My wife sent me an email this morning.
I keep forgetting to tell you that there’s an obligatory Mass this week (for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.) St. Ann is celebrating Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and St. William Friday at 6:00 p.m. Assuming we are going to the waterpark Thursday, I’ll go to church Friday.
Now if you don’t know what this is all about, you should stop by Wikipedia and get educated.
For our Roman Catholic friends, here are the Days of Obligation:
* 1 January: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
* 6 January: the Epiphany
* 19 March: Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
* Thursday of the sixth week of Easter: the Ascension
* Thursday after Trinity Sunday: the Body and Blood of Christ
* 29 June: Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles
* 15 August: the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
* 1 November: All Saints
* 8 December: the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
* 25 December: the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas)
Easter isn’t on the list. Who knew?
With some help from the Internet Monk Research Division, I’ve found a list of Baptist Holy Days of Guilt and Obligation.
Now these aren’t necessarily days where we must go to church or risk a major sin. No, these are days that we are, as a matter of being Baptist, obligated to do something, which may include church. Or not.
Here they are:
* Opening night/day of high school/college football season. (Depends on proximity of school, relationships to players, etc. Should include tailgating if possible.)
* Mother’s Day. Obligated to go to church with mom and then take her out to a restaurant, which means standing in line at Cracker Barrel for about 2 hours.
* Any church potluck or meal.
* Any Sunday that starts a revival (or any Sunday that begins a 40 Days of Purpose if your church dumped revivals.)
* Any wedding of anyone in your family within 250 miles.
* Any funeral of anyone in your family within 70 miles.
* The opening of any “Christian Film” in a theater, especially if the movie is produced by a church using their actors and cameras, or stars Kirk Cameron.
* The opening and any 5 subsequent showings of “The Passion of the Christ II.”
* Any school board meeting where creationism will be discussed.
* Homecomings at any church you’ve ever attended, even once, within 300 miles.
* Opening week of any buffet or Barbecue restaurant.
* Any Christian music festival held in an open field in August when the temperature is over 105 degrees.
* You must go vote if any conservative is running for anything.
* You must vote if your town is having a “wet/dry” election.
* Ladies: Any Christian Women’s Conference within 500 miles.
* Men: Any Promise Keeper’s Meeting within 500 miles.
* Christmas and Easter.
* Any church sponsored Super Bowl event.
* Any meeting related to voting on a building.
* Any Vacation Bible School “Family Night.”
* Any event involving Bill Gaither Homecomings.
* Any event involving Rick Warren.
* Any Upward Championship game involving your kids.
* Any Olin Mills Church Directory photoshoot.
* Any church softball game against another Baptist church.
* Any youth group fundraisers for the mission trip.
* Any open question/answer with prospective pastors.
* Any church business meeting where there’s a chance of a big fight or someone getting fired.
* Any Billy Graham Crusade within 1000 miles.
Maybe I missed some. Feel free to add a few in the comments.
Ha! Too true.
Classic stuff Michael!
LOL
Easter, being a Sunday, is a day of Obligation. (as is all Sundays)
But most Catholics don’t know that Ash Wednesday is not a day of Obligation.
PS
Olin Mills photoshoots are also obligatory for us Catholics.
How is Ash Wednesday not a day of obligation? When I got to high school that was the only day of the dag-gone year we HAD to go to Mass. In K-12 we went to mass ever First Friday of the month. Then, we got to go home early, which rocked.
Funny. FYI, the Holy Days of Obligation can also vary based on local norms, as determined by the bishops.
Also, when such days fall on an Saturday or Monday, some places they are moved to the nearby Sunday. It seems that going to Mass two days in a row is just more than many people can handle.
Very funny.
I suspect the “real” holy days of obligation for most Catholics are “Christmas,” “Easter” and “just before something important that I really need to go right.”
You had me scratching my head about “the solemnity of St. Joseph.”
According to the USCCB, here are the United Staes Holy Days of Obligation:
January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the solemnity of the Ascension
August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
November 1, the solemnity of All Saints
December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
December 25, the solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Approximately 500 Catholic apologists are descending on your site right now to tell you that all Sundays are holy days of obligation, and that Easter Day normally takes place on a Sunday.
