Posted on 06/24/2007 12:58:20 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
due to a lessened sense of sin and need for repentance?
As a Catholic, I think it is this answer that explains it more. As society has accepted so much that used to be a sin, people find themselves being good and not having any faults. For example, murder would be a sin, but sex with different people is no longer considered a sin in America.
Interesting that you would think that Deliver us from Evil would be associated with the Catholic Church because of a few priests who were sinful.
I think the same way as you do with the Evangelicals/Protestants when I watch Jesus Camp. Is that representative of your religion??????????
Knock it off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Further evidence of controvertialist motivations can be found in post 81, where the thread originator (for the umpteenth time) creates an artificial argument about allegations concerning the number of Protestant denominations in this country. The often cited 33,000 figure was used by someone, and he then makes a big deal out of “variations” on that number in earlier threads, apparently unable to distinguish rounding (”30,000”) and hyperbole (”a million”) in the examples he cites.
This type of continued intra-Christian sniping is outstanding witness to the many seekers wading through these threads, I’m sure! It’s one thing to disagree on theological particulars within a thread; it’s something else again to *initiate* threads whose purpose is to denigrate particular brands of Christianity that differ from the thread poster’s. That’s childish.
Ping me the next time you attack me, please.
* due to more people confessing sin directly without a human mediator, or is it
* due to a lessened sense of sin and need for repentance?
Given the overall free-fall of our society into the sewer of secular relativism/atheism/agnosticism, the percentages make sense. The more we suckle at the teat of the mass media/pop culture, the lower the sense of guilt and sin. It certainly didn't help that, institutionally, the American (and European) Catholic Church went into a self-induced spiritual atrophy which made the unfortunate departure of countless adherents go unchallenged.
This has all been foretold, at any rate. As mankind delves deeper and deeper into the horror of sin, the Church will become smaller and smaller. The "outer court" will be cast out (Rev. 11:2), but the inner court - the remnant of faithful still in the temple - will be preserved until the Day of Judgment.
I wasn't aware that Catholic eschatology/interpretation of Revelation described a "shrinking church". That sounds more like the evangelicals' dispensationalist views than the Amillennialism I had expected from the Catholic Church. Can you go into more detail/provide any resources to better my understanding?
I should be glad to in the future, but consider the omission in this instance to be something of a parable.
Just as you take exception to what you consider blindsiding references to you, so, too, consider that sometimes people take exception to blindsiding references to what they hold dear. The offenses are at least equal in any circumstance; when they involve religion, the disparity grows.
You have no personal stake in the topic matter discussed on this thread. It is hardly flattering to one particular group of Christians, of which you are not a member. You know many Catholics on this forum. If you seek honest discussion of the issue (and I admit you are far less egregious in your bias than many overt anti-Catholics who post here), wouldn’t it be better to give a heads-up on this to a Catholic member and invite them to post it with the option of caucusing it? Posting negatively slanted stories about other denominations leaves the poster open to questions of motive; far less acrimony finds its way onto these threads when the same subject matter is proposed for discussion by a member whose confession it directly concerns. We would *all* give better witness on these threads if we gave each other the courtesy of “first right of refusal” for posting threads involving negative stories or stereotypes of our widely varying denominational foundations. Just a thought.
Which explains all of those FReepmails that I get from Catholics, giving me "first right of refusal" on their threads and posts giving "negative stories or stereotypes" about Protestants and Evangelicals.
If you really want to find a better witness on the Forum, then give a better witness. Stop trying to douse a perceived fire with gasoline. Stop second-guessing peoples' motivations. Stop the personal attacks, based upon said second-guessing. Follow the Religion Moderator's posting rules.
Are you a Catholic?
I think convenience plays a big role in this trend.
There is a church in downtown Hartford that has confession at 11:30 am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. People generally walk there during their lunch break. I typically drive there about once a month when the timing is right. There is ALWAYS a line, and often the line has more than 20 people in it.
An emerging confession style that is attracting interest -- and the scorn of Catholic leaders -- replaces the whisper of priests with the click-clack of computer keys. Protestant churches and secular groups have created Web sites that let users anonymously cyber-dish their confessions to the world.
And what confessions! -snip-
You probably won't find any murderers coming clean on confession Web sites like the evangelical service www.mysecret.tv.
But you will find a husband who leads a double life of secret gay hookups. A man disgusted by his addiction to masturbation. A recovering drug addict who molested his little brother.
IMO, a caucus designation for this article would have been inappropriate, because it included "confessions" by some non-Catholics.
Discuss the issues all you want, but do NOT make it personal.
Confession at least once a year is one of the 7 precepts of the Church. If a man hasn't been to confession in the last year, he should no longer be considered Catholic.
You'll get no argument from me. Of course, if they did so, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops couldn't boast of having the largest body of Christians in the United States any longer.
Roman Catholics total 64 million in U.S. ["counting Catholics is really more art than science"]
I found the statement of people failing to report deaths to the Church in that article somewhat interesting. If people aren’t going to a Catholic Priest for last rites & their family members don’t have a Priest involved in the burial, it would be hard to argue that the dead individual or their family was Catholic.
I traced some links back to the group responsible and it was either commissioned by,or established by non-Catholic Christians. No question that Catholics have used that data to support some of their points but please know that those figures were not gathered by a Catholic group originally.
What group do you believe to be responsible? If you could provide those details behind the origin/pedigree of the "30,000 denominations" claim, it would be greatly appreciated. I have only seen it postulated by Catholics myself (and, as you saw, it's all over the map).
Catholics, encourage the lapsed to go to confession. I see almost everyone go to communion without any regard to their sinful state.
The use of the confessional box came much later than the apostals
I disagree with the Catholic churches reading of this Scripture.The is an ecclesiastical gift dealing with the process of excommunication ( which we do read later in scripture)
But let say your reading is correct..where in scripture does Jesus say
they could pass on any of the gifts given for the building of the church
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