spacedog 🇻🇦@JtheFree
@ATrueMillennial @QiwiGames
* On the topic of The Great Apostasy:
If it were true that the Church that Christ built had fallen into apostasy that would mean two things: 1) that Jesus is a liar & 2) if Jesus is a liar and his prophecy failed this means he is not God. Even if he was mortal and just a messenger of God, this would mean his message did not come from God.
What I am referring to is Matthew 16:18 "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
You deal with the issue of, if God says the Church will not fall to Hades then why did the Church need to be reformed in the 1830s after centuries of corruption? At what time did the corruption manifest and take hold?
This doesn't mean that corrupt forces cant infiltrate the church, but it does mean it will never fall down into total corruption. It will never teach doctrines contrary to God. If the great apostasy happened like the Mormon church claims, then how can you trust Christ? How can you trust your church? I do not believe the Church ever fell. Anytime there was heresy infesting Christendom the Church would convene at an ecumenical council to stamp out there heresy, this does not mean new teachings were established or new beliefs put in place but rather what has already been revealed is firmly reiterated as dogma for the Church. Many protestants believe the assumption of Mary is a new belief that started by Pope Pius XII in 1950, but this is rather just making a belief that had already existed since the first century firmly set as doctrine to ensure believers can take faith in the truth.
I would agree that people can use religion with the intent of evil and harming others. We see this even in the Bible itself. We see this daily in our world in any branch of faith or religion. However the great apostasy needs to be focused to a specific time. Or at least even a time period within a few decades, and this hasn't been shown at least not in my findings so far.
I'm in complete agreement with the Mormon church that God's church does require an apostolic priesthood with authority bestowed by God and that the protestant reformation lead and will continue to lead many astray. Sadly though I must say the Mormon Church does not meet this requirement of a true apostolic priesthood either. I would be severely immoral if I were to ignore this and not warn you that even if unintentionally, you are being lead astray. If you can not trace a priestly lineage back to the time of the apostles, and can not prove that Jesus instituted a new divine priesthood, then there should be questions raised on the authority of the Mormon church. In my view simply stating that Jesus appeared before Joseph Smith and gave him authority and set up a priesthood is not in itself evidence. In my view, believers of all faiths have a duty to be skeptical and not easily swayed by statements, this is how the Devil can deceive us. If we just simply believe the first bit of information that we either believes holds authority and or makes us feel comfortable we do a disservice to God and to ourselves, we must be analytical and search for evidence. God teaches us to test the spirits and to look at what fruit something bears. I understand why you might be questioning me on my Catholic faith right now and you should. I will address this in comparison a bit later.
