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I anticipated your response, which was to explain to me why, despite my experience to the contrary, the Holy Spirit didn't really come to me before I believed in Jesus.

That's not what I said or implied at all. I accept your testimony that the Holy Spirit 'knocked on your hearts door' when you were an unbeliever. When you opened the door, and He 'came into your heart' you ceased being an unbeliever.

My point was that there is a difference between hearing the Holy Spirit and being sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It was a conscious decision, based on the fact that it's a waste of time to argue with a fellow whose position boils down to, "who are you gonna believe, me or your lyin' eyes?" And, as expected, that was precisely how you responded.

Well, that's not what I posted. I'm not asking anyone to believe me, I'm asking people to look at what the Word of God says, that's why I post the verses. My words may have the wrong take or angle, but the Word of God has the power of the Holy Spirit with it. Reject me. Fine. Reject the Word of God, and that is between you and God.

It's never been a secret, and although it's completely irrelevant to the topic of the thread, I finally "confessed" to being a traditional Anglican above.

I was following your dialog with Dr.E. and I couldn't find any place that stated your denomination. After I posted to you, I saw where you gave it up. I just think it's helpful to understand where people are coming from.

Now, you didn't ask me my background, but I'll give you it anyway. I classify myself as a Protestant. I attend a Wesleyan Methodist Church. I'm not a 5 point Calvinist mainly due to my understanding on predistination. If you want more details you will have to ask.

Ah, yes. So you're setting yourself up as the Reformed version of a Scientology Auditor, to gauge the accuracy and correctness of my conversion experience. That's a step up from "high inquisitor." Much higher-tech.

No, not at all. I have no way to gauge the "accuracy and correctness" of your conversion experience. If you say that you are saved, that's fine by me. Ultimately, it's between you and God. My opinion matters not one iota. What I was talking about is the effectiveness of your arguments over doctrine.

BTW, tying me to high tech is actually pretty funny if you really knew me. (I'm not very high tech at all.)

Now, you didn't ask me my background, but I'll give you it anyway. I classify myself as a Protestant. I attend a Wesleyan Methodist Church. I'm not a 5 point Calvinist mainly due to my understanding on predistination. If you want more details you will have to ask.

I don't want details, and I don't particularly care about your denomination. It is not important, really, because we're both members of the Body of Christ. It only becomes a problem if you begin elevating denomination, and minor doctrinal differences, above membership in the Body.

And here's the deal: everything you're stating as a reason for opposing Catholicism, is a minor difference. You agree with your Catholic opponents on everything that matters. They keep pointing it out to you ... and you keep ignoring what they say.

No, not at all. I have no way to gauge the "accuracy and correctness" of your conversion experience.

And yet I told you that the Spirit was there before I believed in Jesus Christ, and you undertook to "correct" me.

There was no qualitative change in my sense of the Holy Spirit, before and after -- there is no apparent difference to me between what you differentiate as "knocking" and "indwelling." From my perspective you're offering nothing more than a rather arid academic/theological distinction that has very little contact with the real world.