My reading to day in my church history text emphasizes the final separation of the Russian Orthodox Church from Constantinople. The Eastern Orthodox church had been separated from the Western Church in at least name. The Mongol invaders officially sealed the deal for the Russians. They moved their religious capital from Kiev to Moscow.
Most of what I write after this, will be my thoughts on the church today. They are not pleasant. At the risk of deeply offending people I must openly oppose Francis I and his statements that aren't actually new but are becoming more prominent, that all people who do good can be saved. This is not infuriating to me because it promotes salvation by works, even though that is true, too. It infuriates me because of its insult to Christ, the Apostles, and all the martyrs. It went beyond Christ alone not being enough for salvation, but to Christ not even being necessary. Look folks, he died to save you from having to be separated from God. He didn't even have to do that. He could have just let us all remain lost with no hope of reaching righteousness. He sent Jesus and no other, and people I love are following blatant lies.
Soon after Russia became a separate church nation, the mother church as a whole began to crumble. Being amillennial, I believe this was the time that Satan was released from his captivity. Either that or shortly before when people began to focus on themselves as individuals and began to exalt humanity.
Despite the visible crumbling of the church, there is still only One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Jesus's word and blood unites all true local churches into one Bride that can never go away.
Today, however, Christians on both sides of the Tiber River have forgotten exactly why and what we protest. For most of that time, it was considered that people outside the Roman Church were anathema. They were cut off from the true church and therefore cut off from communion and God's saving grace. I personally prefer this view to the current view that all non-Roman Catholics are simply "separated brethren."
This simply reduces salvation to universalism. “Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do
not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and
moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to
them through the dictates of conscience” (Lumen Gentium 16). Why do I write about this? Because it still involves all Christians and it still involves people I love so much that it hurts. Before Vatican II, Protestants were cut off from salvation. After, all religions are included in salvation whether they believe in the correct God or not. The latter view is less accurate and more insulting to Christ than the former.
This is not just in the Roman Church. This started with Oprah, Rob Bell, Pelagius, and has really been around since the fall of man. I came from the mainline liberal Presbyterian church. As a denomination, they began to promote a skewed Calvinism that refused to believe in limited atonement. This leads to them now promoting gay rights, supporting Planned Parenthood, worshiping nature, and worshiping themselves. Does that mean all people still within that denomination are in trouble? Not necessarily. There will always be people who have not bowed the knee to Baal. I was among them for a long time.
I'm thankful for a God who is more generous than we deserve. If you go to a church where they preach an unnecessary Christ, then I don't necessarily count you as lost. Christ came to save all kinds of people. There are people within who fight the lies that have developed. It depends on if the individual believes in Christ alone for salvation. I can't judge such people, but I can say that they are seriously misguided and are very much in danger. Remember to be true to your Husband.
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