Posted on 10/08/2014 11:39:09 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
Why would intelligent, successful people give up their careers, alienate their friends, and cause havoc in their families...to become Catholic? Indeed, why would anyone become Catholic?
As an evangelist and author who recently threw my own life into some turmoil by deciding to enter the Catholic Church, I've faced this question a lot lately. That is one reason I decided to make this documentary; it's part of my attempt to try to explain to those closest to me why I would do such a crazy thing.
Convinced isn't just about me, though. The film is built around interviews with some of the most articulate and compelling Catholic converts in our culture today, including Scott Hahn, Francis Beckwith, Taylor Marshall, Holly Ordway, Abby Johnson, Jeff Cavins, Devin Rose, Matthew Leonard, Mark Regnerus, Jason Stellman, John Bergsma, Christian Smith, Kevin Vost, David Currie, Richard Cole, and Kenneth Howell. It also contains special appearances by experts in the field of conversion such as Patrick Madrid and Donald Asci.
Ultimately, this is a story about finding truth, beauty, and fulfillment in an unexpected place, and then sacrificing to grab on to it. I think it will entertain and inspire you, and perhaps even give you a fresh perspective on an old faith.
(Excerpt) Read more at indiegogo.com ...
I'm somewhat surprised you did not delve into the Greek of 1 Cor 5. Job I have already mentioned, and I don't consider it character building, as it is incongruent with 7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?. If you are convinced of it, would that suggest you think the LORD could do the same to anyone of us who is not in serious, unrepentant sin, hanging us over to Satan to build our character ? I find the concept preposterous. Job was a lamb, a symbol of Jesus after a manner. < p>As for Gal 5:12, I'm going with the Protestant KJV in this discussion. I don't cherry pick translations to make a point. I now expect you to use the same translation throughout, NAB is it ? Look at the four usages of the word and consider carefully that neither hands, nor feet, nor ear are mentioned. What is common to all ? A sword (or long knife); you have to go somewhere else (Phil 3:2) to get that sense;
Overthrowing the faith if some is a sin worthy of death, so I still hold Hymenaus and Alexander incurred that penalty. Dying of some horrid disease and knowing it was from God would teach them not to blaspheme. Using words of strong language with no power other than barring them from fellowship is really a stretch.
As for torture, execution, or murder of Jews or Gentiles done in the name of Jesus for religious reasons other than I specified (ie., not a criminal, just happens to have a different faith or interpretation), be they Catholic, Protestant, or Other, I categorically hold it to be wrong and unjust; I condemn it. I hold to my points about apostles, prophets, and angels being legitimate bringers of death as per the Biblical examples. Those were not murders. In general, I think the Gentiles who claim the name have been as lacking in fidelity to, and love for, to the LORD as Israel, with some generations of both being desperately wicked with almost no remedial value. There is an awesome day of judgment coming.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This history is the fruit of the unbridled power of the Catholic church. If ever there was evidence against Catholicism that it is the body of Christ, this is it.
For all the ranting about how OSAS results in heathenish lifestyles where one can presumptuously sin with impunity, here we see the Catholic church operating in such a depraved manner, still calling itself the body of Christ. Essentially, the very thing they condemn in others.
Do those calling for the killing of heretics and the longing for the return of the Inquisition really understand what they are advocating for? I can only hope not and hope that they are further in ignorance about what they are really advocating for than one might conclude.
Chapter and verse?
And even if it is, WHOSE responsibility is it?
God did NOT delegate it to man.
If a man is to die for an injustice, it's GOD'S place to make that determination and carry out the sentence.
Torturing and killing people for dissenting against a denomination's cherished beliefs is murder, plain and simple, and the Catholic church not only has blood on its hands for such an action, but it is DRENCHED in the blood of all those whom it martyred, certainly worthy of the ultimate death sentence.
I am also appalled at the silence of the other FRoman Catholics on FR. I KNOW this thread is being read and watched and yet what we don't see here is ANY other Catholics denouncing the murder of heretics, the support of murdering heretics, or the Inquisition.
I guess you find out who your friends really are.
Luther is the favorite scapegoat for any and all evil, even that initiated and perpetrated by the Catholic church.
Facts don’t get in their way.
The Inquisition, incorporation of paganism, the unBiblical hierarchy, and retention of pedophile and homosexual priests it is beyond me how anyone would stay in that apostate religion.
As with the canon, Luther had some history on his side:
In The Popes Against the Jews : The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism, historian David Kertzer notes,
“the legislation enacted in the 1930s by the Nazis in their Nuremberg Laws and by the Italian Fascists with their racial laws—which stripped the Jews of their rights as citizens—was modeled on measures that the [Roman Catholic] Church itself had enforced for as long as it was in a position to do so” (9).
In 1466,
in festivities sponsored by Pope Paul II, Jews were made to race naked through the streets of the city. A particularly evocative later account describes them: “Races were run on each of the eight days of the Carnival by horses, asses and buffaloes, old men, lads, children, and Jews. Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them, and at the same time, more amusing for the spectators. They ran from the Arch of Domitian to the Church of St. Mark at the end of the Corso at full tilt, amid Rome’s taunting shrieks of encouragement and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily. Two centuries later, these practices, now deemed indecorous and unbefitting the dignity of the Holy City, were stopped by Clement IX. In their place the Pope assessed a heavy tax on the Jews to help pay the costs of the city’s Carnival celebrations.
