How many anathemas are you under?
Mark, from Here I Blog, decided to count his:
“I decided to count the number of anathemas that I am under from the 33 canons on justification. My count is 23 anathemas as I understand the canons. I tried to consider any nuances. Keep in mind that this is only 1 of 25 sessions of Trent.”
Read his post and see how many anathemas Romanism has you under here.
Christ Alone Wyoming 
Amen to this post. I understand Luther. I was Luther. Two years out of the RCC. Two years of freedom in Christ.
The emerging church is erasing the Reformation. I recently took a church history class at my church. The teacher was a retired pastor of 75 years old. He told me that he left the evangelical church tomorrow if he would become a Roman Catholic. After each class I would talk to him for a long time about his over romanticized views of Rome. I started asking him questions like if he believed in transubstantiation, the veneration of statues, submitting his full will and intellect to the pope and many more. He answered no to all of my questions. I told him that then there was no way he could be Catholic. He later thanked my husband and I for challenging him. The spirit of antichrist is always going to diminish the purity of the gospel. There are no words ,no relationships ,no kind talk that can fill in the gaps between the true gospel and a false gospel.
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What is anathema?
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Ky gal:
“Anathema” is a Greek word refering to someone or something which is divinely cursed or given up to destruction.
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed [“anathema”]” Gal.1:8
Thus anyone who preaches a false gospel is accursed by God.
The Roman Catholic Church has taken this term and exploited it for their own interest, using it as justification for the many centuries they have tortured and murdered all who do not bow to her teachings.
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As you can tell, I am not Catholic! So does that mean that anyone opposed to the Roman Catholic Church is under anathema?
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Hi Ky,
Anyone who rejects RCC dogma and believes that they are saved by grace alone through faith alone to the glory of God alone are anathema. Anyone not believing Mary was born sinless is anathema Anyone who does not believe that the communion bread is the actual body blood soul and divinity of Christ is anathema. The list goes on and on.
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Gotcha. I really had no idea the extent of the Roman Catholic’s influence. Sorry if I sound so clueless, but this was the first time I had ever heard of this.
I am normally not going to comment on any of these Catholic discussions, unless I don’t get something. I have nothing to contribute in a conversation with a Catholic! They could shred me in an instant, so I will leave the good debate stuff to the people who have been there, done that and bought the t-shirt.
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KyGal,
Allow me to give you a little background on “anathema”. This concept of destroying something for the glory of God goes all the way back to the book of Leviticus, and the various “Peace Offerings” in Leviticus chapter 3. One of these “Peace Offerings” was a free-will offering to satisfy a vow, specifically a “vow of destruction”, or cherem. The Greek equivalent to the cherem is, of course, anathema. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, one of the meanings of anathema is “a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and if an animal, to be slain; therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction.” 1st Corinthians 16:22 (KJV)—If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be ἀνάθεμα (anathema).
Paul uses it in a couple other verses (although translated into English rather than transliterated from the Greek). Galatians 1:8-9—8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed (ἀνάθεμα (anathema)). 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed (ἀνάθεμα (anathema)). Let him be devoted to destruction.
We read about things being declared חֵרֶם (cherem) (or, ἀνάθεμα (anathema)) in Joshua 6. The things dedicated to חֵרֶם (cherem) were those things in the city of Jericho that the LORD commanded them to destroy. Joshua, son of Nun, makes this warning very clear when he declares in Joshua 6:16-18—16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, “Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city. 17 And the city shall be accursed (חֵרֶם (cherem)), even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing (חֵרֶם (cherem)), lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing חֵרֶם (cherem), and make the camp of Israel a curse (חֵרֶם (cherem)), and trouble it.” Anything that was devoted to destruction for the glory of God was to be destroyed. Not just for grins and giggles, but so that all things which call themselves “God” (which are not God) may be obliterated and the true God be magnified.
In the New testament, Paul makes it very clear that anything that was not the gospel, but which claims to be the gospel, is anathema (or, in the Hebrew, חֵרֶם (cherem))–destroyed for the glory of God. The pagan Romish church has taken it upon herself to declare that anyone who does not bow down and kiss the Pope’s rings should be destroyed for the glory of God–a declaration which will be turned on the Unholy See when our Lord returns to settle all accounts.
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Ok, I appreciate the definition! Can I ask why the practice of Lent is unbiblical on this thread or is there somewhere else I can ask that? Several friends of mine asked what I was giving up for Lent and I said nothing because I was not Catholic. Apparently, that would be the wrong response. So why is Lent unbiblical and do only Catholic people practice it?
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Ky gal:
In answer to your question about Lent: There is absolutely nowhere in the New Testament where the Christian is instructed to “celebrate”, “observe”, or in any way participate in any so called “Lent”, or any similar concept. And for good reason.
The concept of Lent is strictly pagan in origin. You may be aware that the “lenten season” is formally begun by Catholics with what is known as “Ash Wednesday” (you’ve probably seen Catholics walking around with a smudge of ash on their forehead on that day). That is pagan in origin as well. In the Hindu Vedic, ashes were believed to be the seed of Agni, the Indian fire god who was believed to be a mediator between heaven and earth. Curiously enough, the Latin word for fire is “ignis”, from which we get “ignite”. Purification through fire is an ancient, widespread belief in pagan religions worldwide.
In Pagan Rome, the New Year feast of atonement was in March (named in honor of their god Mars). On the eve of the feast, people endulged in all the sinful indulgence and debauchery they could, believing their sins would be removed the following day when their dying god Mars was believed to take the sins of his faithful with him into death. Among Anglo Saxons, the counterpart to Mars was Tiw (from which we derive “Tuesday”). Among the French, this festival was called “Mardis Gras”, the day of celebration and sinful debauchery before the following day of ashes (Ash Wednesday).
This is a brief background of the origin of “the Lenten Season”. All attempts to “Christianize” it, by applying Christian concepts (such as turning it into a 40 day fast before Easter, or of giving up something “for Lent”, etc.) doesn’t make it a Christian practice whatsoever. On the contrary, the concept of “purifying” or “cleansing” oneself through self abasement or some temporary self denial is an ascetic practice which God rejects altogether, since it is a form of works righteousness, and is a denial of the finished work of Jesus on the Cross on man’s behalf. And a short little 40 days of “self denial” (usually of things like chocolate, or something else one normally endulges in), then to resume that indulgence upon “finally making it to Easter”, is a total mockery of the Biblical command to repent, die to self and live in obedience unto Christ.
Hope that helps.
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That helps very much. Thank you for answering my ridiculous questions!
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http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20120222-religion-ash-wednesday-not-just-for-catholics-anymore.ece
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Sue:
Thanks for the link. The increasing acceptance of the practice of Lent reflects the current surge, or emergence, of renewed interest in “ancient/future” worship, largely driven by Emergent spirituality (falsely called “Emerging Christianity”). This Emergent movement is driving ignorant and gullible professing christian church folk to adopt pagan practices that characterized the Dark Ages, all under the pretext of “rediscovering forgotten deeper spirituality”. It is all part and parcel of the push to reverse the Reformation and extinguish the light of Bible-based Christianity, throwing the church back into the darkness once again of mystical/ascetic/ritualized spirituality.
I am continually amazed at the quantity of professing Christians who are falling for this pagan spirituality, and baffled at their acceptance of the woefully lame attempts to make it all sound so Biblically legitimate.
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