Posted on 05/02/2008 2:09:51 PM PDT by Augustinian monk
With few exceptions, that is generally correct. You will however, find Copts in Egypt, Mormons in America and Protestants who are trying to distance themselves from protestantism by merely calling themselves "Christians".
The assumption used to be that it was understood that everyone was Christian and that the distinction was in the denomination.
Now, all the denominations should call themselves Christian so then the follow-up question can be; what kind of Christian are you?
Only one was saluted by an archangel with that title.
Luk 11:27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
Luk 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
But all of us Christians were given that title by Jesus, Himself...
If your're a Christian, you're more blessed than Mary...
We take it as Jesus meant it...It's another parable...
That's the way Jesus talked to the believers when unbelievers were around...Says so Himself...
and how can you have “life within you” when you don’t??
Because we believe what happened to Cornelius...He believed and was filled with the Holy Spirit...
It is a definite, direct command of Christ, if your take the bible literally how can you duck that directive??
You guys have missed the boat.
We have missed YOUR boat...We don't want on your boat...
We may have missed your boat but you missed the rest of the scripture...
You ignore the rest of the scritpure in the entire chapter of John 6...
Here's an example:
Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Be careful...Yer boat's got a lot of holes in it...
Very well stated.
In a society that needs constant sensual stimulation, is it any wonder that people would desire physical/tangible in worship? God knows the difficulty of loving an unseen spiritual being.
Isn't it funny that God bothered to become incarnate and live in the flesh among us? It's just so terribly physical/tangible of Him.
My understanding is that as we get older we risk the loss of spinter control.
The doom remark was because I expect strong and unparliamentary resistance to your characterization.
Difficult as it may be to imagine or believe, a few Catholics have actually heard that verse (since it's read in our worship from time to time.)
And those of us who have spent a little time with Greek think that Μενουν can't bear the freight you are asking it to carry, though it could bear the POSSIBILITY of that interpretation.
I would, myself, paraphrase the logion as "What you should say instead is, 'Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.'" Which is to say, don't use a natural or family relationship with me as a distraction from your call to hear the word of God and keep it.
I did a radio show once on the Immaculate Conception. What I took 15 minutes to say was,"IF you're envious of Mary because of the special Graces she received, you need to remember that God has a special vocation and special graces tailor-made for you and only you."
IN any event nobody has "kept" the Word of God more intimately that Mary, and as soon as Jesus learned to talk, she heard it a lot.
I think you got it exactly right AND you expressed it elegantly (which is what I meant by “cute” — sorry if I sounded sarcastic.)
The doom remark was because I expect strong and unparliamentary resistance to your characterization.
Do you know the history of your non-Christian ancestors? Do you have any idea why they became Christian? That's the real Apostolic succession ~ that your folks handed down the tradition, and the sourcebook of the moral standards that work out best. Absent that, no amount of church bureaucrats can help.
Are you just joking, or do you really have red-green colorblindness? I’m curious if my post #15 really does have red font in it or if it’s just a glitch on my end; no offense intended.
You continue to amaze me.
Honor is due.
That post was wrong.
Regarding Christmas, lots of folks avoid celebration on Christmas Day because, as it turns out, that's a very holy day. The celebrations are done earlier ~ December 5, December 15, December 24, or later, January 6 - 12 maybe (depending on ethnicity and time and place).
Now, have you abandoned that most ancient of customs ~ to make the home a holy place where no vile words are spoken and no evil acts are done?
That's the one that comes before keeping the Sabbath you know ~
If your home is not a place of peace then what is it?
The Gospel of John reveals Jesus as God. The Gospel of Luke reveals Jesus as Man. Both are Truth. It’s not an either/or.
And each Apostle was unique. And each unique one was chosen specifically by Jesus Christ.
The gemstones in the foundation layers of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19-20) are a beautiful metaphor. Each layer of the foundation is named after an Apostle. And each gemstone is a different color.
When light passes through a gemstone, it will appear to have a different color. An emerald would shine green light, a sapphire, blue, a ruby, red, etc.
Likewise when the Light of God shines through us into the world (Sermon on the Mount et al) our own uniqueness will often “color” the Light.
Some saints are so surrendered to God they are like pure diamonds and we hardly notice them at all.
Following the revelation that God is Light (I John 1:5) - I used the metaphor of a seven-faceted diamond (God’s revelation to us) to illustrate the difference in perspective between Catholics and Protestants:
The one sees images in the diamond - himself, his forebears, saints, etc. - and thus sees that to honor those images is to honor the Light which illuminates them. His emphasis is on the images, the physical. In this case, the physical Apostolic succession by laying on of hands.
The other looks into the diamond and is blinded by Light. He sees no images at all and thus, to him, seeing images in the diamond is to miss the revelation of God altogether. His emphasis is on the Light alone, the Spiritual. In this case, the Spiritual succession, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by the will of God alone.
It is the same diamond and the same Light. As long as the one is aware of analogical knowledge (the picture of a man is not the man, the statue of Christ on the cross is not Christ on the cross) - he will not fall into Spiritual error.
And so on.
I submit that it is a matter of perspective – not either/or. For one to be “right” the other doesn’t have to be “wrong.”
God didn’t make us with a cookie cutter. Nor does He, the master artist, mix all the colors into one on His palette but rather has made a beautiful living masterpiece of all of us.
To God be the glory! I'm heading out now. See y'all later!
The “rather” does not mean what you claim it to me. You ride on the English word in this way only by divorcing it from the original Greek.
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