“When all is said and done, the [Roman Catholic] Church’s claim of lack of responsibility for the kind of anti-Semitism that made the Holocaust possible comes down to this: The Roman Catholic Church never called for, or sanctioned, the mass murder of the Jews. Yes, the Jews should be stripped of their rights as equal citizens. Yes, they should be kept from contact with the rest of society. But Christian Charity and Christian theology forbade good Christians to round them up and murder them.”
As a Christian and a lawyer you have some understanding here by God's grace.
>>rejecting Catholicism is rejecting the church that Christ founded and thus rejecting Christ...<<
Could you show the passage from scripture that teaches that?
Is it anywhere near the scripture that declares Mary to be queen of Heaven, coredemtrix and deified to be worshipped? I can’t seem to find that one either.
Romans 5:20-21
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Nope, nothing here about needing to be "perfected."
Well, they did have a good start with the Jews.
Why would anyone believe The LORD wants “solemn” worship?
He said if the children didn’t make a joyful noise and proclaim Him the very rocks would shout for Him.
I’m sure if any Catholics had been present they would have disapproved.
Say... Maybe the Catholics are actually descended from the Pharisees and Scribes. They seem to share many opinions.
Elijah, Elisha, Peter and Paul were Prophets and Apostles. They prophesied what God wanted them to prophesies.
that is really funny...they wrote it down and saved it throughout 2,014 years so that you would even know what it was. If I had the choice, and I do, to either believe the Catholic church or editor -surveyor...I think I'd choose those that were there WHEN HE SAID HIS WORDS....but that's just me!!! .
no they don't
If you think the Greek will help you here go to it, while as with this issue of the church executing men, you are missing the point of Job as regards being delivered over to the devil, despite my explaining it, which somehow you seem blind to.
Which is that this can be a means of refinement of character or to bring repentance, though it can also bring death, either by the devil using nature or men, both of which was the case with Job's servants, offspring and property. And as the devil is a murderer, so would death have been the end with Job if God has not placed the devil on a leash, "only upon himself put not forth thine hand." (v. 12) The Lord also healed a a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years. (Luke 13:16)
Thus your attempt to make 1Cor. 5 refer to death simply because the person at issue was not a Job is absurd, as it remains that to be delivered over to the devil means one will go thru negative experiences, which can be death but also can work repentance as well as refinement of character. And the purpose of this punishment in 1Cor. 5 was that the soul may be saved, thus if the person repented then there would be deliverance.
And if anything, that alone is just what is indicated. Paul delivered this man over in union with the church, and in 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 he refers to the punishment of a man who had done wrong and was punished, stating "Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him." Later on in 7:11,12 Paul again refers the one who had done the wrong and commends the Corinthians dealing with this. As there is only one individual who is described as being so punished, so it is congruous that this is the one referred to.
As for Gal 5:12, I'm going with the Protestant KJV in this discussion. How conveniently Protestant of you, though other RCs attack it, and I referred to your primary English Bible as that is sanctioned by your bishops (assuming you are American), while the the KJV is not.
Look at the four usages of the word and consider carefully that neither hands, nor feet, nor ear are mentioned.
What? Rather, the word apokoptō - which occurs 6 times - simply means "off," but nowhere in the NT is it used for cutting off the life of someone, but instead it is 3 human appebfadges and a rope that is mentioned:
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: (Mar 9:43)
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: (Mar 9:45)
Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. (Joh 18:10)
One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? (Joh 18:26)
Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. (Act 27:32)
Thus it easily could denote castration, while there is nothing wrong with the more literal KJV rendering it "cut off,"
Strike 2.
Overthrowing the faith if some is a sin worthy of death, so I still hold Hymenaus and Alexander incurred that penalty.
By that rational we can add 40 more things that Paul delivered souls over to death for, yet as said, this was that they may learn something, and which is consistent with Paul's earnest striving to bring rebellious souls in the church to repentance.
As for torture, execution, or murder of Jews or Gentiles done in the name of Jesus for religious reasons other than I specified (ie., not a criminal, just happens to have a different faith or interpretation), be they Catholic, Protestant, or Other, I categorically hold it to be wrong and unjust; I condemn it.
Very good, if only you had come out and stated this clearly at the beginning of your posting, as it should have been obvious that this was this real issue.
That souls can be chastened or executed by spiritual means, even by righteous praying believers, is a given, as is that the OT required capital punishment.
1. Idolatry
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5. Not resting and humbling yourself on the Day of Atonement |
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7. Imitating sacred incense, or anointing a stranger with it |
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27. Afflicting any widow, or fatherless child (Divine execution) |
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no they don't
Depends how you define Catholicism. Some RCs deny EOS are to be called Catholic, thus they take offense at "Roman Catholic" in making that distinction.
Catholics have never denied that...of course there are Christians outside the Catholic church...but all of the myriad of protestant denominations are in some way incomplete of full Christianity. One of the most important, if not THE most important belief in Catholicism is the true presence, in the Eucharist, of the Body, Blood, Soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ...He said it was there and we believe it.
of course I am aware of them, but they certainly weren't like your local public library where virtually anyone can check out a book and take it home. The average person could not make use of those libraries because they couldn't read. Books were not available to the average person because they were hand written and extraordinarily expensive. The major libraries, of course had books, documents and such, but if you lived in say Bethlehem, you had to either walk or ride a donkey to wherever the library was....then you might be able to actually hold a book and perhaps, if you were one of the very few literate people from there, obtain some knowledge from it.
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