Posted on 08/27/2010 11:45:13 AM PDT by Hank Kerchief
“I do not buy that God creates evil and I have never been able to wrap my mind around Calvinistic predestination that makes us all puppets on a string who have no choice and that God made men for the express purpose of sending them to hell.”
God created the law of cause and effect that governs actions. Included in it is evil that carries in itself the seeds of its own destruction. That’s why Paul can say unreservedly “the wages of sin is death”.
You were the one, many threads back who made the claim (a) that married priests were not allowed, and (b) that you were Catholic and you knew what you were talking about.
It is true that I do not know when you abandoned the Catholic Church, and in the clearest sense it is not poor catechesis as such if you left before the chalice was made available. Did you leave in the 60's or early 70's? Did you care only enough about your religion to leave it, but not enough to find out what was going on and why?
However, the main point, that the authority you claimed for your statements was, well, not authoritative. That's the point you seem to miss. YOU claimed authority. But evidently you did not know what many knew, that many many things changed in the Catholic Church's practice in the '70's and '80's. So you assumed that things had not changed.
And you made a further error, which can be blamed on your catechesis: You confused doctrine with discipline. It is a matter of Catholic doctrine that women cannot be ordained. It is a matter of discipline whether the chalice is offered or whether married men can be priests.
So your catechesis ahd not taught you an important discipline.
Now, you can mock me for continuing to mention the issue of the chalice, but you evidently do not see that the claim that you must be believed because of your experience does not go well with, "Well, maybe things have changed," unless you add, "so I guess maybe you don't really have to believe me."
Your post 4757 this thread, addresses this issue:
So, all the priests can now go out and get married? And priests entering the priesthood can get married and do not have to take a vow of celibacy?
It certainly appears that you are questioning that the Church has married priests. Perhaps I am mistaken...
"...evil that carries in itself the seeds of its own destruction." Amen!
Satan is a created being; created by God. If God wants evil to cease to exist, all He has to do is knock off Satan.
But He doesn't. Clearly Satan serves a purpose of God, just as everything in this world serves a purpose of God.
"With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his." -- Job 12:16
Got it. Thank you for the instruction.
Where in my post do I say or imply that “God sins?”
No, it’s questioning whether the Catholic church allows priests to marry, which has already been addresses.
MD has made it clear just in recent posts that under certain extenuating circumstances that married priests have been permitted but that it is not the norm and that they are not permitted to marry or remarry once they are priests.
The RCC’s policy is for a celibate priesthood, which is pretty generally known.
Irresistible grace says that if God wants a man to be a member of His family, and if God sends the Holy Spirit to convict that man of his sins and give that man new eyes and new ears and a heart of flesh and a renewed mind...if God does all that, it is only logical and definitely Scriptural that that man will be brought to a saving faith in Christ.
Unless you think a man's frP>God determines who is among His family. Not men. Men don't rebirth themselves. It is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, accomplished according to the will of God and not men.
The RCC works to keep its members ignorant of this blessed fact. You did not choose God. God choose you and enabled you to come to Him in faith.
You did indeed "address the issue" in 4757 with your question. I have no objection if you wish to deny what you did.
Yeah. What I said.
It is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, accomplished according to the will of God and not men.
Once again, my foreknowledge is shown to be correct: You remove man and free will completely from the equation.
lolol. That's not what the Scriptures tell us.
ALL MEN are slaves to sin unless and until God regenerates their fallen nature and gives them new ears and new eyes and a heart of flesh and a renewed mind, all of which will bring that man into the light of Christ so that he becomes a spiritual man capable of understanding the things of God.
We are created only to be the billiard balls on God’s pool table.
If you're a slave to sin, it's all God's fault. Every sin you commit is God's fault.
Today is the Exaltation of the Cross and my parish has a piece of the True Cross(tm) which I was privileged to reverence at Mass this evening. That has nothing to do with this, but on the way to Mass an event occurred which I begged God that I would have the opportunity to relate.
God provided.
Five children ages 4-10 in the back of the van. What follows is what I heard:
--------------------------------
You KICKED me!
CAR MAX!
Daddy
tell him to stop
McDonalds!
KICKING ME!
FAKE CHURCH!
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmmm
She brought TWO things
yeah well you brought your BEAR
with her in the car, I did NOT!
She did too, is grandma coming tonight
You know what I want for my birthday a small box we can teleport in.
dooobydooobydooo
Is this rush hour? It's taking LONGER than an hour.
Poor dog.
Is !!!EVERYONE!!! going to Mass?
STOPPPPPPPPPPP HUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMIINGG!
Why are all the Protestants on the road if they're not going to Mass?
Is that a turkey license plate?
Can we eat other food at dinner or just what we're bringing?
What's an apparent ice?
GET OFF THE ROAD HEATHENS!
We're never gonna get there.
I'm hungry
Everyone is from here or Ohio.
When's dinner are we eating in the Gym or the hall?
Ok, what's an apprentice?
Turn here, THIS is taking forever!
I wanted to eat in the hall
-------------------------------------
So yeah, half an hour of that and I turned to my wife and said "Shoot me now I'm driving the Freep religion forum to Mass."
God's goodness is enjoyed by all men. The rain falls on the just and the condemned.
But saving grace is only given to those whom God has called to Himself.
Or else all men would be saved.
Does God give all men the same amount of grace? --> No.
Why not? Why doesn't God give all men enough grace to bring them to Christ? Is He rationing it? Saving it up for the long winter?
God gives enough grace to open all men's eyes and ears, yes
No, He doesn't or all men would understand the truth and believe.
Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." -- John 12:38-40. "...to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Who is the "He" in that verse? It is the Lord.
Does God give all men new eyes and new ears? Are the minds of all men renewed by the Holy Spirit? Have all men been given a heart of flesh to take the place of their heart of stone?
No.
No.
No.
Those gifts are given to whom God wills for His own purpose and glory. Men cannot boast (even though some still do.)
But what about the guy next door who is filled with doubts and cannot bring himself to believe? God clearly didn't "give him what he needs."
Get it?
I'm not "developing a personal attack." I am quoting you verbatim and asking you about the words you posted.
DR.E: God threw (Paul) to the ground, caused him to tremble and then blinded him.
D-FENDR: It took much less to get my attention.
So I'll ask you again because I find your comment to be most curious. Why did it take "much less" for God "to get your attention" than it did for God to get Paul's attention?
LOL
Wait until you hit the teen years.
I remember all of that-—and my oldest is now 59. Just think what it was like in our “Catholic car” (my daughter’s description of our station wagon) when there was no seat belt law and the gang didn’t have any restraints to modify their behavior.
One thing we did do—we would sing when we were in the car. All of us would sing. That is one of the happiest memories I have in my old age.
OK—back to the FR religion forum war zone. No time to go slack—the thread isn’t long enough yet.
I think we would need a new aphorism for your reality:
You can bring a horse to water, but if he doesn't drink, you didn't give him enough water.
God dispenses His grace. God's grace is what brought you and me to faith. Why doesn't God give more grace to those who have not come to faith?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.