Posted on 09/28/2005 4:44:24 PM PDT by NYer
Are you a parent? How do you judge whether you kid is good? Do you expect perfection? Neither does God, and we are God's children (adopted) as a result of Baptism. We are under a different system - the system of Grace, not the Law. Under the Law, men try to earn their way to heaven by attempting to perfectly fulfill the law. Under the system of Grace, God views us as children. If we please Him with faith and good deeds, He will judge us as righteous (which is not from ourselves but relies on our cooperation with His grace).
I agree that we are the children of God.
Do you posit a time when you shall cast any of your children away from you ... because they have not pleased you ?
Would you expect that God will be any less merciful to His children ?John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Are you serious? Those aren't Catholics! Did you think they were?
My you are gullible. Fooled you, didn't they?
They can call themselves anything that they want to, can't they?
If Kennedy said that he was an honest and decent human being, would you believe him? No, I thought not.
Just because he calls himself something, doesn't make it so.
Now, Let's make that list:
Pope John Paul II
Pope Benedict XVI
Sen. Rick Santorum
Mel Gibson
Gary Sinise
Okay.
Your turn...
To know history is to cease to be a Protestant. Liberalism is the stepdaughter of Protestantism.
Is that why Protestants are more likely to vote Republican and Catholics are more likely to vote Democratic?
they have a firm grasp of their Catholic faith.
they know their faith well enough to articulate it to a non-Catholic, using scripture and the Church fathers.
they have the maturity to realize that the most profound presence of Christ isn't necessarily found in the midst of loud noise and high emotion, but in quiet moments like Eucharistic adoration (see 1 Kings 19:11-12).
Unfortunately, the majority of Catholic men born after WWII don't meet the above conditions. For them, attending Protestant functions may be opening a door that will lead them right out of the Catholic Church.
I heard Fr. Bob Levis say something profound on EWTN once: "most former Catholics were never really Catholic in the first place."
I think this is quite correct. Many Catholics are not properly instructed in the faith.
I've vaguely heard of this group. They are a God send. Thanks for the post. Please add me to your ping list.
I recently heard of a group of Catholic men who decided not to consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church in their small-group bible study. They believed that all they needed was scripture alone. Three of these men claimed that they no longer believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I can tell you from experience where this group is headed: straight out of the Catholic Church.
He could be quoting the mission statement of several 'small faith groups' in my area. Very sad. And easy to see that many, including some I knew as teachers and religious, are really only CINO's now.
Yeah, well "liberalism" brought us a constitutional republic. Of course, "liberalism" will likely be the cause of its destruction.
Excellant response. I am proud of you.
(this was not sarcasm either. I mean what I just said.)
Ugh!
If those two are heading up the Catholic list,
Bill and Hillary must be leading the Protestant faithful.
What??? No,no, no - thats where the mind control device is installed!
Fascinating article. As an ex-catholic, I found myself agreeing with most of what he said. An aspect he failed to mention is the horrendous guilt piled up on pubescent boys, told that even thinking bad thoughts, let alone masturbating, is a certain ticket to Hell. It's no fun spending several years certain of your own damnation. Embracing Athens too closely injected an unhealthy warped view of sexuality into the bloodstream of the Roman Catholic church. The veneration of virginity, especially as personified in the BVM, can seem to negate the sweetness and godliness of marital passion.
You omit the Reformed part of the family. Calvinists have always had a reverence for brain sweat, for the calling of the Christian scholar. When I backed reluctantly into the Calvinist camp, it was because of the array of real-world answers available therein. Like Catholics, Calvinists believe that God's Kingdom is bigger than the zone between our ears. That God's Kingdom is worth the best thinking, reading, and writing, that we can bring to the subject.
But where is the answer in this? One who dies in a state of friendship? That sounds more like what a liberal Protestant would say than anything else...are you sure this is what the Catholic Church would state if asked this simple question? I don't and I'm a Lutheran and from what other RCC'r's say this isn't the way to salvation...In fact, I'd be very leery of saying that if i'm in state of "friendship" I'm saved...there is no mention of faith in this at all and that I am certain that is necessary whether you are RCC or anything else...
This certainly makes it sound like be a friend of God and your in...I don't think that's the best way to describe how one is saved, but that's just my opinion...
Blessings...
That sounds much better than that cut and paste thing...and that sounds almost Lutheran!
For better or worse, Pentecostalism is \the fastest growing religion in the world let alone segment of Christianity.
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