Posted on 05/09/2015 7:44:31 AM PDT by RnMomof7
"...notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Interpretations of this verse vary, though I doubt that many teach that John the Baptist is not in the kingdom of heaven.)
Misrepresenting what we believe about Mary is absolutely essential to discrediting the Catholic Church. Always has been.
And it’s always the point where these discussions turn vicious and ugly.
Not spoken out loud... but do you realize that one born sinless and that never sins would be equal to Christ and therefore a god ... that is what made Christ God and man , that is why He could the innocent sacrificed for the guilty .. If we take The Catholic Mary seriously ..she could have been sacrificed instead of Christ
Book, chapter and verse please when quoting scripture.
We acknowledge Mary as being blessed as noted in Luke.
For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed (Luke 1:48).
That's as far as the Word takes it.
We don't see the pronouns in caps in the New Testament writings.
Again, another example of catholicism giving Mary more than she's entitled.
Stopped reading right there.
Jesus started Christianity.
Catholics tend to not capitalize the word *Bible* either.
“Those that speak of “interpretation” blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
The word of God tells us that it is to be read, not interpreted. The Holy Spirit (if he is with you) interprets as the word is read.”
This is fundamentalism. It is an intellectual position shared by the Wahabbis - that scripture is divinely protected from alteration, and that every word is literally true. It is an act of faith, in defiance of easily demonstrable facts. It can lead to extreme conclusions, when logic and judgement are suspended, or deemed to be overridden by divine authority.
There are conflicts in scripture. There are varied versions. There are non-literal allegorical statements in scripture, like the parables told by Jesus. Translations between languages are less 100% accurate (Aramaic to Hebrew to Greek to Latin to English). There are timelines (like the flood) which don’t hold up to archeological evidence. Councils of people selected what was to be included and excluded. Meanings and usage change over time. If I were to note in my journal in 1970 that someone was cool, by 2570 a reader might think it miraculous that their body temperature was abnormally low.
You (anyone) must interpret words to comprehend their meaning. If you insist that you absolutely understand the scripture correctly, you are claiming to know God’s mind - quite a bit of hubris in that.
What if that bit about scripture is to be read, rather than interpreted, was added by a doctrinaire cleric hundreds of years after Christ, who was in tiff arguing with someone over meaning, and wanted to shut down debate? It is a circular argument to say that you must accept the absolute authority of a document, based on the document itself. So if that one element is not valid, than the whole fundamentalist approach to forming conclusions from scripture (AKA interpretation) would be without basis.
Ultimately, if your conclusions (interpretations) are not based sound judgement rooted in consistent morality, you can arrive at many harmful conlusions
BTW who did Jesus think was the most important person born of women??....UMMMMM not Mary .... Mat 11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than JohnI would've put this in my last post, but I only just remembered that according to Galatians 4:4, the Son of God was "born of a woman." I am not claiming that Jesus was saying that John the Baptist was greater than the Son of God, but it's interesting to remember."...notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Interpretations of this verse vary, though I doubt that many teach that John the Baptist is not in the kingdom of heaven.)
The citation was in what I quoted. I intended the ellipsis to mean that I posted the rest of the same verse:
Mat 11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John"...notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
I’ll try again.......
In post 135 you complaining that someone used the term *ignorant* in regard to Catholics.
That is ironic in light of the fact that Catholics have no qualms about calling others *ignorant*.
You have no basis for complaint when someone uses the VERY SAME TERM about Catholics that Catholics use about others.
Why would it be OK for Catholics to call others *ignorant* but NOT OK for others to call Catholics ignorant?
Could you explain the double standard?
Then why attribute to Mary the attributes of deity, godhood?
Thank you!!!!
Although you weren't addressing me, I'll try again too (if you missed it, my first time was at post #200).
These uses are not exactly the very same term: the "same" word can be used in different ways, some more "neutral," some more "negative," some more "positive." For example, if I were to say "Aristotle was ignorant of sex chromosomes," I am probably not trying to insult Aristotle. If I were to say "you are ignorant" to someone, I am probably not trying to make a neutral statement about that person.
(And again, please be careful about using that type of reasoning. Otherwise, "you have no basis for complaint when someone uses the VERY SAME TERM about ['Protestants'--or any other group] that ['Protestants'--or any other group] use about others." Having dipped my toe into the rich history of what passes for religious debate in our world, I wonder if all this could be a problem.)
Mindreading is against the guidelines in the RF, so expecting readers to do so isn’t proper.
Book, chapter and verse please when quoting scripture
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.