Rinion

its never to late. mater of fact make Video proof! /puts on Priest collar.

__________________
"Before one can identify anything as "gray", one has to know what is black and what is white. In the field of morality, this means that one must first identify what is good and what is evil. And when a man has ascertained that one alternative is good and the other evil, he has no justification for choosing a mixture. " Ayn Rand

Rinion

not all Christians are catholic. pretty sure the catholic church is about the only one that doesnt let their priest marry either. and it isnt even the oldest christian church.

Faith is nothing to laugh at, even if it turns out to be false. The ones that have faith are able to accomplish things in the name of that faith. some good some bad.

I know their are things wrong with my chosen religion. But I wouldn't trade in the values i've learned for anything.

Rather then keeping kids away from religion teach your kids to learn. Question everything. Dont take things at face value, but dont dismiss them because they seem improbable.

__________________
"Before one can identify anything as "gray", one has to know what is black and what is white. In the field of morality, this means that one must first identify what is good and what is evil. And when a man has ascertained that one alternative is good and the other evil, he has no justification for choosing a mixture. " Ayn Rand

Widem

what is the oldest christian church?

Rinion

Thats easy the Jewish synagogues that accepted Jesus of course. To be honest I'm not sure which is considered the oldest church

The first pope was originally the Arch Bishop of Rome of the Orthodox Church. That church split when said bishop declared himself Christ on Earth and formed the Western church into the Catholic Church. Or Roman Catholic as it was based in Rome.

I've cited this before on a few other posts...

__________________
"Before one can identify anything as "gray", one has to know what is black and what is white. In the field of morality, this means that one must first identify what is good and what is evil. And when a man has ascertained that one alternative is good and the other evil, he has no justification for choosing a mixture. " Ayn Rand

Widem

hmm thats interesting b/c the term catholic church was used as early as around 100AD...that split didnt occur until years after.

the catholic church was infact the first Christian Church...does that give them anymore merit than other christian religions? no, but does not deny they were the first to consolidate christians in order to form a religion based on the belief christ was the son of god.

Rinion

The Church Currently known as the Catholic Church is not the oldest. The eastern orthodox church also identified themselves as catholic. While the term Catholic has been used since as early as 100 A.D, the church currently known as Catholic was not formed until the arch bishop of Rome declared himself Christ on earth. It was almost a complete reformation of religion, he literaly was taking on the persona of Christ and asserting his power above all other arch-bishops of the West and attempted control over the east.

the Term catholic is of Greek origin meaning General or Universal. A church for all mankind.

__________________
"Before one can identify anything as "gray", one has to know what is black and what is white. In the field of morality, this means that one must first identify what is good and what is evil. And when a man has ascertained that one alternative is good and the other evil, he has no justification for choosing a mixture. " Ayn Rand

Widem

it actually was the exact same church and the eatern orthadox church split itself from it.

Rinion

True. but the eastern church split to preserve the church as was. Him declaring himself Christ and taking command was a radical change In essence essence it became a completely new entity.

Before it was Wise men leading other men to god's salvation. Then they became wise men that claim to provide god's salvation.

Fact is even though it was the East that split from the west, it was the West that changed, not the East. When you make that kind of change you are not what you were before, you are something new.

But I guess if you just want to go by technical facts, then I'll agree with your statement that the catholic church is the oldest.

__________________
"Before one can identify anything as "gray", one has to know what is black and what is white. In the field of morality, this means that one must first identify what is good and what is evil. And when a man has ascertained that one alternative is good and the other evil, he has no justification for choosing a mixture. " Ayn Rand

Thundaarr

If I was the judge, I would have ordered the church to pay out 666 million. Would have seemed fitting.....

And yes, any religion has good and bad. But the repression of such a basic instinct as the need to procreate can never be healthy, as evidenced by this widespread problem in the priesthood.