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Sorry I never saw this post

I listened at mass, I followed a missal and did all the prayers by rote as they were taught.

I am a graduate of Catholic schools,

Before I left the church I was teaching classes and giving retreats.

I may know more Catholic doctrine than you do :)

Why do you think we cross ourselves on the forehead, lips and heart, we are asking that the Word is in our minds, on our lips and in our hearts. Or that we ponder the Word, speak the Word and accept it into our hearts.

The word can not be in your mind unless you put it there. Then God has to move it to your heart. Making little crosses on your forehead and chest does not do it .

One can not "ponder" the word if it is not in front of them to ponder

I also know and knew lots of Baptists, Methodists and kids from every faith who never felt the need to read the Bible. It doesn't mean it wasn't there and present through their church services and the lives of the faithful if they cared to listen. I know a lot of Catholics who say what you say, but they obviously didn't feel called to do the hard work it took to find about what their faith really taught

There are many many unsaved men , women and children in Protestant churches. They go to church for reasons similar to Catholics, family tradition, obligation, business contacts or friends or because they think going to church makes them good people God will save. One of the marks of regeneration is a longing for the word of God, to understand and learn more about God. The elect want the word of God to make them grow and to discipline them .

The non elect listen to a verse and say "how nice" never even understanding it. Being Protestant is no guarantee of salvation, but evangelical protestant churches are a great place to learn about God and grow to maturity for the saved

I have seen 2 citations in the last day of the scripture about mother's milk and eating meat but do they even consider that there comes a time when we have to find our own meal or die, that along with no longer needing mother's milk that we grow and provide our own food? That the mother who sustained us expects us to do something for ourselves.

And my friend you need to look beyond your 'mother church" and find that meat of scripture for yourself

I've read your posts and you seem to want me and others to listen to your interpretation of the Bible and believe the faith that you are in now. Then you say that you were a Catholic and didn't hold a Bible until you were 30. If not why not? If someone informed you wrongly why didn't you ask questions until you found the truth? Why do you believe that you didn't read the Bible, even if it wasn't in a compiled Bible. I remember scripture from church services before I knew how to read. Why didn't you ponder the Word every week or read it in the missal?

I am a calvinist, I do not believe that most people will even understand what I am saying, let alone accept it. I do like the words of paul here "Who then is Paul, and who [is] Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

We are called to spread seeds. The only ground they will grow in is Ground prepared by God to receive it

The Catholic church never encouraged scripture study, Bibles were seen as subversive in a way. A friend tells me when she told a priest she was reading her bible and was "born again" he told her to throw out the bible because one can not be a bible believer and a Catholic .She left the church that day. Yes i read the readings in the missal , but the readings are disjointed and out of context . It is not until one cross references and starts to look at the greek and hold EVERY WORD as important that one sees the depth of scripture or its message

Now, I'm going to shock you. I don't think that I NEED the Bible, personally to be saved. I believe that it contains all the information I need to be saved, I believe that it is the inspired Word of God, I believe that it is infallible, I believe that it is an incredible gift, I believe I can draw unbelievable wisdom from it, I believe I can draw closer to God by reading it but I also believe that God could save me if I had never heard of the Bible, if I couldn't see, or hear or think or if it had never been.

Could you be saved without the gospel? Are the jews saved? the muslims? Buddhists? Where do you draw that line ?

I do not believe that a bible is necessary for salvation. BUT one does need the gospel . In China there is one town where all they have is the gospel of John. They have torn it up and shared it among home churchs. They memorize each piece when it comes. THAT is a mark of regeneration

If I believed that one had to have the Bible to be saved, I would have to believe that Peter and Paul aren't in heaven because they never saw the Bible

They had the OT which fully reveals the gospel. Note that most of their teachings are based on it, so it is an error to believe they did not have scriptures. Also Peter told the church that Pauls letters were scripture. So the early church did have scripture.

and Paul didn't see Christ when he walked this earth. I would have to believe that all those early Christians are lost in some limbo and they will never see the face of God (because surely they wouldn't be in hell)

The early church fathers believed limbo was a merciful part of hell BTW

because they didn't read a Bible

Again they did have a bible. If you really read it you know that much of the NT is OT quotes. On the road to Emasas Christ taught them the truth of the OT prophecy .

If it wasn't written it would still be true. If I couldn't avail myself of the Bible, it would still be true,

But you would not know it would you?

God alone saves, the Bible is a gift to his people in written form. It is an aid to our salvation and it teaches us, but it does not save, God does.

We only know that because of the scripture. The Bible is not optional to the saved. If Christ stood in your living room and was talking to you, would say you had to run to Target to get soda? That people do not hunger and thirst for the word of God speaks to their eternal condition IMHO.