Opus Dei: Occult Militant Christianism. Is it true?
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Not Occult, but Cult.\n\nMilitant, in this sense:  \n\n"the Church Militant (Ecclesia Militans), comprising Christians who are living, \nthe Church Triumphant (Ecclesia Triumphans), comprising those who are in Heaven, and \nthe Church Suffering (Ecclesia Penitens) or Church Expectant (Ecclesia Expectans), comprising those Christians presently in Purgatory. This last term is used mainly in Roman Catholicism."
1006333
There's a long tradition of "fellow traveling" between anarchism and atheism, but they are not essential to each other. Many early anarchist theorists (such as Bakunin) ascribed much the same role to church as to the state (and not entirely without reason) and therefore rejected religion, but there are also (for example) Christian anarchists (such as Dave Dellinger, the American pacifist/war resister).
1152646
nice quote from our pal trent reznor. good news though. it already is considered mythology by intellectual circles. go to any of your good universities and you will find classes- Christian Mythology 101!
425902
No, you are not sick minded.  You have caught a connection with pagan mythos that of course was picked up by the early ROMAN Catholic Church.  There is at least this much truth in the Da Vinci Code:  The early Church did indeed consciously suppress pagan religions except that in the case of the Roman Church, they absorbed far more easily than they were brutally suppressed.  So the "pagans," in the sense of country folk, were turned into devils, demons, witches to burn.  But the Gods and Goddesses who were appreciated by the cultured Roman citizen was incorporated.  They show up all over the early saint stories.  Brigid, a pagan holiday on February first, became St. Brigid, with a pretty little martyr's story.  So it goes.  So it went.\n\nAnyway, Zeus coming down from heaven and creating demi-God offspring is a big theme in Roman mythology.  Of course it got adapted to the making of a "miracle" birth for the Chosen One.  How else could it be so?  And the wise men and their gifts were telling us that even those of very different beliefs recognized his divinity.  Gold, frankincense and myrrh were, after all, magical and royal gifts.  And so it goes.  So it went.  And here we are.
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Please be advised that religion has no color.  Possibly, you may find solace in the information provided below:\n\nVOCATION AND MEMBERSHIP:\n\nIn "Vocation to Opus Dei as Vocation in the Church," Fernando Ocariz (Opus Dei in the Church 1994) says that within the baptismal vocation of all Christians to become holy, the Catholic faithful of Opus Dei have a specific vocation of spreading the knowledge of the universal call to holiness while they strive to sanctify their work. Opus Dei members, he says, have "one vocation," because they are called to have the same apostolic aim, practice the same spirit and ascetical means, and receive the same training. Due to this "oneness of vocation," Ocariz says Opus Dei has the atmosphere of a Christian family, where the faithful call the prelate "the Father."\n\nBecause the vocation is the same for all the faithful, there are no degrees of membership. There are, however, different ways of living that same Christian vocation, according to the different circumstances of each one: married, single, healthy or sick, etc. Unlike religious or consecrated persons, the members of Opus Dei are incorporated into the prelature by means of private contracts and not vows. To be incorporated into the Opus Dei prelature, one must freely ask to do so, convinced that one has received a vocation.\n\nThe majority of the faithful of Opus Dei are supernumeraries, who currently account for about 70% of the total. Generally they are married men or women, for whom the sanctification of their family duties is their "most important business" and their "path to holiness," in the words of Escrivá. Supernumeraries are not as available as the other faithful in the prelature for administrative tasks, but lend assistance as their circumstances permit. According to Vittorio Messori, in Opus Dei, "supernumeraries represent the 'normal,' the most frequent vocation in statistical terms, and in them is seen most clearly the purpose of Opus Dei—to Christianize the world from the inside through people of the world who are not worldly."\n\nThe rest of the faithful of the prelature are men and women who commit themselves to celibacy for apostolic reasons. Numeraries, who comprise less than 20% of the faithful, are usually able to live in centers of Opus Dei. Their circumstances allow them to be more available to attend to the apostolic undertakings and the training of the other faithful of the prelature. Like all the rest, they carry out their professional work in the middle of the world. For a few of them, this could involve directing the apostolic activities of the prelature for a span of time. Numerary assistants are women of Opus Dei whose professional work is to look after the domestic needs of its centres. Escrivá liked to call their work "the apostolate of apostolates," since it provides the foundation of the prelature's apostolic efforts. Associates live with their families or wherever is convenient for professional and personal reasons. It is generally from the numeraries and associates that the prelate calls men to the priesthood. The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross is an association of clergy intrinsically united to Opus Dei that fosters personal sanctification, brotherhood among priests and unity with their own bishop.\n\nCooperators of Opus Dei are non-members who collaborate with the faithful of Opus Dei by praying, giving alms or providing assistance to the prelature. \n\nINSTRUCTION AND TRAINING:\n\nA Christian becomes a saint, according to Opus Dei's founder, through God's grace and mercy, and through the use of some principal means of sanctification: (1) interior life, activities turned into contemplation, which Jesus Christ calls "the one thing necessary" (Lk 10:42), and (2) doctrinal training, a well-reasoned understanding of God and his ordered work as revealed in the Catholic faith. Escrivá say
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Whichever religious bodies that use *tactics*, are manipulators who only want to control. Motivation is impure.
