"Do you think that any organization can last for two thousand years without "rational reason" or reasoned theories?"
While I think I agree with the notion that the Catholics get to determine who's Catholic, and not Pete, I'm afraid that statement is a fallacy.
An appeal to longevity is just a modified appeal to power. Sort of like "Could I really be pointing this gun at you if I wasn't right?" There's no particular reason that an organization can't last for two thousand years and still be irrational. You'll have to show that Pete's statements don't stand up to logic, not that the Catholic church is old. Or, for that matter, that it is filled with philosophers. (edit: this also applies any argument based on the number of believers...)
As per theories, at least the modern scientific notion of a theory requires falsifiability. Religious doctrines are, by and large, not falsifiable, and the Catholic church has largely fallen back on these. Can you point to any of these theories that can be tested? Or did you mean theory in a non-scientific sense?
Jester
While I think I agree with the notion that the Catholics get to determine who's Catholic, and not Pete, I'm afraid that statement is a fallacy.
An appeal to longevity is just a modified appeal to power. Sort of like "Could I really be pointing this gun at you if I wasn't right?" There's no particular reason that an organization can't last for two thousand years and still be irrational. You'll have to show that Pete's statements don't stand up to logic, not that the Catholic church is old. Or, for that matter, that it is filled with philosophers. (edit: this also applies any argument based on the number of believers...)
As per theories, at least the modern scientific notion of a theory requires falsifiability. Religious doctrines are, by and large, not falsifiable, and the Catholic church has largely fallen back on these. Can you point to any of these theories that can be tested? Or did you mean theory in a non-scientific sense?
Jester