Posted on 11/10/2010 11:26:33 AM PST by Alex Murphy
One of the frequent complaints one hears about Catholics is that we cannot think for ourselves and basically live on a daily diet of whatever the Pope spoon feeds to us and tells us to think. I'm reminded of this as reader Peter Sean Bradley sends along this latest bulletin from the world of anti-Catholic experts on Catholic faith, wherein Fundamentalist pastor and radio star John MacArthur tells you something I bet you never knew:
That's why when you go into a Catholic Church you see all the candles everywhere, certain people praying for certain people. As long as the candle burns, the prayer goes on. And as long as the prayer goes on, the merit in the prayer is accumulating on the benefit of the person in Purgatory and the merit is being drawn out of the treasury of merit which merit essentially belongs to Christ, belongs to the saints who have excess merit and to Mary.
I know what you're going to say. That a candle is a sign of light and hope and that it's just a gesture of love to God, to his saint, and to the people you are praying for. You might even note that in the Old Covenant, lights were lit in the Tabernacle as a sign of prayer to and love of God. You might even note that the author of Revelation saw the Church represented by a lampstand (Revelation 1:20). You'll probably even say that the idea of accumulating merit from the treasury of saints just so long as the candle burns never entered your mind (not that there's no such thing as merit, of course. It's actually a very sensible idea)....
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
....“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” as Christians ought to know.
Related threads:
Who Is Mark Shea Talking About?
Who Is the 'Real' Christian?
Big Laws and Small Laws [Mark Shea on "Nanny Staters" vs the "Right Wing Noise Machine"]
The Semi-Permeable Membranes of the Various Protestantisms [2010 repost]
Ignorant Armies Clash By Night
The Perspicuity of Scripture and Other Creation Myths
The Semi-Permeable Membranes of the Various Protestantisms [2009 thread]
Capitalism, Colossians and the Miller Brewing Company
Why should those who are not Catholic care what I think
Personally I think they should KMA.
And I should care about what the left-wing tool Mark Shea thinks about anything?
(sounds like he’s projecting...)
Good ole John is Anti-Charismatic, Anti-Catholic and No spiritual gifts since Apostles. I read his Anti- charismatic book "Charismatic Chaos". He lumps all Charismatics as from the devil. A very narrow minded individual. The now famous Catholic Rosalind Moss went to his Church. She speaks about it on Catholic Answers. I also read about former members of his "church".
I am not saying that he personally is a liberal. I am saying that he is a tool of the left wing.
That is really a shame, too. He used to be very, very orthodox and a good commentator. But around the time that the waterboarding stuff hit the news, something seems to have snapped. Not that he should have agreed with the decision to use the waterboarding...but the bile that he pounded not only on Bush but on everybody who would not utterly condemn it in the most vitriolic terms went way beyond the pale.
Since that time, anything that he does not agree with in regard to conservatives, he treats with such scorn as to sound like a classic left-winger.
Don't get me wrong: his Biblical exegesis is OK. But anything to do with current events is unreadable (at least IMHO)
Let me give you a recent example, part of an article that was posted on FR:
But when alleged conservative Catholics tell me that they would rather get their social teaching from a talking hairdo on FOX than from the bishops, when they tell me that it is “moralistic” not to be willing to put your soul at risk of the fires of hell by committing what used to be called “war crimes”, when they make excuses for buffoons who think saluting the brave idealists of the Waffen SS with their sons is a sure fire indication of sound judgment—and that any criticism of this makes one vehemently suspect of heresy and a traitor to the Faith—I can only say that the Right is becoming as mindlessly ideological as the Left.
If there was somebody in the tea party movement that did everything that he said above, I'd agree. But I have never met anybody like that, myself...much less a Catholic tea-partier. (I half way expect him to start using the epithet "tea bagger")
I did not know either way. No question just did not know. Thanks for explaining. I appreciate your faith. Praise Jesus!
"Just this last week when I was on Larry King program, some of you may have seen it, with a whole handful of priests, I was the only Protestant in the building, believe me, or on the program and I tried to engage them off the camera in a discussion about Scripture and I was really again amazed at the absolute ignorance of what the Bible says. They don’t even know the content of the Bible, let alone what it means. And the repeated statements, particularly by one of the young men who was on that program called “God or the Girl,” that follows the path of some young men considering the priesthood but having trouble with celibacy, who kept saying to me, “But the Church has said...but the Church has said...but the Church has said.”
Ignorant of Scripture, basing everything on what the Church has said because the Church is infallible...infallible. Any religion...any religion that has a source of divine revelation other than the Bible or a source of revelation equal to the Bible, or a source of revelation which is the only true interpreter of the Bible is a false religion. God has spoken He has spoken only in His Word. He has not spoken outside of His Word. To say that God has spoken when He has not spoken is to add to Scripture and to add to Scripture is to bring upon yourself, according to Revelation 22:18 and 19, the plagues that are written in the Bible."
" I was the only Protestant in the building, believe me, or on the program "
I know from experience when a person usaully uses the phrase "believe me" he is a big liar or total con artist. Then to say "in the building" to on "the show". This is a classic con artist way of thinking out loud. He was the "only protestant in the building" I find this hard to believe. He interviewed everybody in the building. This guy smells. He does not pass the smell test from the written page let alone the real sermon.
This is John Macarthur's sermon. He speaks that the priests did not know scripture. That's not Horse Crap thats Bulls..t. I have been listening to this guy's ignorance for years just to see how dishonest his words. He cleverly keeps words out from the whole story too. He paints these word pictures of the mind.
"To say that God has spoken when He has not spoken is to add to Scripture and to add to Scripture is to bring upon yourself, according to Revelation 22:18 and 19, the plagues that are written in the Bible."
This is classic fundamentalist statement.
Revelation 22:18-19 (Young's Literal Translation)
18`For I testify to every one HEARING the words of the prophecy of this scroll, if any one may add unto these, God shall add to him the plagues that have been written in this scroll,
19and if any one may take away from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the scroll of the life, and out of the holy city, and the things that have been written in this scroll;'
Why Does It say Hearing not reading. Could it be because:
ROMANS 10:17So then faith cometh by HEARING, and HEARING by the word of God.
Who Does the speaking from the written word with authority? John Macarthur?
This is used to say no more christian spiritual gifts or supernatural. Classic Fundy narrow minded thinking.
Also in sub article beware same old anti-catholic goddess crap too.
You might enjoy the fact (if you didn’t already know it) that Bob Jones, IV got his Master’s in History from...Notre Dame.
He is a convert? One of the kin.
He is a convert? One of the kin.
He is a convert?
Don't really know, but I don't think so. I just find it amusing that the old curmudgeon's namesake and great-grandson actually studied at ND. Ole Dr. Bob couldn't stand anyone, from the Pope to Billy Graham.
Also of interest is that well-known Catholic blogger, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, is a graduate of BJU.
Oh, and if you’re ever in Greenville, they have a very impressive collection of sacred art, to include a lot of very, very, very Catholic art...as well as a large collection of Russian icons.
Yes! Thanks Mark- This is the grandson’s collection. I read some interesting articles too. A picture is a thousand words. Any language speaking person understands pictures. Thats why it was always a smart way to convey the Gospel.
I think I had heard that about Longenecker, but thanks for the reminder.
As to the Catholic art, that’s all it was before 1500 ;)). And all that art, I think came about due to the influence of Bob Jr., who was a pretty sophisticated dude in many ways. I just wonder how he pulled it off while his father was still alive.
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