The Dead Heart

I’ve been a presbyterian  my entire adult life. This has been for a number of very good reasons; I have been blessed to know a number of fantastic ministers – and the Presbyterian liturgy is notable in putting far putting less temporal BS between man and God than most other denominations.

(Your mileage may vary, of course, and everyone can believe what they want; these are mine, and while I can perhaps believe other, no one has come close to convincing me in close to 40 years).

But the nations largest Presbyterian denomination – the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA) is collapsing before our very eyes; it is on track to complete disappear before 2040.

Not Presbyterianism, mind you – just the PC USA.

Why?

“Ministers” like this – for lack of a better term – godforsaken hamster, for starters.

7 thoughts on “The Dead Heart

  1. Wow. The capitulation of the worlds great religions is occurring with shocking speed.

    For all it’s many, many faults, the Catholic church has a not so secret weapon against secularization in the Pope. A singular personality charged not only with the spiritual mentoring of the worlds Catholics, but the care and conservation of the faith; to “guard what has been entrusted”. While Francis has shifted focus (which has caused some consternation), he has not, and will not attempt to modify Catholic dogma.

    A popular misconception people have about the Pope is the idea that he is infallible. Well, the sordid history of some Popes puts that idea to the torch, but it was never the truth int the first place. The one time the Pope is guided directly by Christ is when he speaks ex cathedra. That has happened twice in over 2000 years and both ianstances concern Mary: “her Immaculate Conception (declared by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and grandfathered in after the First Vatican Council’s declaration of papal infallibility in 1870) and her bodily Assumption into heaven (declared by Pope Pius XII in 1950)”. http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2011/05/there-list-infallible-teachings#sthash.bydqXlKY.dpuf

    Those waiting for Francis, or any Pope to declare homosexuality natural and acceptable will die waiting. Same goes for infanticide loving ghouls.

  2. The specific words of the minister are an anecdote. Far more disturbing is the quote from the Presbyterian Mission Agency:

    “When an individual woman faces the decision whether to terminate a pregnancy, the issue is intensely personal, and may manifest itself in ways that do not reflect public rhetoric, or do not fit neatly into medical, legal, or policy guidelines. Humans are empowered by the spirit prayerfully to make significant moral choices, including the choice to continue or end a pregnancy. Human choices should not be made in a moral vacuum, but must be based on Scripture, faith, and Christian ethics. For any choice, we are accountable to God; however, even when we err, God offers to forgive us.”

    It’s all about pregnant women and their choices, nothing about a baby’s right to be born.

  3. I quit attending a PC USA church after they called a minister that was a board member of PP MN. I still fail to see how a minister can reconcile the activity of abortion with the miracle of conception. She couldn’t articulate it either.

    I was a token conservative/libertarian in the congregation anyway.

    Apparently, they miss nothing of me but my money. They continue to send me pledge forms annually and requests to support capital projects, but never called on me to find out why I never came to church anymore.

  4. ***** Those waiting for Francis, or any Pope to declare homosexuality natural and acceptable will die waiting. ******

    Another popular misconception is that the Pope is incorruptable.

  5. DMA wrote:
    “Another popular misconception is that the Pope is incorruptable.”
    I”m not going to mince words with you, DMA.
    Be ye Ghibelline, or be ye Guelph? By God, if you think a Capetian could ever be pope I’ll burn you myself!!!
    Sorry . . . got carried away . . .

  6. I’d even give the minister that a person becomes a person when they’re loved does work with Christianity. He has apparently forgotten, though, that God loves the person from at least the moment of conception if not before.

  7. Anyone that says a Pope is incorruptible knows nothing of the history of the church. There have been Popes that would give Whitey Bulger a run.

    But to make a change in dogma involving the relationship between man and woman, life and death, the Pope would be using the Majesterium ie claiming Christ’s direct guidance. Ain’t gonna happen.

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