re: Christians who somehow thought it wasn’t Christianlike to vote for Trump

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How is this possible when Jesus Christ left us with a Church when He ascended to Heaven?

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You confuse the infallibility of Jesus Christ with the fallibility of sinful, imperfect men.

Why even leave the Scriptures for the Church if all we needed was an infallible Pope to direct us after Christ ascended?

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His Church assembled the Bible over the course of centuries - and during all of those centuries the Ultimate Authority was The Church.

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You seek to make the servant the master. I have a problem with that. The Church is the fallible servant that received the infallible standard of God’s word.

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Foo, do you see the fallacy of your logic? The Bible is a product of the Church because the Church came first and assembled the Bible. Jesus told us to follow His Church. He didn't leave a Bible and say "Bible Alone - follow that."

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The servant is not greater than the master. The Church is subservient to God’s word.

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Your arguments are specious and don't stand up to close and fully informed scrutiny IMHO.

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Your disagreement and/or lack of understanding of the argument doesn’t mean the argument is specious.

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Do you believe all the traditions of the Jews?

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This is a deliberately obtuse and absurd question.

I'm merely pointing out to you that the EOC/RCC accept the teachings directly from God that was passed down through the Apostles, even if not explicit in the Holy Bible. I pointed out that the EOC/RCC are not alone here. It was not something that the EOC/RCC invented, because we know that the Jewish religion has the same characteristic.

So, whose church is out of line with the Judeo-Christian doctrine on the matter? Yours. Your church denies Christ what He handed down to us by direct example to the Apostles. So, I argue that you are missing out on an important part of what God's Word (Jesus) wanted us to do as we practice our Faith. And I urge your church to follow what Christ handed down to us by direct teaching and word of mouth, even if your church steadfastly holds that the Pope is not for you.

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Jesus Christ and Him crucified for sinners is the gospel.

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This is a simplistic and reductionist statement that is too vague to have any spiritual meaning.

Jesus Christ has stood the test of time. He will not lose.

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The Church is subservient to God’s word.

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God's Word is Jesus Christ. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."

The Word of God is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Ascended to Heaven. He left us with His Church and His practices and teachings that he handed down to the Apostles. For many years, this was the Ultimate Authority - The Church. The Church taught the Gospel. Christ ordered His Church to teach the Gospel. He said to Peter, "Feed my sheep" and that means teach the Gospel. Did Christ hand Peter a Bible when He told Peter "Feed my sheep"? No. Christ left nothing in writing. He left His Church.

WHY would God leave us with an error-prone Church when He said that the Gates of Hell would never prevail against His Church? You say that he did in fact do that. EOC/RCC folks say your logic is faulty and He didn't do that.

The Church wanted to preserve what Christ handed down to us so over the course of many years, the Church assembled the New Testament.

Once we got the New Testament, you say that The Church was suddenly fallible, not to be trusted and to now trust in the Bible Alone and not The Church. Where in the Bible does it say to reject the Church as Christian Authority and replace it with the New Testament, which The Church assembled and wrote under the influence of the Holy Spirit?

Your logic doesn't hold together under scrutiny. Not in my opinion.

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The Bible is God’s word, so it has His ultimate authority. There is no higher authority, even the Church.

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You're saying a creature has equal authority to God?

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Yes, the church’s recognition isn’t infallible, but it is a witness to the Scriptures. The Scriptures, themselves, are self-authenticating and affirmed by the testimony of the Spirit.

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To the individual?

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But Foo is a PASTOR of a congregation. If Foo converts to EOC, he LOSES HIS JOB, he loses his income

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The Parable of the Rich Man

Over half of the Priests throughout all jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox churches in America are former Protestant pastors. They made the choice to walk the narrow path.

Lord willing, Foo will too someday.

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But Foo is a PASTOR of a congregation. If Foo converts to EOC, he LOSES HIS JOB, he loses his income, he loses his friends and he may even lose his wife and children. Foo absolutely cannot under any circumstances acknowledge that you are right. To do so would cause the collapse of his professional career and income.

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This is a sick accusation that someone can’t sincerely hold reformed views and that he must be a grifter.

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The man never mentioned the Pope as infallible - you did.

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He's Roman Catholic. I know his doctrine on the subject. And yes, I know that he's only purported to be infallible when speaking dogmatically on faith and morals. Not the point I was going for.

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You’re also intelligent enough to know that papal infallibility doctrine is recent and not applicable to any of this conversation, and I say that as Orthodox.

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Yes, I know it was a relatively recently-developed doctrine. However, the RCC's believe the Pope is the heir of St. Peter and the head of the Church, the holy father, and so on. He's the leader of the Church from their perspective.

Again, I'm talking to a Catholic.

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Once again, being disingenuous

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No, I'm not.

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As a convert from Protestantism, I can tell you Foomanchoo always reverts back to attacking the images of God of the ancient Church but believes we should believe modern man interpretations and throw out Tradition and Canons, etc.

It all comes from the “Enlightenment” and liberalism and then humanism. Satan doesn’t want us to have one holy catholic apostolic church as being divided feeds into his evil plans.

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Not at all. I'm not attacking the Church, I'm attacking false, man-made doctrines of the Church. I'm upholding God's word as preeminent.