Posted on 10/31/2010 11:59:22 AM PDT by RnMomof7
W. Wrinkles & Doolotz- Clown Communion Service, Westminster Presbyterian Church
Yeah; this old sinner had them all fooled! Seriously, it was one of those Liturgies when I'm very happy that I am an Orthodox Christian.
This is who we are, cyc. Asceticism in many ways defines us. It explains why my participation in the Divine Liturgy of +Basil the Great last evening was a delight for me. The West, especially the Protestant West, knows nothing of this. You have your ways and we have ours. This snip from a very holy monastic and "patriotis" of Kosta lays this out as well as I have ever seen it. "..among our people there exists an ascetic spirit as created by Orthodoxy through the centuries. The Orthodox soul of our people leans towards the Holy Fathers and the Orthodox ascetics. Ascetic exertion, at the personal, family, and parish level, particularly of prayer and fasting, is the characteristic of Orthodoxy. Our people is a people of Christ, an Orthodox people, because -- as Christ did -- it sums up the Gospel in these two virtues: prayer and fasting. And it is a people convinced that all defilement, all foul thoughts, can be driven out of man by these alone [Matt. 17:21]. In its heart of hearts our people know Christ and Orthodoxy, they know just what it is that makes an Orthodox person Orthodox. Orthodoxy will always generate ascetic rebirth. She recognizes no other." +Justin Popovich
""monkish asceticism"
This is who we are, cyc. Asceticism in many ways defines us. It explains why my participation in the Divine Liturgy of +Basil the Great last evening was a delight for me. The West, especially the Protestant West, knows nothing of this. You have your ways and we have ours. This snip from a very holy monastic and "patriotis" of Kosta lays this out as well as I have ever seen it.
"..among our people there exists an ascetic spirit as created by Orthodoxy through the centuries. The Orthodox soul of our people leans towards the Holy Fathers and the Orthodox ascetics. Ascetic exertion, at the personal, family, and parish level, particularly of prayer and fasting, is the characteristic of Orthodoxy. Our people is a people of Christ, an Orthodox people, because -- as Christ did -- it sums up the Gospel in these two virtues: prayer and fasting. And it is a people convinced that all defilement, all foul thoughts, can be driven out of man by these alone [Matt. 17:21]. In its heart of hearts our people know Christ and Orthodoxy, they know just what it is that makes an Orthodox person Orthodox. Orthodoxy will always generate ascetic rebirth. She recognizes no other." +Justin Popovich
Room for individuality is its strength, dontchaknow?
Happy New Year
Right, it's a belief, an assumption if you will. But as far as the Bible is concerned, the only words attributed to God are a priori those that are quoted as such, i.e. that "come out of the mouth of God".
Paul, for his part, did not specify what (of which) books constitute scripture. On several occasions, he states that what he is saying are his own commandments and "not the commandments of the Lord".
Even he realized the difference.
And you?
Isn't that what you lawyers do for a living? :)
Seriously, it was one of those Liturgies when I'm very happy that I am an Orthodox Christian
That's why they call it Divine. :)
Is that a clown saying "take, eat all of you..."? How Christian is this?
Answering a question with a question....just another tactic frequently seen, common more for some than others.
Does he? Paul says he has a personal testimony of Christ. He also say that some things he wrote are his own and not the commandments of the Lord.
While his pinging me provides numerous opportunities to ignore him at times I have to laugh out loud
cyc, I am glad it pleases you to think you are ignore me (although you are not). I am pinging you only out of courtesy, according to the RF rules.
say=says
Very profound. What else can one say but question when someone claims to see and "understand" things they are apparently unable prove, describe or explain?
e: “I thought the whole point of Catholic chauvinism was its unity.”
m: “Room for individuality is its strength, dontchaknow?”
Yes I do. That is called a ‘denomination.’
I will just skip on down. The net result must be that the Roman Catholic Church:
1. claims authority based upon the Bible,
2. of which parts may not even be the Word of God, but
3. which it alone is capable of interpreting.
Got it.
I am not sure why you mention the Roman Catholic Church, but since you mentioned it, the RCC claims authority based on the Bible (which the members of the Church wrote and chose), and the Apostolic tradition, reorganizing that not everything the early Church believed is written in the Bible. The interpretation is based on the collective interpretations of the early Christian apologists who wrote in the cultural and linguistic milieu that produced the Bible.
The Protestants base their interpretation on literal reading of the Bible translations (most of them faulty or doctrinally "doctored"), and in the cultural milieu far removed from anything even close to the linguistic or cultural atmosphere and values of the 1st century Middle Eastindividually as the "church of one", and as each man or woman his or her own pope (and magisterium).
As for its treatment of various parts of the Bible, the Catholic is based on the Gospels (not on Paul, as some claim), and the Gospels are the only scripture sitting on the altar. When Pauline Epistles are read, it is read by laymen, and the congregation sits. When the Gospels are read, they are read by ordained individuals (deacons, priests, bishops), and the congregation stands.
Despite the RCC's lip service (forced by the Reformation)that all scripture is "God's word", the Catholic Church (both east and west) doesn't treat all parts of the scriptures equally.
Well sure. That changes everything.
Kosta, by your own admission, you’re not even sure God exists. Previous posts of yours indicate a disbelief in Scripture and its authenticity and validity and inspiration.
Two points result from that.
One is that since you appear to have rejected it as a point of authority or even of fact, you have disqualified yourself from speaking authoritatively on it.
The other is that esquirette ought to know your postitions on Scripture and God.
esquirette, you are correct in your assessment of what the Catholic church does concerning Scripture. The RC church is trying to lay claim as the only way to God with these assertions. Since the average lay person is (according to the Catholic church) incapable of interpreting Scripture correctly himself, as evidenced by kosta’s assertions here as well, then of necessity, it claims that since it is responsible for the Bible, it is the only entity which can properly interpret it.
Of course, the fact that almost 2,000 years have passed between the men who consolidated Scripture into one convenient, easy to access resource, and the men now who claim authority to be the ones to *correctly* interpret it, is rather irrelevant in Catholic’s eyes.
Despite the RCC's lip service (forced by the Reformation)that all scripture is "God's word", the Catholic Church (both east and west) doesn't treat all parts of the scriptures equally.
However, this part we have seen as true, even on these threads.
INDEED. WELL PUT.
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