"But then, your disagreement with the Catholic Church is fundamental. In some ways, your belief is as incongruent with Catholic faith as that of John Kerry. On the crucial, non-negotiable question of the nature of God's Church, and Authority therein, you do not accept the teaching of the Catholic Church."
I am not like John Kerry at all. I discern and regard John Kerry as an unsaved and unredeemed individual. No one who embraces the things he does or lives like he does cannot be regarded as a Christian.
I am not like John Kerry at all. I discern and regard John Kerry as an unsaved and unredeemed individual.
Please, read what sitetest said.
He said your beliefs are incongruent with the Catholic faith, much like John Kerry's are. Nothing was said about whether or not you consider yourself "saved."
The point is that you pick and choose what of Catholicism you wishto hold as true. Kerry does the same. Neither is an approriate resonse for one who considers oneself Catholic.
Catholicism is not a smorgasbord.
SD
Dear DarthVader,
"I am not like John Kerry at all. I discern and regard John Kerry as an unsaved and unredeemed individual."
Well, I'm not happy about the external behavior of John Kerry, in a lot of different ways, but I'm hardly williing to judge the status of his soul. However, Mr. Kerry, like you, is a baptized Christian. Adopted into God's family through baptism, the graces of the Church are freely available to him. If he refuses those graces, he will be damned. If he accepts and cooperates with them, he will be saved. Likewise for you. I won't comment on whether you, or Mr. Kerry, accept or reject God's grace. That's above my paygrade by a considerable bit. I hope that you, and Mr. Kerry, do accept and cooperate with God's grace.
Mr. Kerry, like you, calls himself a Catholic, but does not seem to believe that to be a Catholic, one must believe what the Church infallibly teaches. Each of you appear to reject certain non-negotiable Catholic teachings, and each of you appear to accept others. You almost certainly differ in the particulars.
Between you and Mr. Kerry, the other differences are matters of degree, not kind.
sitetest