Bible Studies/church hierarchy

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Expert: Mr. McClellan - 8/9/2006


Question
I haven't been to Church in a long while and I'm interested in the way the hierarchy in a church order works.  I'd like to know where nuns, priests, bishops and friars fit in this order, perhaps in the same sense the chain-of-command works in the U.S. Military.

The way I understand it a private answers to a sergeant who answers to a higher-ranking NCO who answers to a C.O. who answers to a CG who answers to a chief of staff who answers to Sec. Of Defense to the President.

Where can I get a complete diagram for this hierarchy as it applies to a church order?  

Also, I'd like to know about the steps a woman would need to take in order to become a nun.  (Assuming she's already a Christian) Is it as simple as just filling out an application to the sisterhood?  (That was flippant, I know, but that's the basic level I guess I'd like to have the process explained) Is it also possible for a nun to "advance" in the hierarchy? Even higher than a priest?

I appreciate your help.

Answer
Hello Augusto,
I really can't answer all the questions about nuns. The church you are refering to is the Catholic Church which is not even closely similar to the true Christian Church. The practices and teachings of Catholocism are mostly the inventions of human beings and are not according to the Bible. The real church that you read about in the Bible was far different from the Catholic Church and the two are not the same at all. I would suggest that you go to any of the official Catholic web sites to get the best answers to your questions. The Vatican has a web site that would be a very good place to start to get the information you want. I could help you if you were wanting to know about the hierarchy of the true church because it is explained in the New Testament but there is nothing in the Bible about such positions as nuns, friars, and many of the other things that the Catholic Church has added to the Bible whose writers sternly warned was not to be added to.
Sincerely
Mr. McClellan

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Mr. McClellan

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I can answer questions concerning Christian doctrine as well as other kinds of questions relating to religion. One important thing, among many, that needs clearing up is the meaning of religion. Religion is any system of belief that tries to explain how people should think and behave so that life is the best it can be. The definition found in the dictionary is seriously in error being based on popular but wrong ideas. Email me at and.the.truth.is@GMX.com for a free PDF 5 page introduction to my just completed book, "And The Truth Is?" It's uniquely different and interactive, designed to show you that you can actually know the way, the truth, and the life Jesus spoke of and what he expected people to do to participate in it as well as what to expect if they did.

Experience

My education puts me second to none in this area and I have had over forty years experience in the area of teaching Christian theology, doctrine, apologetics, hermeneutics, history, and philosophy. Publications: Among the things that I have written is a summary of the entire Bible that is intended to help people put it all together and quickly understand exactly what the writers of the Bible intended for everyone to understand. By reading it and then reading the Bible, the correct understanding should become quite clear and a sincere student will recognize that they have received an invaluable aid to knowing how to correctly interpret the Bible so that they can know, with certainty, that they are understanding it correctly. At the same time, they will be able to recognize the vast number of false doctirnes that are being called Christian doctrines but are only the teachings of men and have no more authority than any oridinary man can give them.

Organizations
I belong to no officially recognized organizations. I'm simply a person with a deep and lifelong desire to know the truth, a desire so strong that I have, for more than 50 years, poured myself and a lot of money into finding it and making sure of it. I believe that life is too short and valuable to waste it believing a lot of stuff that isn't true. Everyone can't be right and be in disagreement at the same time and the claims made by the writers of the Bible are simply too serious to guess about.

Publications
It's quite obvious that the Bible is not easy to comprehend thus all the divided opinions about what it teaches. I am finalizing a short treatise on the Bible that I believe will help a lot of people who seriously want to get a clear understanding of what the Bible actually has to say to everyone, a treatise that should take the mystery out of it and show that it really makes sense. People deserve help in recognizing the truth about what the Bible says because there is so much false teaching about it that is actually leading people away from God instead of to God. It should be ready to send out by the end of this year, 2011 or before. Now, you can purchase a PDF copy of my book "And The Truth Is?" on CD. It's very unique and it's interactive. If you're tired of living with a best guess and want to learn for certain what the truth is, this, the result of over 50 years of research and serious study, is what you're looking for.

Education/Credentials
I have two degrees in education, including religious belief systems. I also have many years of experience and many thousands of hours of study and research on which I've based my new book, "The Bible Actually Makes Sense."

Awards and Honors
All of my awards and honors are in the form of compliments from people who've read or listened to my attempts to help them understand what the Bible is about and how to comply with what it actually says. So many have said, in one way or another, that I helped them more than anyone they had ever met. It's comforting to know that my efforts to be of value to others is appreciated.

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