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Dec 29th, 2019
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Joined: Jan 2011
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Protestant--particularly Evangelical--conversions do tend to be shallow and transient affairs, for several reasons: first, there is a lack of theological and intellectual coherence in their doctrine and preaching; second, there is over-reliance upon appeals to emotion (something to which Pentecostals in particular are prone); third, lacking higher organizational structures, they are prone to congregationalism and cults of personality built around particular preachers--when these change, congregations often fall apart; fourth, much of their evangelization depends on the provision of material services, leading to the phenomenon once known as "rice bowl Christians".
The track record of Protestants in Latin America is indicative of how volatile and transient such conversions can be. The trouble, as I see it, isn't that they remain protestants. The trouble is that once they're done with protestantism, they're generally done with the rest of Christianity too.
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Joined: Nov 2001
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That is a salient observation. I suspect once the honeymoon period is over, a feeling of "Is that all there is?" takes hold. If Christianity is holding hand, singing praise songs, selective interpretations of Scripture and not much else, who can blame them?
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Joined: Mar 2005
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Not true, Daniel--or haven't you been paying attention to the words and deeds of Patriarch Kiril and Metropolitan Hilarion. Great post! Metropolitan Hilarion has been calling for a Catholic / Orthodox alliance to counter secularism for more than six years. TOWARDS A CATHOLIC-ORTHODOX ALLIANCE [ en.hilarion.orthodoxia.org]
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Except for Patriarch Bartholomew there is scant evidence that the Orthodox are interested at all in working together to defeat secularism. I find no interest at all. Therefore, I remain happily where God has placed me and am not interested in the sneering remarks I hear and read from time to time against all things Catholic. can it be from the experience of "working together" to defeat Islam, and what happened? Coordination is possible, union is not.
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can it be from the experience of "working together" to defeat Islam, and what happened?
Coordination is possible, union is not. Egotism is a powerful barrier, I admit.
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Did anyone say otherwise?
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Don't kid a kidder, Daniel.
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