In quite a lot of parts of the world (including England & Wales), the midweek DOI are being moved to the nearest Sunday, to make it easier for people to attend (the obvious solution of getting rid of legalistic “obligations” to attend didn’t, it seems, occur to anyone). This has happened with Epiphany and Ascension, to the dismay of many more traditional RCs.
For the CofC :
- Sunday nights if you missed the morning service and needed to take the Lord’s Supper
Any Sunday that starts a revival
In my Campbellite tradition we called ‘em “Gospel Meetings”. The number of days attendance at one of these was used with other factors to determine your level of commitment.
nice…very nice…how about any “youth led” services….fundraisers, etc…
Youth led services aren’t big draws. And most Baptists avoid the fundraisers. Too RC.
well….I guess that’s true but in Arkansas, where I”m at they have a big draw and people always feel guilty if they don’t go to them….Krispy Kreme is a big thing here, but the AOG have made it their own so we do/did carwashes
I know Baptists are divided on fundraisers. I personally believe they are wrong for churches to use, and that was the prevailing view in West Ky where I grew up, but I’m sure that’s changed. Financing the church’s mission by fundraisers is an embarrassment imo.
Are you sure you have enough events involving sports on that list?
I got involved in blogging at the prompting of my sister-in-law, who is a Methodist pastor (almost – hasn’t gotten ordained yet), and most of the blogs I started reading came from her blog list. After a while, I thought “Y’know, I go to a Baptist church, shouldn’t I be reading some Baptist blogs?”. So I went hunting Baptist blogs. I found a Baptist Blog aggregator. As I looked down the posts in the aggregator, I realized that about half of the posts were about something to do with sports.
Michael, as a former Catholic and current Baptist (by personal conviction, not current church affiliation), I’m grinning from ear to ear at this list. So many aspects of Baptist culture are just silly, and it’s good to be able to laugh at ourselves (while also recognizing the serious problems within said culture, as you do).
The funny thing is, my former church, Capitol Hill Baptist, is affiliated with the SBC and yet exhibits almost none of the cringe-worthy aspects that one usually finds in SBC churches! That’s part of why I love CHBC so much.
Speaking of which, I want to give a shout-out to Jonathan Leeman– keep up the great, God-glorifying work with 9 Marks, brother! Thanks for the good conversations after church and at your house!
(Watch the “Amens” die down…)
Any Beth Moore simulcast.
This was hilarious…..
December 31st is the holiest of all days (or, rather, nights) because that’s when we meet to ‘pray in the New Year’. When I was a boy, a man quit church for six months because my dad had to work that night and missed the meeting. ‘John let me down’ he said.
michael-
spot on….i am definitely agreed…i would love to see a post on that, i’m sure you’ve thought about it before. i am formerly a baptist, not sure what I am now….except a follower of Jesus, and one loved by Him…I enjoy your blog, it encourages and challenges me.
Oh my yes….”Watch Night.” How could I forget.
An SBCer might argue that these high and holy days are perfectly fine (and Biblical) so long as they are instituted by congregation vote, rather than diocese dictate. After all, heaven is an eternal caucus and hell is a monarchy.
I thought the original holy days of obligation were Sundays (morning and evening), Wednesday (evening), your designated small group’s meeting day, any day the church scheduled an outreach, and any day the church wanted members to help fix the building and cut the grass.
*digs out old Missal from 1964*
Hmmm – “Holidays of Obligation – On which we are bound to hear Mass and to abstain from all servile works
In the United States of North America:
All Sundays.
The Octave Day of Christmas (January 1st).
Ascension Thursday.
The Assumption (August 15th).
The Feast of All Saints (November 1st).
The Immaculate Conception (December 8th).
Christmas Day (December 25th).”
In the list above, you give Epiphany (December 6th), Corpus Christi (Thursday after Trinity Sunday) and the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29th), which are Holy Days of Obligation in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Canada, but not on my list for the U.S.A.
So either the U.S. bishops added these in, to be in line with Canada
, or the Wikipedia list is a bit confused.
