The Sins of Protestantism Examined
March 25, 2016
G.D.O'Bradovich III
introduction
My intention was to write a commentary on the death of Socrates. However, after a half-hearted effort, I realized that these comments would be of little substance. Perhaps the two most salient comments would be that there are two definitions given for death, thereby creating a possible contradiction-is death the purification or the separation of the body from the soul? Although the discussions upon the soul abound in Plato's writings, he neglects to define what the soul is or what it is not. This lack of a definition results in the term of “soul” being ambiguous, similar to the word “justice” which requires the entire “Republic” to discuss, yet without ever satisfactorily defining “justice”.
By avoiding the overwhelming and uninspired attempt to comment on Socrates' death, I have chosen the easier topic of Protestantism.
There exists the ideal and our efforts to reach the ideal. Our struggle is the journey to the ideal and while we will always fall short of the goal, we are enriched by our efforts when compared to others who do not make an attempt.
By creating a new definition for Protestantism, we will see if these Modern Protestants fall short of the mark, the ideal. We will define Protestants as those who deny the ecclesiastical authority of the Papacy. From this definition, we will understand the extent of the actual influence of the Papal Religious Order upon various Protestant opinions.
It seems that to deny the authority of the Pope would entail the rejection of any practices that are specifically Roman Catholic in origin. With this assumption, we will not state the observation of Sunday is a product of the Papacy, as the Orthodox Church observes Sunday, and no one would state that the Orthodox accept any Papal inventions such as the immortal soul (1512), the Immaculate Conception (1854), Papal Infallibly (1870), and the Assumption of Mary (1950). Therefore, we must conclude that Sunday worship predates the Papal Religious Order.
While the ancient Protestants loudly proclaim their disdain for Papal authority and decrees, Modern Protestants tacitly accept and abide by these decrees and, with this approving behavior, they undermine their “protest”. Since Protestantism represents many divisions and factions, we are cautious not to over simplify their stances on any one topic. However, we will examine four aspects of modern Christianity to determine Protestant adherence to Papal authority.
By avoiding the overwhelming and uninspired attempt to comment on Socrates' death, I have chosen the easier topic of Protestantism.
There exists the ideal and our efforts to reach the ideal. Our struggle is the journey to the ideal and while we will always fall short of the goal, we are enriched by our efforts when compared to others who do not make an attempt.
By creating a new definition for Protestantism, we will see if these Modern Protestants fall short of the mark, the ideal. We will define Protestants as those who deny the ecclesiastical authority of the Papacy. From this definition, we will understand the extent of the actual influence of the Papal Religious Order upon various Protestant opinions.
It seems that to deny the authority of the Pope would entail the rejection of any practices that are specifically Roman Catholic in origin. With this assumption, we will not state the observation of Sunday is a product of the Papacy, as the Orthodox Church observes Sunday, and no one would state that the Orthodox accept any Papal inventions such as the immortal soul (1512), the Immaculate Conception (1854), Papal Infallibly (1870), and the Assumption of Mary (1950). Therefore, we must conclude that Sunday worship predates the Papal Religious Order.
While the ancient Protestants loudly proclaim their disdain for Papal authority and decrees, Modern Protestants tacitly accept and abide by these decrees and, with this approving behavior, they undermine their “protest”. Since Protestantism represents many divisions and factions, we are cautious not to over simplify their stances on any one topic. However, we will examine four aspects of modern Christianity to determine Protestant adherence to Papal authority.
easter
We have always been perplexed by Protestant's acceptance of the Roman Catholic date for Easter. It would seem that they would follow the traditional dating of Easter, that is, before the Papal decree altering the calendar in the year 1582 and thereby denying Papal authority to change Holy Days, but they do not. If some “Christians” do not celebrate Easter, either Greek or Roman, but celebrate Passover, then they deny grace of Christ and willfully follow the Law. We ask: If these groups are so enamored of Judaism, why do they profess Christianity? Protestants miss the mark when they follow Rome's dating for the celebration of the Resurrection.
