Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
Ultimately the quest for human power becomes synonymous with "building the church", and people will kill each other, thinking they are serving God.
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The errant Catholic ecclesiastical paradigm saw Peter as the N.T. vicar of Christ, while the equally erroneous Protestant model viewed Paul as the minister of the age. Both were wrong, and both have long used
distorted oneness to bring the church of God under subjection to their lust for power. I'm sure all of these brothers initially meant well, but their teachings concerning leadership and oneness set the stage for succeeding generations to go further astray. Every exclusive system follows the same pattern of events elevating leaders and their teachings above Christ and His word.
I grew up in Catholicism and could not believe the atrocities in history perpetrated by them in the name of God. I studied Brethrenism and could not believe how different today's Brethren are from their earliest days. I lived in the LC's and what I see today cannot compare with what I saw in my first meetings. They all are spiraling down the same path, and where they are today is determined only by how far they have traveled on that path.
Eventually in every excessively legalistic system, only loyalty and steadfast determination are required of their members. Items like genuine faith, Jesus Himself, and God's word have long since been discarded as troublesome nuisances.