I’m glad to see St. Joseph’s feastday of March 19th (Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Confessor, Patron of the Universal Church) on that list; usually it’s May 1st (Feast of St. Joseph the Worker) that’s celebrated.
And yes – *all* Sundays being Days of Obligation, you’re supposed to show up for Easter Sunday as well without having to be told
Wait???? Wikipedia is wrong about something? I’m shocked! Positively shocked!
When I was still going to a regular church, I knew a guy who went to Sunday night services (as well as Sunday morning) who used to say, “The Few, The Proud, The Sunday Night Crowd…” I always liked Sunday night church because there were fewer people and you could show up in shorts if you wanted.
I’m 51, and if I had shown up in shorts at my church I would have been shown the door.
I’m glad the “wear your shorts to church” rule didn’t show up in the 70′s. There were some pretty shocking sights with those short shorts back then.
And you Baptists rag on us Catholics…
I’m glad the “wear your shorts to church†rule didn’t show up in the 70’s. There were some pretty shocking sights with those short shorts back then.
They were called “Hot Pants”, as per Liberace’s stage gear for a while. (I still need to use brain-bleach on some of the sights back then; imagine a guy who resembled a fat gay weasel floucing around in purple hot pants. Saw that at a con 20+ years ago, and I still can’t get the memory out of my head. The horror… the horror… the horror…)
Yup, Aliasmoi, looks like Wiki is a little confused here:
“National Conference of Catholic Bishops
United States of America
Decree of Promulgation
On December 13, 1991 the members of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States of America made the following general decree concerning holy days of obligation for Latin rite Catholics:
In addition to Sunday, the days to be observed as holy days of obligation in the Latin Rite dioceses of the United States of America, in conformity with canon 1246, are as follows:
January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God;
Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the solemnity of the Ascension;
August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
November 1, the solemnity of All Saints;
December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception;
December 25, the solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.
This decree of the Conference of Bishops was approved and confirmed by the Apostolic See by a decree of the Congregation for Bishops (Prot. N. 296/84), signed by Bernardin Cardinal Gantin, prefect of the Congregation, and dated July 4, 1992.
As President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, I hereby declare that the effective date of this decree for all the Latin rite dioceses of the United States of America will be January 1, 1993, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
Given at the offices of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC, November 17, 1992.”
So it seems as though whoever put up the entry was confused by the Holy Days of Obligation in Canada and folded them in as well to cover all of North America. Unless, of course, it’s typical U.S.A. imperialism, annexing the Canadian holydays
Looks like poor St. Joseph is still getting no respect – I was surprised to see his feastday up as a Day of Obligation, and it doesn’t seem to be on the official list, so however that came about, I don’t know.
It’s so great to see how the Catholic Church has unity on all these matters. (jn++)
You guys sound like a bunch of Baptists.
By the way all Sundays are Holy days of Obligation so Easter Sunday is covered in that way.
The phrase which some attribute to St. Augustine: ” In Essentials Unity, in Non-essentials freedom, in all things charity” covers the philosophy. Holy Days are set by the Bishops who are given great latitude in all “non-essentials”.
* First day in a new building. Nothing brings out Baptists like a new building.
How’s the collection going for the new Internet Monk building, Mike? Can I contribute from PayPal?
After I’m fired, Clark, I’ll be moving into Internet Monk Towers.
By the way all practical Catholics (meaning in good standing) are required to confess at least once yearly (preferably as part of Lent) and to receive communion at least once during the Easter Season (Easter – Pentecost). Catholics of age are required to attend mass on every Sunday (or Saturday evening Vigil Mass) as long as health or healthcare permits (i.e. requires a “serious reason” as spelled out in detail in the Catechism). Intentionally missing a Sunday mass for a frivolous reason is a mortal sin for an Catholic.
Speaking of the Octave of Christmas (January 1st), now renamed the Solemnity of the Mother of God, I kind of wish they had kept the old name:
the Feast of the Circumcision.
