NowTHINK!AboutIt

From The Dark Ages To The Modern Era, Catholics Have Come Full Circle

March 5, 2025 by EnnisP 2 Comments

The Supreme Court
Has Become The New Tribunal

In the colonial years of American history religion was very prevalent. Several denominations were represented: Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, Anglicans, Quakers and even Catholics. This plurality was only grudgingly accepted, however, as every colony adopted an official religion.

Puritans and Anglicans were the most prominent but States like Pennsylvania and Rhode Island accepted and encouraged a pluralistic approach.

Historically, that level of religious diversity usually ended in a dog fight. Europe’s Thirty Years War (1618-1648), motivated largely by Catholic attempts to reseize political control, was a good reason for Protestants to escape to the New World.

But abuse wasn’t committed only by Catholics. Even when Catholics weren’t scheming for political advantage the Protestants were killing each other in an attempt to gain power. For Europeans it seemed there was no end in site.

It’s as if the religious in Europe were trying to bring Matthew 10 to everyday life.The best option was to cut and run.

Religious freedom (aka the desire to escape religious persecution) was one of the main reasons immigrants gambled on the long and fraught journey to settle on American soil.

But the abusive nature of religion didn’t fade easily. It’s a strange thing but religious aggression immigrated to America too.

The Puritans (aka Congregationalists), the first Protestants to settle in America, dominated the New England colonies. Their first order of business was to combine church law with civil law and the entire community was held to that standard. Anyone who didn’t show up at church regularly was in trouble. [Read more…] about From The Dark Ages To The Modern Era, Catholics Have Come Full Circle

10 Ways Religious Separation Is Not What You Thought

February 8, 2025 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

The Old Testament Altar
Was Holy
Not Sanitized

Every religion promotes some version of Separation and this isn’t unique to religion. Even social groups impose restrictions on their members. If you want to be a member, you must abide the rules.

With churches, the rules have a moral element. It usually involves a series of Can’t-Dos that aren’t just bad for the group but just bad, as in immoral. Things like you can’t go there or do that or wear that or eat that or say that or think that and so on.

Churches can’t legally tell you who to vote for but they usually find a way to make their opinions known.

As a rule we don’t like being told what we can and can’t do but once we’re convinced that following the rules makes us somehow acceptable, we acquiesce. Fitting in is important.

It’s also true that rules like this on a church level are tolerable because if you don’t like the restrictions in one, you can always move to another.

In recent years, though, religious restrictions have been creeping ever closer to the State level and that’s a problem. Once the State has fully incorporated religious rules, there’s no place you can go.

You don’t have to be religious to know what I’m talking about.

But my focus is not so much on the specific restrictions but the bad spirit they engender in adherents. The people who observe these rules “religiously” become very negative, critical and condemning toward those who don’t. Not just toward the people in the church but everyone. They consider their ideas the gold standard and anyone who falls short is not just different or wrong, but heretical.

History is full of examples. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union loudly protested the consumption of alcohol and played a significant role in establishing the 18th Amendment which prohibited the production, sale and consumption of alcohol for everyone. It went from church level to nationwide. No citizen was allowed to drink.

Christians aren’t the only ones guilty of this.

Some majority Muslim countries (Iran, Iraq, etc.) impose heavy social restrictions on their citizens, maintain distant (at best) relationships with other countries (even Muslim countries) and consider anyone who isn’t them, Satan.

The two groups are very different. They have little in common but one idea they share is their hatred for alcohol and both approached the issue with the same vehemence.

The symbol associated with the WCTU protest was the hatchet. Heart warming they were not.

Those are extreme examples but that same spirit is only just below the surface in many religious groups. When it comes to differences of opinions, religions manage relationships at some level of DefCon. If anyone questions the rules, attack-readiness rises several notches. [Read more…] about 10 Ways Religious Separation Is Not What You Thought

11 Reasons The Churches Of Revelation Don’t Represent Church Ages

January 25, 2025 by EnnisP 2 Comments

The Seven Churches Reveal Seven Problems
That Can Happen To Any Church
At Any Time

The book of Revelation fascinates everyone. From start to finish, the mysteries pile up. It mentions many things we haven’t seen or experienced personally, and because those novelties are represented in terms we can’t readily explain (four living creatures with six wings each and full of eyes), one of two things happens: we avoid the text completely or become so obsessed no rational outcome is reached.

That may be why the book opens with some words to encourage us to hold the line.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things written in it; for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3)

We’re told up front that this is prophecy, meaning it points to future events, things that haven’t happened yet. The perspective is very much forward looking, but it’s also important to note that it has a starting place. Jesus addressed Himself to people of that day, not ours.

What Jesus said does apply to anyone at any future time but He addressed Himself specifically to individuals who were living at the time the Book was written. Jesus delivered his message to real churches in real time.

Seven churches were targeted in the first three chapters and Jesus had a individual message for each of those churches. Those churches were located in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and all of them were started by the first generation of Christians. From their experience, today’s churches can learn a lot.

But what do these messages mean? How should we interpret this material?

One school of thought suggests that these churches, aside from being local and individual, also characterize periods of time or ages from the first century till now. The people who teach this say we are in the Laodicean period today which, obviously, is the last period characterized in this list.

Not only does that idea argue against the church age theory, there are also many other reasons to reject this idea. [Read more…] about 11 Reasons The Churches Of Revelation Don’t Represent Church Ages

Religion Breeds Good And Bad Spirits In Adherents

January 13, 2025 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Repentance Reflects Your Mindset
Not Your Knowledge

Before we begin, a clarification.

When I mention the word spirit, I’m not talking about a personal being, like the Holy Spirit or a demonic spirit or even the human spirit. I’m talking about attitude, perspective or outlook.

In a word, mindset.

Your personal spirit is the core of your being. Your attitude reveals which way your spirit is leaning. Attitude is the barometer of how well you’re doing spiritually.

Attitude and spirit are, of course, inalterably connected but they aren’t the same. When people cheer loudly and excitedly at sporting events, they are said to have lots of spirit but that expression of spirit is different to the personal spirit from which it derives in the same way thoughts are different to the brain.

I’m focused on your attitude, not your personal spirit. [Read more…] about Religion Breeds Good And Bad Spirits In Adherents

Judgment vs Judgmental

January 11, 2025 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Judgment Is What We Do
Judgmental Is What Others Do To Us

Judgment and Judgmental are two concepts that are easily confused. They aren’t the same. Judgment is something everyone uses everyday for every decision. It’s a process we go through before making decisions.

Sometimes we side with our better judgment. Sometimes we ignore better judgment. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad but either way, the outcome is what we do to ourselves.

There are many skills needed to make good judgments (analytical thinking, emotional intelligence, patience, ethics, pragmatism, and more) but the more important issue is something we don’t usually talk about.

We need to make judgments because we don’t automatically have all the answers to the situations that confront us regularly.

We are not all-knowing. We can’t see all the details.

King Solomon’s first test as a leader is a good example. When two prostitutes squabbled over a baby, Solomon relied on a skill we don’t often associate with good judgment, emotional intelligence (I Kings 3:16-28).

It was a tangled mess. Two mothers were claiming to be the parent of one baby and there was no clear physical evidence to prove one true and the other false.

The ability to judge these situations was scarce. No one knew how to solve this problem so they resorted to the King. The good judgment he employed in solving this problem made him widely respected and it reveals the value of good judgment.

It wasn’t Solomon’s charisma, good looks or physical stature that won the hearts of his people. It was his wisdom (good judgment) that made him great in their eyes. [Read more…] about Judgment vs Judgmental