Originally posted by moycullen14:
I've come across two couples in the last few weeks who have chand over to CofI from the Catholic Church. My reflex reaction was 'Hmm, west brit wannabees' (begrudgery is second nature to us all) but on talking to one of them - who I wouldn't know well - it seemed to make a lot of sense. She felt herself a Christian, had lost all faith in the Catholic Church and liked the simplicity and respect for the individual that is tje foundation of the religion.Nw I'm as Catholic as the next man - that is to say I go to mass twice a year, attend weddings, funerals and any other bunfight going, don't think enough about it to decide whether I believe in any of it or not BUT I will roar for a priest on my deathbed - typical Irish Catholicism. It did set me thinking. What if you did the research and found the CofI was more to your taste.? Would you change and would it be seen as some sort of social statement? Are there many converts? As I said above, I had never come across it till recently. Anyway, it reminds me of the old joke .....An Irish girl went to London to work as a secretary . . .
. . . and soon began sending home money and gifts to her parents. After a few years they asked her to come home for a visit, as her father was getting frail and elderly.She pulled up to the family home in a Rolls Royce and stepped out wearing fur and diamonds.As she walked into the house her father said 'Hmmm - they seem to be paying secretaries awfully well in London'The girl took his hands and said 'Dad - I've been meaning to tell you something for years but I didn't want to put it in a letter. I can't hide it from you any longer. I've become a prostitute'Her father gasped, put his hand on his heart and keeled over.The doctor was called but the old man had clearly lost the will to live. He was put to bed and the priest was called.As the priest began to administer Extreme Unction, with the mother and daughter weeping and wailing, the old man muttered weakly "I'm a goner - killed by my own daughter! Killed by the shame of what you've become!""Please forgive me" his daughter sobbed, "I only wanted to have nice things! I wanted to be able to send you money and the only way I could do that was by becoming a prostitute."Brushing the priest aside, the old man sat bolt upright in bed, smiling. "Did you say prostitute? I thought you said Protestant!"

Originally posted by leetrundle:
To be honest when you analyse it The Prods have a much better religion than us, married clergy, women priests, focus basicly on the Bible rather than hierarchy of old fogies like the Pope and cardinals, monseigneurs (spelling!) etc that the catholic church is all about

Originally posted by Letterman:
if you choose to interpret it in a more discerning fashion

Originally posted by leetrundle:
To be honest when you analyse it The Prods have a much better religion than us, married clergy, women priests, focus basicly on the Bible rather than hierarchy of old fogies like the Pope and cardinals, monseigneurs (spelling!) etc that the catholic church is all about

Originally posted by Letterman:
What I mean is if you take the Bible as the sole source of revelation, then you are left with the difficulty of how do you interpret it, If its up to every individual believer then you have people who believe directly condtradictory things who are claiming to follow the same God. It seems to me that there has to be an authority a magisterium to definitivly interpret scripture, after all the bible as we have it now was defined by the council of carthage, so if you accept the bible you are implicitly accepting the authority of that council, and therefore of a magisterium

Originally posted by leetrundle:
To be honest when you analyse it The Prods have a much better religion than us, married clergy, women priests, focus basicly on the Bible rather than hierarchy of old fogies like the Pope and cardinals, monseigneurs (spelling!) etc that the catholic church is all about

Originally posted by Utility Full-Forward:
All religion is bullshít

Originally posted by Utility Full-Forward:
All religion is bullshít

Originally posted by carryharry:

Organized religion of any kind is twice as dangerous as any gun or bullet imo.I attend church on sad or joyous occasions out of respect for those who ask me to be there, or those who are there in death.

Originally posted by moycullen14:
What if you did the research and found the CofI was more to your taste.? Would you change and would it be seen as some sort of social statement? Are there many converts? As I said above, I had never come across it till recently.

Originally posted by nlgbbbblth:
The Church of Ireland is definitely not the liberal bastion people make it out to be. Its members take a harder line on gambling and booze and are generally MORE conservative than the Roman Catholics.I married into the CoI and my kids are being brought up that way (wife's choice - I'd prefer no religious upbringing but I'm not really fussed). I certainly wouldn't convert across.

Originally posted by JohnMcCain:

The fact that a religion is more to your taste does not make it doctrinally correct. The Catholic Church has an unbroken link back to the first Pope -Peter. The Anglican Church (Church of England) had its genesis in the split between Henry V111 and Rome. Henry was refused a divorce so he broke with Rome. This led to the formation of the C of E (Church of England) The Church of Ireland is its sister Anglican Church. Large numbers of Anglicans in England are converting to Catholicism. The Anglican Church has so many strands of belief that it has become a joke. There are even Anglican Bishops who don’t believe in the Resurrection. The Anglican Church in England is deeply split. The Catholic Church is the Church founded by Jesus Christ when he said " Thou art Peter and upon this rock I build my Church"
The Pope is the successor of Peter. No way would I ever consider becoming a member of the Church of Ireland. The Church of Ireland is a man made Church as are all Protestant Churches. The Catholic Church was set up by Jesus Christ.
There are 1,200 Million Catholics in the World. There are only 77 million Anglicans like the Church of Ireland.