[Mrs. Don-o]

Metmom, my dear, you perhaps inadvertently reprinted what was already cut-and-pasted by Cynical Bear, with the addition of colored fonts.

Cynical Bear finally concluded, "It really doesn’t matter to me what they say."

This has become evident, which is why this discussion has become unproductive.

I hope that at some point our inner resources of patience, kindness, and a facility for reasoning together will, with God's grace, overcome the "obsession with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, and useless wranglings."

St. Paul warned St. Timothy about all that.

I regret and apologize to Our Lord for being drawn into anything that contributes to strife among Christians.

I pray you have a good night.

[CynicalBear]

>>Cynical Bear finally concluded, "It really doesn’t matter to me what they say."<<

I explained that to you. Please don't imply it means anything other then that. Its unbecoming.

[metmom]

Metmom, my dear, you perhaps inadvertently reprinted what was already cut-and-pasted by Cynical Bear, with the addition of colored fonts.

Those are from the Catholic church.

No, it was not inadvertent.

I hope that at some point our inner resources of patience, kindness, and a facility for reasoning together will, with God's grace, overcome the "obsession with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, and useless wranglings."

When people focus on Christ, there is unity despite denominational affiliation.

When the focus is on the denominations, there is division.

That's why faith IN CHRIST is paramount.

I realize that all those anathemas and statements and pronouncements by those popes apply to me as a former Catholic.

I'm not even exempt according to V2 because of this.....

"Outside the Church there is no salvation"

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336

The underlines, bolded part excludes all former Catholics who have left the RCC.

We know that. So even if the Catholic church teaches that those who are *invincibly ignorant* can be saved, it still does not teach that those in my position can be.

I certainly appreciate your magnanimous attitude, but technically, it is at odds with the official teaching of Roman Catholicism.

For the record, I am not a member of any denomination because denominations don't save. Jesus does.

[terycarl]

I regret and apologize to Our Lord for being drawn into anything that contributes to strife among Christians. I pray you have a good night

if, through your efforts, and I admire them, you are able to steer one person back to the Catholic church and salvation..your entire life will have been well spent!!!

[virgil]

I would like to see the open religion forums closed. It disgraces Free Republic. There is nothing in them about faith or God or anything important. All I see is Catholic bashing. These people don’t seem to have anything to offer that would be pleasing to God. Nothing. Why would anyone want to be a Christian after reading one of these threads? It scandalizes believers. It’s a disgrace.