I suppose they renamed it because they were concerned people would get it mixed-up with February 2nd, the Presentation in the Temple (formerly the feast of the Purification of the Virgin), or Candlemas, which everyone knows because that’s when you go to have your throat blessed for St. Blaise – which should technically take place on February 3rd as that’s his feast day, but which is always done on February 2nd here in Ireland because of the blessed candles, I guess.
Or confused about “Wait, isn’t that Jewish?” or something
“It’s so great to see how the Catholic Church has unity on all these matters.”
Local options. It’s a great excuse
I note the Irish influence on the U.S. church; the Holyday of Obligation for the Immaculate Conception on December 8th is an Irish day of obligation (we always got the day off school for that), plus of course St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th which may not technically be an American day of obligation but come on…
However, January 1st is a day of obligation in England and Wales (not Ireland), and March 19th (Feast of St. Joseph) is a day of obligation in Scotland, so maybe the Wikipedia complier where you got your original list was Scottish
Memphis Aggie,
It’s this legalistic approach to the Christian life which is one of the major reasons I am no-where near returning to the RCC — even though I call myself quite openly a “catholic Evangelical”.
Does anyone really believe that if someone hasn’t made it to communion all year, going once around Easter because it’s a legal requirement has any spiritual benefits? Same for confession, or for attending church at all.
In my country, where two-thirds of the population are Roman Catholic, only a fraction are in church every Sunday — but they are all still considered Catholics by the Church.
Here’s the difference I see between these RCC obligations and the Baptist ones Michael posted: the Catholic ones are considered real obligations; someone evidently believes that after being saved by Christ’s sacrifice we have to keep working our way to heaven. The Baptist obligations, on the other hand, are merely a way of laughing at spoken or unspoken human traditions, but no-one in their right mind seriously ties any spiritual benefits to them.
Wolf Paul,
Catholics do not believe in working your way to heaven. The Catholic Church does not and has never taught salvation by works. And gee, thanks for spelling out what Internet Monk was doing.
“Does anyone really believe that if someone hasn’t made it to communion all year, going once around Easter because it’s a legal requirement has any spiritual benefits? Same for confession, or for attending church at all.”
I do. Anyone can be fully renewed and redeemed at any time. Recall the parable of the lost sheep, Christ makes special efforts to retrieve the wayward. Many in the Latin community attend faithfully but do not receive out of (I’m guessing) excessive fear, shame or Jansenism. I believe you can be made a Saint by one reception, if your heart is right. I also believe that those who refrain from a sense of personal weakness have deep respect for communion and thus will benefit from it.
Further I also believe that obedience to the Church has virtue in and of itself especially when we submit to the odd quirks of Gods worldly representatives. If I obey only those rules that please me then my obedience is without merit. It’s not so different from preaching only the selective passages that support the prosperity Gospel. it’s not my place to filter, screen or question. When I became a Catholic I took it all on faith, I’m not blind to the faults of human beings who run the Church, but I accept their authority. When they fail I remember Christs teaching to those who innocently followed the Pharisee: essentially do what they say but not as they do. This kind of charitable obedient dissent from within is exemplified by St Catherine if Siena who famously admonished the Pope, yet remained obedient.
Finally the most crucial way to view this is through the filter of charity. As the Pope said the other day in a related context, it is better to be open and provide communion even to those whose faith is weak. You and I can’t know the reasons someone does not receive, it’s contrary to charity to presume. Where’s your faith in Christs redemption? He always works with the most lowly dust and ashes; it is the skill of the craftsman that matters not the quality of the materials. If those that receive rarely remain in Him they may yet grow to be great Saints as an example to the rest of us of Gods enduring patience.
“Here’s the difference I see between these RCC obligations and the Baptist ones Michael posted: the Catholic ones are considered real obligations; someone evidently believes that after being saved by Christ’s sacrifice we have to keep working our way to heaven. The Baptist obligations, on the other hand, are merely a way of laughing at spoken or unspoken human traditions, but no-one in their right mind seriously ties any spiritual benefits to them.”
