"and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades. "
b'shem Y'shua
Thanks Xenia!!! Why do they forget that only God holds the keys of "death and Hades"?? Indulgences, Purgatory? LOL, no animosity, bashing, or ridicule intended. So, my question is this, does the Catholic Church really believe that their religious hierarchy are succesors to God and his apostles to be able to carry on and extend their own opinions? (such an astounding mingling of truth, lies and hypocrisy in my opinion.) This is new to me and sounds like heresy to me! (slow to understand).
So, I understand from one of the posts that Maryland was established as a Catholic state. That is interesting to me. Wonder why Catholics would come to the new world? is area I will do some reading about.
Me?. I'm a struggling christian. I am continually astounded by mere men who try to usurp the power of God for themselves. (No animosity intended, just statement of facts, trying to understand how Catholics and some Baptists, etc al. justify this claim to their relation to God in life.) Do Catholics believe the New Testament? (just wondering).
Of course, their lives are not my business to judge, but do get tired of hearing or reading judgments of my behavior, but "indulgences", sounds like during fall from grace of Egyptian Priests who sold oracles to people to protect them from bad stuff happening to them dynastys before Christ was born.
Xenia, you are so right on for me. Appreciate your posts.
Not only does the Catholic Church believe that the bishops are the successors of the apostles, but also the Orthodox Churches. They cannot add to the apostolic teachings, but can clarify them, due to the challenge of heresy.
So, I understand from one of the posts that Maryland was established as a Catholic state. That is interesting to me. Wonder why Catholics would come to the new world? is area I will do some reading about.
Catholics were in the New World long before the English Protestants arrived. The Spanish and the Portuguese were in the Southwest, Central, and South America for a hundred years before Jamestown. Maryland was founded by English Catholics so they could practice their religion without persecution. If you were a Catholic priest, you could be executed, and if you were a lay Catholic, you could be fined and thrown into jail.
Do Catholics believe the New Testament?
We certainly do. Our Church existed BEFORE the New Testament was compiled.
but "indulgences", sounds like during fall from grace of Egyptian Priests who sold oracles to people to protect them from bad stuff happening to them dynastys before Christ was born.
Read the article and you get a good explanation on the reason for indulgences.
Catholics live the New Testament.
Dear twidle,
JecIIny pointed out the basic reason for the founding of the proprietary colony of Maryland by Lord Baltimore; that Catholics could escape the religious persecution of Protestant Great Britain.
I will add that he caused the colony to pass the first religious tolerance act in history, permitting any Christian to take up residence in Maryland without any legal hindrance.
However, once Maryland became predominantly Protestant in a few generations, the religious tolerance act was repealed by Protestants, and the civil rights of Catholics were curtailed, including the loss of the right to hold public office, the loss of the ability of the Catholic Church to own its own parishes, and the loss of the right to say the Catholic Mass publicly.
We Catholics actually invented religious tolerance in the New World. Protestants took advantage of the religious tolerance that we provided in law. And then promptly, Protestants took away that religious tolerance from the Catholics who granted it to them.
No good deed goes unpunished.
sitetest