the bible
Protestants accept the Roman Catholic decrees on which books constitute the Bible, although they remove certain books from the canon that they describe as “uninspired”. Protestants have a problem of their own making: they accept the Bible, and by extension, the Papal authority to declare the Bible as scripture, but, by questionable and subjective reasoning, they ignore certain books, while accepting other books. This marginalization of scripture is not limited to the Old Testament, as the “uninspired” Epistle of Saint James, Jude, Hebrews and the Apocalypse are relegated to the end of the Lutheran canon. Unlike the Roman Church, the Orthodox Church has no dogma concerning the which books are or are not canon of the Bible. [The decrees of the Jerusalem Council of 1672 is not an ecumenical council and cannot be considered proclaiming doctrine and is not binding on the Orthodox Churches.] Protestants miss the mark when accept any books of the Bible.
faith
Since we were not raised in the Western Church, we may be excused if we are confused by the ideas of Protestantism: By Faith Alone, By Scripture Alone and By Grace Alone. The concepts of faith, scripture and grace are not necessarily contradictory by their nature, but when used together they are contradictory. Similar contradictions are created when describing God. If God would be described as all good or all knowing or all powerful, then no contradictions would exist. However, to describe God as all possessing all three attributes creates logical contradictions. Protestants miss the mark when they proclaim faith only and become works orientated.
the church
If Protestants behaved in accordance with their statement of faith only, then we inquire: what purpose does a church building fulfill? The church building is superficial to the explicit statement of faith only; sham reasoning that Christians must meet and have “fellowship” are not based on faith, but social or political considerations. Through our long and painful experiences with Protestants, we notice that while they vigorously proclaim faith only, we find them mired in doing good works or insisting others abstain from purported evil works.
We suggest this focus on good works is due entirely to the influence of the Papal doctrine of Purgatory. Rome reasons that the dead cannot help themselves and the souls in Purgatory require good works from the living to assist the dead's release from Purgatory. We conclude that Protestants have churches for similar reasons as Papists and the Orthodox: to petition the saints in heaven to intercede for the benefit of the dead. Protestants miss the mark when they have a church.
We have examined four instances where Protestants miss the mark and accept Papal authority or accept derived theological concepts based on Papalism. We assign the submission to the Papacy to either ignorance or indifference. Regardless of the reason why, millions of Protestants deny either the historical authority or the current authority of the Pope, yet the facts remain that they willingly accept Papal decrees on various subjects, such as the immortal soul, the dates for Easter, Biblical canon, good works and church services.
In our darker imaginings, we wonder if ignorance or indifference could more accurately be described as “the practice of claiming to have ... beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform” or, perhaps, “an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true”.
However, we are not uncharitable by nature, so we must seek an alternative explanation. Since Protestants miss the mark on every topic that we examined, we are lead to the only conclusion available: their ideal is no longer the rejection of Papal authority.
Therefore, since they do not understand the denial of the Pope and all things Papist as their ideal, we must conclude that Modern Protestants do not miss the mark.
We suggest this focus on good works is due entirely to the influence of the Papal doctrine of Purgatory. Rome reasons that the dead cannot help themselves and the souls in Purgatory require good works from the living to assist the dead's release from Purgatory. We conclude that Protestants have churches for similar reasons as Papists and the Orthodox: to petition the saints in heaven to intercede for the benefit of the dead. Protestants miss the mark when they have a church.
We have examined four instances where Protestants miss the mark and accept Papal authority or accept derived theological concepts based on Papalism. We assign the submission to the Papacy to either ignorance or indifference. Regardless of the reason why, millions of Protestants deny either the historical authority or the current authority of the Pope, yet the facts remain that they willingly accept Papal decrees on various subjects, such as the immortal soul, the dates for Easter, Biblical canon, good works and church services.
In our darker imaginings, we wonder if ignorance or indifference could more accurately be described as “the practice of claiming to have ... beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform” or, perhaps, “an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true”.
However, we are not uncharitable by nature, so we must seek an alternative explanation. Since Protestants miss the mark on every topic that we examined, we are lead to the only conclusion available: their ideal is no longer the rejection of Papal authority.
Therefore, since they do not understand the denial of the Pope and all things Papist as their ideal, we must conclude that Modern Protestants do not miss the mark.