From JRH Moorman's A History of the Church in England. I thought this was an interesting statistic especially in light of current demographics. Do we perhaps romanticize earlier levels of church participation when making comparisons with what we currently see?
Neither of us are active members of either confessions, we were just baptised this way. However, we would like to keep traditions strong and wed in church. Does anyone here know if it's possible, or have any useful information?
Google has told us that the Church of England welcomes Roman Catholics for weddings, but we cannot seem to find relevant information for the other way round. Many thanks!
I was educated in a Catholic run private school in my elementary and high school days, and I distinctly remember in my religion class the seminarian claim people who attempt suicide are committing a mortal sin and that these people will go straight to hell.
I wonder how things have changed now in terms of what the Roman Catholic Church teaches, in light of people's awareness of mental illness. Makes me wonder how many suicide victims and their families have been persecuted/ discriminated against before people have accepted the reality of mental illness and depression.
Can anyone share their experiences and thoughts?
This is a purely hypothetical question asked by a friends who is not Orthodox. We were chatting about the commonalities and differences between the main branches of Christianity.
Understandably so, he assumes Orthodox authorities would cover it up to avoid public outrage. But would they? Are there precautions and safeguards in place with the Church to minimize and deal with abuse?
Source:
"3. The Church was slow to embrace Christmas
Despite the spread of Christianity, midwinter festivals did not become Christmas for hundreds of years. The Bible gives no reference to when Jesus was born, which wasn't a problem for early Christians, Nissenbaum said.
"It never occurred to them that they needed to celebrate his birthday," he said.
With no Biblical directive to do so and no mention in the Gospels of the correct date, it wasn't until the fourth century that church leaders in Rome embraced the holiday. At this time, Nissenbaum said, many people had turned to a belief the Church found heretical: That Jesus had never existed as a man, but as a sort of spiritual entity.
"If you want to show that Jesus was a real human being just like every other human being, not just somebody who appeared like a hologram, then what better way to think of him being born in a normal, humble human way than to celebrate his birth?" Nissenbaum said. [Religious Mysteries: 8 Alleged Relics of Jesus]
Midwinter festivals, with their pagan roots, were already widely celebrated, Nissenbaum said. And the date had a pleasing philosophical fit with festivals celebrating the lengthening days after the winter solstice (which fell on Dec. 21 this year). "O, how wonderfully acted ProvidenceΒ that on that day on which that Sun was born β¦Β ChristΒ should be born," one Cyprian text read."
from: https://www.livescience.com/25779-christmas-traditions-history-paganism.html
Yes Iβve heard that theory twice now. If the title didnβt make enough sense itβs like this: the church leadership recognized theyβd hold more power by keeping the masses illiterate and uninformed. So to discourage people from learning to read, they used the first 6 numbers in Roman numerals (which summed to equal 666) to represent the devil and scare people off.
Certainly wouldnβt be the first time those in power try to control the people through misinformation...
EDIT: typo in the original question, should be DCLXVI
Did their support for the Sacheverell riots, the Occasional Conformity bill, and using the "Church in danger" slogan for the Church of England while supporting Catholic Jacobites cause any cognitive dissonance?
Hey everyone. I was wondering if it would be ok for me to go to a catholic church nearby and pray? There are no Orthodox ones that are open on the weekdays. Ever since I had a bad bout of depression a few years ago I would go to a church and pray. It gives me a sense of comfort and peace by just being there. I kinda need that right now. Iβm not depressed or anything, just stressed and emotionally exhausted. Also, would it be ok to light a candle in front of the statue of the Theotokos? Iβm not sure what I can and canβt do yet, besides not going to Mass, which I have no intention of doing again.
Lastly I would like to end with a request if I may. This week 5 of my coworkers lost a family member. Would you all mind praying for them and their families? I only know one name of the people that passed. His name is Derrak and he was a firefighter in North Carolina. He died in the line of duty.
Edit: thank you all for replying. I didnβt mean to start any debates. Also, since this seems like a highly contentious issue Iβll err on the side of caution and not go until I can ask my priest.