Wolf, this comment is dead on. We Catholics believe in continuous conversion and spiritual development and view the more extreme “one and done” (in reference to the sinners prayer) as presumption. Redemption and Heaven is guaranteed, eventually, by faith alone, but sanctification is a purification process fulfilled on Earth, or in Purgatory. Given this choice Catholics prefer to fulfill the obligation here. If you don’t believe in Purgatory, and Baptists don’t, then these obligations make much less sense. However even if you reject Purgatory there is still Christs call to remain in Him, and do charitable acts in His name. As pointed out of course these commands of Christ are not necessarily formally mediated through a Church, which I believe is what Michael means by Jesus shaped spirituality as opposed to the Institutional Church.
I view the institutional Church as both a great blessing and a cross to bear, just like marriage
Wolf Paul,
I did some investigation into the history of Holy Days of Obligation, because I wanted to see if my memory was accurate. (I had been told that they were added to give the poor a chance to rest from work.)
Originally, they were feast days, when people got together to have fun. Similar to the festival in Cleveland this weekend. And no one was supposed to do work on those days.
The number was reduced because there were so many. I think that the maximum was about 84.
Now, they are just something added onto a busy work day. I’m sad that we have lost the joyousness that was part of it.
As far as the true spiritual importance, I remind you “Not all who call ME, Lord, Lord are going to heaven” and “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling”
Catholics certainly believe that all souls in Purgatory are saved and Heaven bounds hence we refer to them as “The Holy Souls in Purgatory” and further believe that we can assist them by praying for them and offering masses in their name. Purgatory helps explain how God can be both just and merciful. We eventually get to Heaven, but first we must pass through this “veil of tears”. Our suffering on Earth may be either just punishment which God has graced us with by visiting it on us temporally rather than eternally or our suffering is for His glory and we will be “repaid a hundredfold” for it in Heaven. In Purgatory I believe only the former suffering for just punishment applies because there can be no witness/martrydom after death. All this, I assume, must seem pretty alien to Baptists.
Thus, in the context of doctrine that excludes Purgatory and the Eucharist as I understand it (I’m not clear on how it’s viewed among Baptists) Michaels observation that the Church is superfluous is correct. Aren’t acts of charity all that’s left at the core? Further don’t small less formal groups typically perform acts of charity more effectively in many cases than big institutions. Especially when you realize that “Big Institutions” tend to deliver “charity” in a bureaucratic and loveless manner. Given that the love of the giver transmitted in the charitable act is the eternal light of God and thus is the most crucial aspect of the charitable act, we recognize that the bureaucratic Church is actually devaluing what matters most. Thus, in this context, Michaels “Emerging church” proposition is dead on. In the absence of faith in the Sacraments, there is no need for the Church. This is partly why the Pope says that where the Eucharist is found, there is the Church.
And why Luther said the church is where
1) Gospel is rightly preached (ahem)
2) Sacraments (that Jesus gave us) are rightly administered.
This challenges a lot of “church’s” credibility.
It also explains why the RCC doesn’t believe I have ever been in an actual local church and why my call to ministry is bogus.
That was free.
MS
Wait. One exception, from todays Mass (roughly from memory) “whenever two or more gather in my name I am among them”. This gives ample reason to congregate in a Church, but not necessarily to do so in a formal elaborate way.
“It also explains why the RCC doesn’t believe I have ever been in an actual local church and why my call to ministry is bogus.”
Your right, that is the exact reason.
More precisely ordination is considered a sacrament itself and thus must be administered within the Church. As for your “call” the Church does not judge it directly and would assume your “call” to ministry or what we would call a “vocation” still may be entirely from Christ and one of the blessings that extend “beyond the visible boundaries of the Church” (from JPII I believe). However, not to sugarcoat it, your ordination and all ordinations outside of Apostolic succession are considered invalid.
One more point “invalid” orders means you could not validly offer absolution, consecrate a Host or anoint the sick or preside at a wedding (meaning offer the other sacraments). It has no bearing on preaching which can be a “lay” vocation.
My personal experience of the Holy Spirit is delusional. In your system, God has no reason to call a person to an invalid ministry, particularly one that preaches error and a denial of the RCC.
I’m not a minister. I don’t belong to THE church. I was never validly called by God to preach and I have never participated in anything other than a mockery of the Lord’s Supper.
