[HarleyD]

Good. You do think that's a good thing, right?

Absolutely. Surprised? If Catholics truly believe in all this stuff coming from Rome over the years, then by all means they should defend it. If some Catholic wants to try to reconcile Vatican 1 and Vatican 2 go ahead. I would simply add that they better be very clear they are basing this upon some sort of scriptural interpretation and not just, "He said that he said that he said that he said...". The early church fathers frequently referred to scriptures to support their arguments. I don't see that level of scriptural commitment from today's Catholics. All I see is, "The Vatican told me so."

I'm aware of the problems of syncretism and nativism in third world countries. It's not just a problem for Catholics, either. The problem has been around as long as there have been missionaries.

Sure. The difference is when Protestants encounter these problems we quickly denounce it. When Catholics encounter these problems they either 1) ignore it, 2) defend their Catholic brothers (as is here), or 3) incorporate it into the mass (as they did with the Chinese dragon or Hindu customs). Protestants are often accused of having 20,000+ denominations. One of the reasons is that when we see worshipers behaving in such a fashion contrary to scripture, we leave; we don't shrug our shoulders.

That's what the discussion is about here. Romanists, harlots, idolatry, demonic - the usual - and I'm not sure if it's done for sport or for spite, but it sure isn't IMO (so I'm not changing my mind) done for love. Shame on them.

Love can come in many forms.

Pro 23:13 Do not withhold correction from a boy, for if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.

That too is a form of love.

[Quix]

Love can come in many forms.

Pro 23:13 Do not withhold correction from a boy, for if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.

That too is a form of love.

Praise God at least one authentic Bro hereon can see the truth of that.

What loving purpose can my fiesty fierce provocative postings serve?

1. They tend to be more memorable than polite phrasings. Holy Spirit has a bit of an easier, longer time with which to work to filter the truth of them into an individual's spirit, psyche, . . .

2. They are not so easily, glibly, mindlessly passed over as inconsequential, uninteresting, dry, shallow chaff.

3. They are not so intellectually erudite and pontifical in an elitest fashion. They are more practically toned in a down-to-earth and PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE sort of character which resonates with the realities of the common person and their daily experiences in the real world.

4. They tend to naturally niggle away at someone until some significant amount of thought has transpired--particularly, as noted above, with Holy Spirit's aid in making sure such occurs.

5. They may even provoke a lot of Scriptural searching and study--which I greatly like.

6. Sometimes, they lay bare the illusory, maybe deluded intents of the heart as bankrukpt, shallow, idolatrous, lacking.

7. They are not so easy to rationalize and glibly side-step. Certainly it can be done in a surface way and fairly quickly . . . but deeper in the psyche and soul, spirit, it doesn't wash so easily. And more wrestling occurs.

8. The emotions they trigger can foster a lot of angst and soul-searching resulting therefrom. Such soul searching more easily lends itself to searching Scriptures than may otherwise occur.

Of course, such is not guaranteed and one size doesn't fit all. Mileage may also vary. Nevertheless, I know the above to be very true, because I've been on the receiving end of such quite a lot in my life with such results being quite fruitful in my life.

There are other aspects of usefulness to The Lord but I'll stop there.