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I KNEW I shouldn't have stuck with the "House" analogy. As I was typing, I could see this response coming - foolish of me to continue anyway.

That was probably the Holy Spirit warning you! haha

Okay, so what's the Church? The Catholic organization, or the corporate body of individual believers whether or not they decide to be Catholic?

Back again to 'wherever two or three are gathered in My name...'

I'm really liking this debate by the way.

Sneaky sneaky, that Holy Spirit. I was running late, and wanted to get it out, and rushed through His warnings. It's like He was...trying to preserve me from error! ;-)

Well, I hate to break it to you (and any lurkers who might be reading) but any believer who is baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a member of the Catholic Church, according to the Church's teaching. Bwahahahahaha.

Because of this, I don't see a distinction between the Catholic organization and the whole body of individual believers in Christ. And I really do believe that Jesus is present when two or three gather in His name, He is there. However, I think that the pride of men also gets in the way many times. How else can you explain the myriad of interpretations of Scripture? They can't all be right - Jesus is the immutable Truth of the Universe, and is constant. Truth is truth, and it does not change to fit people's conceptions.

I'm loving this debate - it's helping me focus my thoughts and you've given me some good questions to ponder and pray about!