socharlie
Active Member
Some did, the most did not. Again I am a Gnostic type : some people are not capable to be initiated teachers because they are psychics. Gnosticism expect every pneumatic to come up with his/her OWN Gnosis.
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corrupted priests
- Thread starter syo
- Start date
Even in Jesus' day the religious leaders were corrupt as per Matthew 15:9 and Matthew chapter 23.
So, it should Not surprise us that the religious leaders of today are often corrupt.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 refers to such religious leaders as the son of perdition, son of destruction, the man of sin.
They sit themselves in the 'temple' (houses of worship) as if they are God, but in reality they are anti-God.
None of 'their' behavior makes the Bible as wrong, but makes their behavior as wrong.
I have a couple of questions.
On whose authority does one become an "initiate teacher?"
Under whose authority was the document in your link written and validated as true?
Seems to me there lies a difference between ' potentially ' and ' actually '.
I find the words of Ecclesiastes 8:11 proves true that because sentence against a bad deed, a crime, has Not been executed speedily, then the heart of men becomes emboldened to do bad.
How is this relevant? The OP states...
There is no implication of "actually."
"Another thread" - that's helpful. I'll just search the forum for the word "priest." I'm sure it'll pop right up.
Father Heathen
Veteran Member
I think one should be apprehensive of anyone who claims to speak on god's behalf.
That assumes God is separate from our essential nature.
socharlie
Active Member
on authority of people who understand , accept and capable to verify...
What authority verifies that these people understand and are capable to teach and verify? Do you see where I'm going with this?
Let's skip the hierarchy and go straight to the top. Who is the top authority in your religious organization? How is this person appointed/initiated?
Rational Agnostic
Well-Known Member
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I think anyone should be wary when sexual repression is present in a person's vocation or discipline.
For obvious reasons, it's high risk for these types of problems.
For obvious reasons, it's high risk for these types of problems.
socharlie
Active Member
I do not belong in any particular mystery school, 'Technology' of initiation is thousands of years old. there was Egyptian initiation , Greek , e.t.c. To day preferred method is transcendental meditation. Nothing New. there used to be authority - mystery schools. Now it may be different societies. to be consistent here one old example: Knowledge of the Higher Worlds.
But there are many. others, old and new There ids also natural abilities that vary ty very high degree. You chose your authority or chose none. it may take a week or 30 years. who knows, but there is back feed that come sooner or later. New Testament mentioned some.
Here is description of temple sleep initiation The Temple Sleep
I could concede that in previous times, considerations of social prestige may have been a factor for many a prospective priest. (Albeit at the steep price of a celibacy vow if you're Latin Rite, as well as the daily obligation to pray the Liturgy of the Hours). These days however, since there is little public prestige in the Catholic priesthood, I don't think arguments of self-interested motivation as being a major driver of vocations flies.
More to the point. It is absurdly reductionistic (and circular) to think that the only reason anyone would pursue the priesthood is narcissism. As hard as it may be for the enlightened atheist to grasp, some of us still have the audacity to believe in God. And some, are even willing to dedicate their lives in a very direct way for that belief.
Also as an aside, none of the apostolic traditions (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, etc) make the claim that the priesthood have direct communication with God. (You don't need to be a priest to pray). The priesthood exists primarily to teach the faith (which requires literacy and training), administer the sacraments and offer the sacrifice of the Eucharist.
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I didn't realize that it did. I thought it just assumed that whatever we're calling "God" is special or important enough to worship.
BilliardsBall
Veteran Member
PureX
Veteran Member
"A race is defined by how it's members/leaders behave. You can't separate their behavior from who they are as a collective people (when a subset of negroids are lazy, promiscuous, and stupid, they are all to be characterized as lazy, promiscuous, and stupid)."
The implication clearly being that the bad behavior of the few taints the reputation of the many (in the mind of a racist, anyway).
This is the analogy that comes to my mind whenever I read about pedophile priests.
There are plenty of Christians who hold that turning pedophiles in to the authorities is unbiblical, citing the "two or three witnesses" rule from Matthew 18 and the instruction in 1 Corinthians 6 to not take disputes to secular authorities.
The Protestants and Anabaptists have their share of blame for child abuse, too. Their rationale for protecting pedophiles is just a bit different from the one the Catholics use.
A religion is a community of shared belief and practice; a race isn't.
And I'm not referring to every action that a religious person takes; only those that are done in the name of their religion, or flow from the precepts of their religion.
If a car thief happens to be Catholic priest, this doesn't reflect on the Catholic Church or other Catholics. OTOH:
- is transubstantiation a genuinely Christian belief? Yes; lots Christians believe in transubstantiation.
- is rejection of transubstantiation a genuinely Christian belief? Yes; lots of Christians reject it.
We don't need to consider, say, which belief is endorsed by God or which one is more faithful to the Bible; both are shared beliefs among communities of Christians, so both are Christian beliefs.