Y'shua is speaking:b'shem Y'shuaRevelation 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead,
and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
?
"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.
"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.
If I read the bible and pretend that I can speak Aramaic, will I be saved?
Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven...
His words are like a lamp at my feet.
Correct. They are Jesus' keys. And He *chose* to give them to St. Peter and his successors. "I will give you (Peter) the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and *whatsoever* you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and *whatsoever* you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
If you give me the keys to *your* house and then leave, do I not have control over it? Am I not held accountable by you for what goes on inside it, while at the same time trusted with its upkeep? Can I not allow people into it of my choosing?? Am I not in charge? Notwithstanding that, is it not still *your* house?
Jesus said the words I quoted from Matthew 16:19 for a reason. They are not empty words or spoken merely to sill out the future New Testament. He DID give an Apostle such power. Jesus is also, being God, omniscient. He knew His Church would last considerably beyond the time of Peter's lifespan. His power was given to his successor and all subsequent successors to the present day, for the benefit of each Christian generation that has come after the original one.
A share in this "binding and loosing" power of St. Peter was given to the other Apostles by Jesus in Matthew 18:18. Their successors are our bishops.
The pope and the bishops have the fullness of the priesthood of Christ. Having the power to bind and to loose, they exercise it, in part, through the power to grant indulgences. That abuses of this process have surfaced at times historically is a different issue from saying that the power does not exist. All of the Apostles, and all of their successors, are prone to sin through their damaged human nature. Nevertheless, they still exercise their ministries. We are not Donatists!