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Opposition To Freemasonry Within Christianity
While many Christian denomination, Christian denominations either allow or take no stance on their members joining Freemasonry, others discourage or prohibit their members from joining the fraternity. Catholic Church The Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church has been among the most persistent critics of Freemasonry. The Church has prohibited its members from being Freemasons since the papal bull titled ''In eminenti apostolatus,'' promulgated in 1738 by Pope Clement XII. Since then, the Vatican has issued several papal bulls banning membership of Catholics from Freemasonry under threat of excommunication. In 1983, the Canon Law was changed to read, "A person who joins an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; however, a person who promotes or directs an association of this kind is to be punished with an interdict", eliminating the penalty of excommunication for Masons. Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, wrote in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Denomination
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worship style and sometimes a founder. It is a secular and neutral term, generally used to denote any established Christian church. Unlike a cult or sect, a denomination is usually seen as part of the Christian religious mainstream. Most Christian denominations self-describe themselves as ''churches'', whereas some newer ones tend to interchangeably use the terms ''churches'', ''assemblies'', ''fellowships'', etc. Divisions between one group and another are defined by authority and doctrine; issues such as the nature of Jesus, the authority of apostolic succession, biblical hermeneutics, theology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and papal primacy may separate one denomination from another. Groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
