And since there is no scriptural basis for Mary's having anything to do with our redemption except historically being the mother of Jesus, why make up this superstition? What does it add to what Jesus has already accomplished for our salvation?
We ask Mary to pray for our salvation to Christ, thus God, and to intercede with him directly on our behalf. Mary was very important in the earliest days of the Church, and helped bring others to Christ her son. It may not explicitly outline Mary's place in Scripture, but that is where Church tradition comes into play. The Church was around before the New Testament was written down. They followed the Torah, and what Christ instructed them to do after his ascension. Many Catholic practices and "rituals" came about during this transitional time period. They would not have written in the practices of their Christian faith at that time, as it is not the Word of God, but rather works that the Lord wants them to do.
In regards to the vicarious and participatory natures/views of Catholicism and Protestantism, I think that derives from Jesus saying, "go and sin no more". I believe here, Jesus forgave Mary of Magdalene of all her past transgressions, but wants her do avoid doing more sin. Yes, Christ's crucification has redeemed us all, but as a matter of punishment, some will burn in hell far longer than others if they don't actively live up to what Christ wants of them. That is where the participatory aspects comes into play, to confess our sins, and join them to our lords for reconciliation, and for punishment, and thus forgiveness. I believe being strictly vicarious is what has led so many Protestant denominations into liberalism and apostasy.
Yet they don't understand the appeal of "once saved always saved" Protestantism. They can understand every religion on earth except that of the Bible Belt.
That whole paragraph is a matter of faith. I believe that everyone will end up being saved, but because of their sins (especially those committed with intentional malice) will go to hell to pay for what they have done, and for nor repenting. Christ saved us, but we have to earn it, or keep up our end of the bargain so to speak. It is dangerous to go around thinking that one can do what they want, because they are already saved. To me, that is a slap in the face of the Lord, and is very hypocritical. Too many Christians have succumb to that, and that is why Catholics have the outlook that they do.
Your synergia argument swings both ways, and it seems we look at each other as being "like the Jews", or being the new pharisees. Again, it's a matter of an outlook of faith. As a Catholic, I believe that through the power of the keys that Christ gave to Peter (thus the power to bind and loose), the Church is the vessel to my salvation in Christ, through him, with him, and in him, with the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Like you, I don't like the name calling. I wish people would avoid making inflammatory comments to people of other denominations. I leave other denominational threads alone, but I am a reactionary when my Church is unfairly attacked, and I try to defend her in my limited capacity. I don't mind theological debates at all, but the trolling and deliberate ignorance of many of the posters angers me. We all have more in common than we think, we believe in the same Lord, but have different ways of doing so. Live and let live is what we should be doing, and in fact, we should be allying ourselves against Islam.
If I am not on later to respond, have a happy 4th of July.
I may have quoted this statement, but I didn't make it, so part of your post should be aimed at someone else other than me.
Your universalism is actually heretical, but at least your belief in universal salvation is more internally consistent than a J*sus who is the redeemer of the human race but fails to assure the salvation of any individuals.
There is one point that for some reason doesn't seem to be getting through. You defend Catholic ritual and ceremonial and that is all well and good. But the fact is that Catholicism at its foundation utterly rejects Jewish ritual and ceremonial, most of which can actually be found right in the Bible. Traditional Catholic apologetics insists that Jewish ritual is "empty," "vain," "of none effect," and even "doctrines and commandments of men" (again, in spite of being found right in the Bible!). So the point is, why do you not understand people who apply the exact same logic to your ritual and ceremonial that you apply to the Jewish ritual and ceremonial?
According to Catholicism tefillin (authorized in four different passages in the Torah) is superfluous to a chr*stian. Why aren't rosary beads equally superfluous?
Please try to understand that question.