Well Catholicism and Orthodoxy was all of Christianity for well over a thousand years. Your brand of Christianity is much much younger. If Catholics and Orthodoxs are wrong, then I suppose EVERYBODY that existed for that thousand year plus period of time went to hell until your religion came around and interpreted the Bible correctly. I amuse myself sometimes by watching Catholic apologists explaining to fundamentalists why they are going to hell and vice versa. Basically both sides have no evidence outside the Bible and they are diametrically opposed.
The concept of torturing a person for eternity for the sin of not believing something in absence of ANY physical evidence and in direct contradiction to all physical and measurable reality is barbaric. The amount of mental suffering and anguish associated with the concept is incalculable.
You're mostly right on the points you've made. The Romans took over Christianity and held it firmly for a good thousand years. The whole who-goes-to-hell-and-who-doesn't was hijacked along with it. Because it's mostly irrelevant to the conversation, I'll keep it short: Catholics demanded loyalty (and money) to the church, Christianity (historical, backed up by the dead sea scrolls) was simply acceptance of Jesus, PLUS a nice clause in there (that few seem to know about) that you're only held responsible for the knowledge you'd been given. Never heard of Jesus? Not responsible for not accepting. The concept of "burning forever" was also mostly a catholic invention, as historical-biblically, ALL the condemned are simply consumed in the lake of fire on judgement day, reduced to ash, then gone. Not eternal punishment as we've all head about thanks to a pervasive general knowledge, thanks to catholicism.
In a way, we can thank islam for dividing the catholic church's attention long enough to allow protestants to take root.
...and it's not "my" religion. Not anymore. Heh... I don't get the jizya tax option anymore, I'll have to either convert to islam or die like the rest of the atheists.
@bshole
Thank you! You typed something I was not wanting to put the effort into (I'm getting tired of dealing with historical and theological illiterates like him...) but that had to be said.
Unfortunately, given his post history--I've been doing some reading--it is likely going to fall on deaf ears. Anyone who can believe the things he does is either a complete sociopath or is ignorant to the point of actual mental debility; in either case, it is likely futile to try and improve him, and frankly I don't have the spoons for it. "He who is filthy, let him be filthy still" as the saying goes...
Wow... lots of name-calling but no facts or details provided. Typical liberal college SJW behaviour... Ignoring that and moving on...
If I understand your earlier rant, you're equating the two religions completely because of the similar ideology of condemning non-believers to a horrible torture. Even if that were true, it wouldn't equate the end result of what we're seeing in the world today because of the REST of the teachings of each religion. Heck, just have a closer look at their #1 "prophets"...