Posted on 12/08/2009 11:41:52 AM PST by Gamecock
Thank God the Catholic Church follows Christ.
It’s a sad state of affairs really. People don’t seem to be as civil anymore. Everybody is on edge and ready to jump on anybody for any stupid little reason.
I know what you mean when it comes to heaven forbid “understanding” someone. It is viewed as a weakness when you try to do that.
I am getting sick of all of the nonsense. We will get nowhere with shouting and name calling. You might as well just walk away from the discussion when that happens.
I worry that I might sound as though I am picking on Catholics when such is certainly not my intention. The problem is that, because of the cloud of sin that covers this world, we can have people with two very different views of Christ without truly knowing which is the objective truth. The objective truth does in fact exist; I’m not being a relativist here. But people have this great tendency to just assume that it is whatever they happen to believe and they think it ought to be obvious to those that truly do believe otherwise.
I believe Christ knows this and weeps. I honestly believe that the most important thing to Him is that we accept Him and follow Him to the best of our ability within our limited understanding of Him. I personally try to predicate my view on the very real possibility that I may in fact be wrong - if I am wrong, I hope to God that He will look upon my intentions and faith instead of my errors. Likewise, if I am to hope for such grace for myself, it is only reasonable that He will extend it to others with whom I disagree as well.
In the end, all we have that we can trust is God’s Mercy, upon which we are all utterly dependent. I think as Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians we can all agree on that.
Sola Scriptura is not in Scripture.
The founding of the Catholic Church, the pillar and ground of the Truth, however, IS in Scripture.
I meant to say, "Likewise, if I am to hope for such grace for myself, it is only reasonable to hope that He will extend it to others with whom I disagree as well."
That is a diplomatic nicety, since the Anglicans like to consider themselves Catholics of a sort.
I feel the same way sometimes. I too hope that I am on the right path. If I am not, I do hope that God in his infinite mercy will take the fact that I have worshiped him the way I have because I believe it to be the correct way and because I love him.
God Bless you for being such an open and honest person. (Sorry if that sounded sappy)
I don't have a Church. Are you referring to the Catholic Church? It is not mine, it is Christ's, as its founder and leader.
Nah, I’m not offended.
I simply prefer precision in these matters.
Precision is quite nice but, in this world in which our abilities to reason and think with perfect precision are tainted by the effects of sin, we ought to be careful not to expect as much as we might otherwise like. :-)
Oh, I’m tainted. That’s for sure. ;OD
No worries, FRiend, we all are but thankfully there’s quite a bit of hope for each of us yet. ;-)
Except for the Amish. As I mentioned earlier, I just don’t trust them with their funny hats and horse-drawn carriages.
*snort*
“Would believing Mary has the power to take people from purgatory to heaven be over the line?
Would believing Mary can cause prayers to get special attention be over the line?
Would believing Mary can listen to millions of prayers simultaneously and discern which are worthy of special attention be over the line?
Would believing Mary was born with out sin and never sinned be over the line?
Where does this line get drawn?”
If a Catholic believes any of those things can be done by Mary without the Grace of God, then yes, they are all over the line. But Catholics don’t believe that Mary can do anything without the Grace of God. If you believe Mary can do these thing on her own you get kicked out.
Freegards
You wrote, “Every church feels that it is the one true Church.”
I don’t believe that. I simply believe that *Christ* saves us, regardless of denominational affiliation. I lift of Christ, not my church.
See my comment #603, where I prove beyond a doubt that the Roman Catholic church considers itself “Roman.” There’s no wiggle room.
You really need to get beyond your fear of the truth and embrace the fact that you are not a mere “catholic” (as are *ALL* believers in Christ, as they are members of the Church universal), but you are “Roman Catholic.”
The Catholic Church calls itself--wait for it--the Catholic Church.
All believers in Christ are part of the Church universal, the Catholic Church.
I have no fear of the truth...you're a lousy mind-reader (not to mention it violates the rules.
...you are “Roman Catholic.”
Keep insisting that, it will still not be so. I've never even been to Rome.
Yes it is and I never said I didn’t believe in Baptism. I do and believe every Christian should be baptized. But notice the verse says first make disciples of Christ, then baptism next. But the Bible makes it clear that salvation is by accepting Christ as our Savior over and over.
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