If the Catholic church is so right,

[Anastasia13]

If the Catholic Church is so right, then why were they the one to have the crusades and spawn a reformation forming Protestant churches while that did not happen with the Eastern Orthodox church?

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='Light and Truth' date='Nov 6 2005, 12:54 AM']If the Catholic Church is so right, then why were they the one to have the crusades and spawn a reformation forming Protestant churches while that did not happen with the Eastern Orthodox church?
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because there are sinners in the Church. surely that is no surprise. however, that has very little to do w/ Her doctrine (how "right" she is). no matter how profoundly members of the Church fail to live what the Church teaches, Her doctrine will never be corrupted.

also, we have to make sure we have a balanced view of these historical events. this isn't the place to present all the particulars. but, as far as the crusades go, the Church had the right to free herself from Muslim oppression and take back the holy lands that the Muslims were desacrating. you also have to place yourself w/in the mindset of the people from that age. heresy truly was a life or death situation (just as sure as a serial rapist would receive the death penalty today). as for the reformation, no one denies that many priests and religious were causing great scandal in the Church. but it is the duty of the mature Christian NOT to be scandalized by this, and to hold fast to what is good. Luther did not, and look where it left us. finally, regarding the Orthodox Church, they broke away from the True Faith and their unity as a body is tenuous at best. despite the history and tradition we share w/ them (they even have seven valid scraments) they are not the model of what "Church" should be.

for more information, see the following entries from the Directory:
[b]--[url="http://www.phatmass.com/directory/index.php/cat_id/339"]The Crusades[/url]
--[url="http://www.phatmass.com/directory/index.php/cat_id/341"]The Protestant Reformation[/url]
--[url="http://www.phatmass.com/directory/index.php/cat_id/178"]Eastern Orthodoxy[/url][/b]

pax christi,
phatcatholic