Friday, October 28, 2016
Battle of Milvian Bridge
Edit: in 312 on October 28th, the Emperor Constantine defeated the forces of Maxentius at the Battle of Milivian Bridge. His victory was not only decisive in a political sense, but in a religious dimension as well since Constantine attributed his victory the divine intervention, more specifically, the intervention of Christ. This victory and Constantine's own conversion and personal intervention in later passing the Edict of Toleration, led to the triumph of Christianity over pagan Rome.
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'The triumph of Christianity over pagan Rome' - a double-edged victory if ever there was one. With the backing of the emperor the Christian religion now adopted the model of pagan Roman imperialism - in its organisational and institutional forms, its rituals and ceremonies, even its understanding of God as the remote, all-powerful, sometimes benevolent ruler. It was because so much of Christianity was permeated with the influence of this model that in recent times people began to see the need for a return to a more pristine authentic Christianity, but the influence is hard to shake off. Hence the current debates on liturgy, doctrine, morality.
A Protestant would say that, but the irony is that that is true of Protestantism itself.
Mine was not a partisan comment. It is all forms of Christianity that have been distorted by the imperialist influence, including the Roman Catholic, as the Church itself came eventually to realise. To deny that is to deny history. I write as a Catholic.
One of the most scandalous, subtly anti-Catholic comments I've ever read.
It's your run-of-the-mill protestant historicism rationalism and not even true.
https://biatec.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/le-insegne-di-massenzio/
We should be trying to return to the more structured approach of the past. There is nothing wrong with a hierarchal Church organised along Roman lines. I dare say the mess we are currently in is because the Catholic legions have been set aside. They need to be formally reinstated along with their Tribunes i.e our Priests at the helm and Our Pope as head of the Church. Any other pseudo liberal protestant thought that has crept into Catholic needs to be outed and stopped in its tracks. My good Catholic brother you need to look at why you are thinking this way about the Church. We are here to battle for Christ. Yours in Christ.
Catholic ideologues like Tancred have no faith in God. They seek salvation in a religious system which has to be perfect and unassailable. Hence they cannot abide any suggestion that the system contains imperfections and distortions of divine truth which come from its history as a human social institution. Not to acknowledge this is a denial of fact and truth which cannot be of God, because God is all truth. Don't just say it isn't true, Tancred, show us how it isn't.
My good Catholic brother, I am thinking this way because the history of Western Catholicism shows very clearly the deleterious effects of a hierarchical religious system modelled on Roman imperialism, especially and insidiously the way it colours our image of God himself. It is nothing to do with liberal Protestantism. The Catholic Church itself sees the need for reform and renewal. We are indeed here to battle for Christ, but how do we do that? Maybe you need to look at why you think the way you do about the Church if you want to deny the lessons of history.
Gaybriel finally returns it seems.
No, it didn't adopt the model of pagan Roman imperialism. It adopted the model of the Cult of Yahweh practiced in Jerusalem and spread through the ancient world by Roman political order. The Temple. The Altar. The Liturgy. Chant. Sacrifice. Incense. Priests. You know, like how Christ worshiped His Father.
It's like Protestants have never read The Holy Books (the correct translation of Biblia Sacra, by the way - plural not singular.) They memorize 10 or 20 verses, remove them from any context, and babble on like mindless morons. They expect people to believe no real Church existed until a fat, narcissistic, serial masturbater named Luther sprang up 1500 years after Christ.
That would be well in good if Western history included the non-hierarchical churchlet about which you fantasize before the Protestant Revolt.
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