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There are quite a few facts in this book of fiction. The Catholic church definitely carried on a campaign against the old pagan folk beliefs. This was done over a period of several centuries from the time that Constantine adopted Christianity through the campaigns against witches (which continued under protestants in the Salem witch trials). The fourth and fifith centuries correspond to the time when orthodox Christianity (the Catholic church) was trying to fight both the Arians of Spain, but also the pagans of northern Europe and Germany. The number of people killed during these pogroms ishard to determine accurately.
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The Illuminati does exsist. They haven't be "secret" for a long time now.  And of course the Knights Templer exsist as well.\n\nI beg to differ with another answerer, Opus Dei DOES exsist.  That's why the catholic church is in a uproar over Brown's book.  They don't want it said that the Vatican sanctioned a group of killers to hunt down "supposed" descendents of Christ.  The Holy Grail also exsists, but it is NOT a human person.
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The Catholic Church has difficulties with Freemasonry because it is indeed a kind of religion unto itself. The practice of Freemasonry includes temples, altars, a moral code, worship services, vestments, feast days, a hierarchy of leadership, initiation and burial rites, and promises of eternal reward and punishment. While in America most Masons are Christian and will display a Bible on their "altar," in the same lodges or elsewhere, Jews, Moslems, Hindus or other non-Christian religions can be admitted and may use their own sacred scriptures. (In France, in 1877, the "Grand Orient" Lodge eliminated the need to believe in God or the immortality of the soul, thereby admitting atheists into their fold; this atheistic type of Freemasonry spread particularly in Latin countries.)\n\nMoreover, the rituals involve the corruption of Christianity. The cross is merely a symbol of nature and eternal life, devoid of Christ's sacrifice for sin. INRI (For Christians, "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum," i.e. Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews) means for Masons "Igne Natura Renovatur Integra" ("the fire of nature rejuvenates all) referring to the sacred fire's (truth and love) regeneration of mankind, just as the sun regenerates nature in the Spring.\n\nThe rituals are also inimical to Catholicism. During the initiation rite, the candidate expresses a desire to seek "light," and he is assured he will receive the light of spiritual instruction that he could not receive in another Church, and that he will gain eternal rest in the "celestial lodge" if he lives and dies according to Masonic principles. Note also that since Masonry involves non-Christians, the use of the name of Jesus is forbidden within the lodge.\n\nA strong Anti-Catholicism also permeates Freemasonry. The two traditional enemies of Freemasonry are the royalty and the papacy. Masons even believe that Christ, dying on Calvary, was the "greatest among the apostles of humanity, braving Roman despotism and the fanaticism and bigotry of the priesthood." When one reaches the 30th degree in the masonic hierarchy, called the Kadosh, the person crushes with his foot the papal tiara and the royal crown, and swears to free mankind "from the bondage of despotism and the thraldom of spiritual tyranny."\n\nA second difficulty with Freemasonry for Catholics involves taking of oaths. An oath is a religious act which asks God to witness the truth of the statement or the fulfillment of a promise. Only the Church and the state, for serious reasons, can require an oath. A candidate makes an oath to Freemasonry and its secrets under pain of death or self-mutilation by kneeling blindfolded in front of the altar, placing both hands on the volume of sacred law (perhaps the Bible), the square and the compass, and repeating after the "worshipful master." Keep in mind that the candidate does not yet even know all the "secrets" to which he is taking an oath. \n\nThe history of Freemasonry has proven its anti-Catholic nature. In the United States, one of the leaders of Freemasonry, General Albert Pike (d. 1891) referred to the papacy as "a deadly, treacherous enemy," and wrote, "The papacy has been for a thousand years the torturer and curse of humanity, the most shameless imposture, in its pretense to spiritual power of all ages." In France, in 1877, and in Portugal in 1910, Freemasons took control of the government for a time and enacted laws to restrict the activities of the Church, particularly in education. In Latin America, the Freemasons have expressed anti-Church and anti-clerical sentiment.\n\nSince the decree "In Eminenti" of Pope Clement XII in 1738, Catholics have been forbidden to jojn the Masons, and until 1983, under pain of excommunication. (The Orthodox and several Protestant churches also ban membership in the Masons.) Confusion occurred in 1974, when
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I appreciate drshorty's honest but it only proves that Momonism is not biblical Christianity. The true Jesus who came to die and save us from our sins is the only begotten Son of God (John 1:1-4,14 3:16). He is not one of many spirit children but the ONLY begotten Son of God. Lucifer is an angel (not begotten son of God but a created being) who did rebel against God. So Momonism is false because they deny the foundation of Christianity. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. Begotten meaning of the same substance. Jesus is God (Titus 2:13) the second member of the Trinity (Matthew 3:16-17). Angels are created as are humans. Angels serve God (sometimes referred to as the sons of God but not begotten sons only Jesus is begotten) and humans when they accept the true Jesus become adopted children of God but not spirit children and not begotten children. satan is not God and is not begotten of God and is not Jesus brother. Jesus is God.
