| Author | Message | ||
| Grace_alone Registered user Username: Grace_alone Post Number: 290 Registered: 6-2006  |
About every 6 months or so, for the last 22 years, my mil has asked if I either pray to Mary, or she'll make the comment "Your church is like Catholic, no?" Now I know exactly what she means, and my husband just chuckles because he knows how crazy it makes me. Since I've heard some of you compare SDAism with Cath.ism, I was wondering if you could share some of those similarities? One of these days I'd love to have a great comeback! (In a respectful manner, of course!) Ironically, she was born in the Catholic church in S. America, but converted and has been SDA for 40+ years.  Thanks, Leigh Anne | ||
| Helovesme2 Registered user Username: Helovesme2 Post Number: 691 Registered: 8-2004  |
then that might be why she keeps equating your church and Catholicism in her mind. Catholicism is the only other church she's had first-hand, long term experience with perhaps? A dear elderly friend of mine was sure that all our neighbors that were not members of the SDARM were Catholics. In the country where she grew up they probably were (unless of course they were Orthodox, or a very rare Baptist). In Canada where we were though they were just as likely to be any of a plethora of Protestant or Jewish or Sikh agnostic or who knows what! | ||
| Helovesme2 Registered user Username: Helovesme2 Post Number: 692 Registered: 8-2004 |
then that might be why she keeps equating your church and Catholicism in her mind. Catholicism is the only other church she's had first-hand, long term experience with perhaps? A dear elderly friend of mine was sure that all our neighbors that were not members of the SDARM were Catholics. In the country where she grew up they probably were (unless of course they were Orthodox, or a very rare Baptist). In Canada where we were though they were just as likely to be any of a plethora of Protestant or Jewish or Sikh or agnostic or who knows what! | ||
| Grace_alone Registered user Username: Grace_alone Post Number: 291 Registered: 6-2006 |
Yes, Mary! My husband has told me numerous times that in his mom's opinion, if you're not SDA, you're Catholic. | ||
| Cforrester Registered user Username: Cforrester Post Number: 25 Registered: 7-2004 |
Catholics are law focused, lots of guilt, fearful for the future, no assurance of salvation, they believe in faith+works for salvation, Jesus earned the right to save and merit, their view of authority is that they have documented interpretation and interpreters rather than direct authority from the Bible. They are told not to attend other churches, salvation only within the church. They should read only books with the official impramateur. How could you confuse that with SDA? | ||
| Agapetos Registered user Username: Agapetos Post Number: 495 Registered: 10-2002  |
It was a bit of a shock to me when discussing Adventism with a friend one day -- we noticed that Adventism had done the same thing to God's grace that Catholicism did. We hadn't noticed that the two churches shared the same misunderstanding of justification by faith. (Geoffrey Paxton pointed this out in his book, "The Shaking of Adventism".) But this is why "Reformation day" had a special new meaning for me this year. | ||
| Esther Registered user Username: Esther Post Number: 359 Registered: 5-2004 |
I found Geoffrey Paxton's book incredibly intresting and informitive! Ironically, the SDA church also has quite the hierarchical structure. This is something that always amazes me when I witness churches we visit now hiring their own pastors, collecting their own tithes/offerings, etc. Note this quote: "The plain and undeniable fact is that the Seventh-day Adventist church is most assuredly not a ëcongregationalí one (although it contains elements of congregationalism) but is clearly of the...ëhierarchicalí variety." (Neal C. Wilson) As a result, the membership looks upward for all of it's leadership. Many people don't question any of the "curious" things they may come across, well, because they don't have the authority to: "People expect the General Conference to have the last word and to speak for the Church with ultimate [or supreme] authority....The General Conference is the highest [or fullest] authority and the sum of all the parts, not only philosophically, but also (1) organizationally, (2) legislatively, (3) administratively, (4) judicially, (5) in terms of policy and (6) Church standards.î (General Conference President Neal C. Wilson, Commission Report on Role and Function of Denominational Organizations, 140-85GN, p 22-23, April 30, 1985, brackets added to show meaning). I have heard many an Advenstist claim that the easiest converts are those who previously were Catholic. This is true for many various reasons but Catholic converts find themselves in a system that teaches them everything...even though they may feel like they were actually "allowed" to study it out: "Only a committee appointed by the General Conference can interpret prophecy.î (Adventist Review, June 5, 1986, p 2). And so, belonging to the "church" is the only way to salvation: "Regardless of the pretext, or how righteous the cause may appear, separation from the visible remnant [the SDA church] is apostasy from the body of Christ." (E.R. Bacchus, president of the Ontario Conference of SDA, Canada, in Messenger, October, 1994, p 2). "The local [SDA] church becomes the ëport of entryí to the kingdom of God." (North American Division Officers, in Adventist Review, October 1, 1992, p 23). Another commonality is that they view the Scriptures as imperfect: ìIn our study and presentation (of the Bible), we also must reject the idea of Biblical inerrancy and verbal inspiration, but we dare not treat the Scriptures as just another human document.î (General Conference president Neal C. Wilson, in Adventist Review, December 17, 1981, p 5). It was quite amazing as we studied out and truly scary how similar both organization are structured, and the effects of their abberant beliefs. It seems although I was taught to fear catholicism deeply...the Adventist denomination has figured out quite well how to simulate the dreaded "beast". "...there is another universal and truly catholic organization, the Seventh-day Adventist Church." (Neal C. Wilson, General Conference President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Adventist Review, March 5, 1981, p 3). | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 2253 Registered: 3-2005 |
Yes Adventism and Catholicism are two equally false religious systems even though there are true Christians in both systems. Stan |