Oops the preside at weddings is an error! Valid weddings depend on valid Baptisms of the participants not the priests (although there are conditions). Thus even though my wedding had two valid priests (one to guard the door ;.) ) the marriage was only fully valid after I was Baptized.
All this complexity arises from 2K years of practice and is meant to deal with all the contingencies of the real world.
“I’m not a minister. I don’t belong to THE church. I was never validly called by God to preach and I have never participated in anything other than a mockery of the Lord’s Supper.”
Some Catholics would take this harsh view although it is contrary to charity. I don’t believe you intend mockery and that what you do is done from innocence in that your honestly pursued faith that has taken you to where you are. I believe Christ is especially gentle to those who have drifted in honest pursuit of Him.
I won’t pretend that I think you’re in the best place for you. In fact I think your interest in the emerging Church and your “spiritual wanderlust” exists because you haven’t come home yet but that God is urging you on. I’m Catholic for a reason and I believe everyone should be Catholic. I won’t apologize for that. My parents and sister are still secular Jews, but I wish and pray for their conversion. I’d say I’ll pray for you too but I recall you had a long comment about your aversion to that oft used phrase.
So God bears no responsibility that I was born into a Baptist family, taken to a Baptist church and lived more than 40 years before the extraordinary claims of the RCC became clear to me?
God’s providence in my life just gets zeroed out?
Cradle Catholics are what? The true “elect?” And cradle Baptists like myself- with every ounce of my spirituality formed in Protestantism- are in no way the workmanship of the Holy Spirit?
Incredible.
Look I believe that the Catholic Church is literally the Bride of Christ and that the Eucharist is literally His Heart (from the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano). Deny the Church is therefore akin to denying Christ and fatal. Under that construct of faith, I can not help but want all other genuine seekers to find Him in the Church. I believe the other Protestant Churches were founded on a mix of valid criticisms of the Church and the sin of rebellion (lack of obedience). Further I believe and the church teaches, that the sin of rebellion only falls on the founders of the break and all those who inherited the schismatic sect are innocents, not to be judged in the same manner (this is directly from B XVI). Further I believe that the division among Christians is a spiritual passion for Our Lord who suffers sorrow over the ongoing separation.
Really, left to my own devices, it would be the easiest thing in the world to let this go – go ahead do what you want and take a libertarian view of Christianity. However I believe that would be anything but charitable, in fact it would be callous. How can anyone who truly believes that there is a right place not seek to tell others? It would make me a hypocrite. I am compelled to extol the Church. If I do it badly, make that when I do it badly, it is a measure of my pride and my childish failings and my lack of the real charity that infuses the righteous Saint.
“So God bears no responsibility that I was born into a Baptist family, taken to a Baptist church and lived more than 40 years before the extraordinary claims of the RCC became clear to me?”
In one sense God is responsible for all that is and that includes what appears to us as great injustices of the circumstances of birth. Who can deny that living in the US is a great blessing and that the innocents that are born in war torn poverty suffer for it and cry out to Gid why? The reasons for the circumstances of your birth are unknowable.
By the way many cradle Catholics are “Catholics in name only” and lukewarm in faith. Being born into the Church does not guarantee redemption. No faith no Heaven in or out of the Church.
As for the “extraordinary claims of the RCC”, if any are in anyway false then those souls lost as a result will weigh very heavily on those that have made those claims. When I converted I did not know many of the claims or even fully accede to them. I just accepted the key parts I knew of and trusted in Christ that understanding would come in time, and it did and is still coming.
Aggie:
Forgive me if it sounds like I am picking on you. I’m not. You RCC converts are nice enough to hang out here when your own church would say I am a false teacher, so that means occasionally you get the whole enchilada.
What distresses me is this: If I buy the RCC view (which has no consistency problems from its side) then I am left with a God who has SCREWED with my head, my heart and my life for 33 freakin’ years. A God who has made me financially dependent on teaching damning errors. A God who has allowed me to have spiritual and emotional experiences that confirm my Protestantism.
So what’s up with that God? Worthy of Worship? He’s one “gamey” deity. Am I some kind of lab experiment or amusement?