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helpfull I hope but I'll let you check it out for yourself.\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esoteric_Christianity\nhttp://www.spiritunited.com/articles/exotericesoteric.htm
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Try http://www.xenu.net/ for a more objective view.  It's a cult.\n\nhttp://www.xenutv.com/ has some great videos of crazed scientologists.
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Their stance is that the author has passed off some gross historical inaccuracies as fact, and that Mr. Brown has essentially incited hatred against one of the church's prelatures (Opus Dei.)\n\nThe Catholic Church would be irresponsible if it allowed some of these libels to be spoken unchallenged. History has shown - with certain religious libels like the "Protocols of Zion" - that lives are literally at stake when religious hatred is sown.\n\nAnd if the Catholic Church will not stand up to an anti-Catholic writing.... who will?\n\nAll the people jumping up and down, shouting "How dare the Catholics defend themselves!" should ask themselves this. If the "Da Vinci Code" was about a bloodthirsty albino Rabbi hiding the reality of the Protocols (Priory) of Zion from the world, would you think that anti-Semitic?\n\nWhy should it be so different for Catholics?
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Catholicism is a branch of Christianity.  Not believing in the Bible defeats the purpose of Christianity.  You can't claim to be a Christian yet not believe in the one book that Christianity is all about.
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I think that Pope Benedict is in support of this movement in general, though he, like others in the Catholic hierarchy, has some concerns about it. He seems to support the movement, but reminds members to stay connected to the whole Church.  The quotation below is from before he was elected Pope.\n\n\n\n\n \nFor his part, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has added his voice to the Pope's in acknowledging the good occurring in the Charismatic Renewal and providing some cautions. In a forward to a book by Cardinal Suenens, at that time the Pope's delegate to the Charismatic Renewal, the Prefect comments on the Post-Conciliar period stating,\n\n"At the heart of a world imbued with a rationalistic skepticism, a new experience of the Holy Spirit suddenly burst forth. And, since then, that experience has assumed a breadth of a worldwide Renewal movement. What the New Testament tells us about the charisms - which were seen as visible signs of the coming of the Spirit - is not just ancient history, over and done with, for it is once again becoming extremely topical."\n\nSpeaking of the book's subject, renewal and the powers of darkness, he says,\n\n"What is the relation between personal experience and the common faith of the Church? Both factors are important: a dogmatic faith unsupported by personal experience remains empty; mere personal experience unrelated to the faith of the Church remains blind."\n\nFinally, he urges those who read the book to pay special attention to the author's double plea,\n\n"... to those responsible for the ecclesiastical ministry - from parish priests to bishops - not to let the Renewal pass them by but to welcome it fully; and on the other (hand) ... to the members of the Renewal to cherish and maintain their link with the whole Church and with the charisms of their pastors. "[Renewal and the Powers of Darkness, Leo Cardinal Suenens (Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1983)]
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Ive heard of christians that convert people at gunpoint. in my opinion thats a true christian (TM)  they have done that since Roman times and they will never stop being that way. the Mafia came from Rome and so did christianity. i dont think thats a coincidence.
1112225
whoo hoo what a great question. No one can give you the 'inside' info bacuse they are secret societies. There are wonderful resources to research them. Worldnetdaily.com has a great book on sale now about them. Very well researched as they all have the same agenda. The agenda is not new, it is ancient in fact. Elites ruling the populace for their own good, peace through unity, power to the truly worthy with spiritualism thrown in just for good measure. Since we are not smart enough to think for ourselves we need them. Illuminati, Bildebergers, Tri Lateral Commission, CFR and last but not least the UN. Great quesion and God's speed on your search.