a sin.
Protestantism was originally about pointing out the flaws in the catholic church, but they refused to fix them, and many faults still exist in the Catholic Church.
"Praying to Mary" is literally just asking Mary to pray for you though. That shouldn't be a problem, unless you view asking other Christians to pray for you as sinful.
The Bible teaches that we pray to God alone. In the primitive church never were prayers directed to Mary, or to dead saints. This practice began in the Roman Church.
(Matthew 11:28; Luke 1:46; Acts 10:25-26; 14:14-18)
There's also kissing of the popes feet
Which the bible forbids
It started as a pagan custom
The Temporal power of the Popes is also sinful
Jesus expressly forbade such a thing, and He himself refused worldly kingship. (Read Matthew 4:8-9; 20:25-26; John 18:38).
wth
Which is utter nonsense
Since the bible teaches ALL believes are saints
(Read Romans 1:7; 1st Colossians 1:2)
There are many instances of people bowing/kneeling before people in the Bible - that act is not worship. And the kissing of feet is a sign of respect, not pagan worship.
What do you define as primitive Church? The apostolic and early Church fathers wrote of asking saints/angels to pray for them as early as 80 AD.
Theres also the celibacy of priests
The celibacy of the priesthood was decreed by Pope Hildebrand, Boniface VII, not by God.
Jesus imposed no such rule, nor did any of the apostles. On the contrary, St. Peter was a married man, and St. Paul says that bishops were to have wife and children.
The temporal power of Popes cannot be sinful either, unless you view the temporal power of kings as sinful, which the Bible advocates.
St. Paul advocates celibacy, and Christ Himself was celibate, so it obviously has virtue.
The sale of Indulgences, commonly regarded as a purchase of forgiveness and a permit to indulge in sin.
Christianity, as taught in the Bible, condemns such a traffic and it was the protest against this traffic that brought on the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
St. Peter isn't declaring that bishops must be married either, just that they cannot be divorced/remarried.
The church enforces celibacy though to become a priest
Also, the Pope *is* a king.
So yes
Actually not true, many Eastern rite priests are married. It's just a discipline, not a dogma.
Confession of sin to the priest at least once a year was instituted by Pope Innocent III., in the Lateran Council. The Bible commands us to confess our sins direct to God. (Read Psalm 51:1-10; Luke 7:48; 15:21; 1st John 1:8-9).
Selling of indulgences were historically distorted and overemphasized.
It still happen
From and by the Catholic Church