Posted on 09/02/2011 9:07:47 AM PDT by marshmallow
Minneapolis, Minnesota (CNN) –Prior to 2006, few people even knew that then-Minnesota state legislator Keith Ellison was a Muslim. Because of his English name, he said, no one thought to ask.
But five years ago, when he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives - a race he would go on to win - word of his religious affiliation began to spread.
“When I started running for Congress it actually took me by surprise that so many people were fascinated with me being the first Muslim in Congress,” said Ellison, a Democrat now serving his third term in the House.
“But someone said to me, ‘Look Keith, think of a person of Japanese origin running for Congress six years after Pearl Harbor–this might be a news story.’”
Though Ellison's status as the first Muslim elected to Congress is widely known, fewer are aware that he was born into a Catholic family in Detroit and was brought up attending Catholic schools.
But he said he was never comfortable with that faith.
“I just felt it was ritual and dogma,” Ellison said. “Of course, that’s not the reality of Catholicism, but it’s the reality I lived. So I just kind of lost interest and stopped going to Mass unless I was required to.”
It wasn’t until he was a student at Wayne State University in Detroit when Ellison began, “looking for other things.”
(Excerpt) Read more at religion.blogs.cnn.com ...
If this isn't the cherry on the heretic sundae, I don't know what is.
"ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, FOR REPROOF, FOR CORRECTION, FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE PERFECT, THROUGHLY FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS."
What is WRONG with you people? Do you think God is playing some GOTCHA game with mankind? And that He sent secret decoder rings to some fallible group of men to teach other fallible men HIS TRUTH???
smells like a small pinch of incense eh?
The correct translation is "sour wine" not vinegar. This is important since it was foretold in Matthew 26:29 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Good catch. I left out a word from what I was trying to say. It should have said:
"Some believe that God chose these apparently contradictory passages to illustrate that we cannot rely upon the entire Bible EXCEPT in its unified context, not individual versus and snippets.
My thanks and apologies.
Water baptism DOES have its place in the Christian's life but it is not of itself that grants salvation. To be baptized after coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ is to be a "confession before men" that we are following Jesus Christ. It happens after faith is exercised and is NOT the actual Spirit baptism that occurs the moment one becomes born again. I do not understand how this very Scriptural doctrine ever got so perverted from its true meaning, but it seems like the major tenets of the faith are the ones that get clobbered the most and misleads so many people. I can't help but see the enemy of mens souls hand in this masquerading as an angel of light.
well ok then.. not that I agree on a single word you said, but I do appreciate your correction. :)
Appreciated.........Time in!
I find it ironic that paganism is so often a charge against Catholicism only when it pertains to Mary or things which fit the most of the protestant. Why ironic?
Well, considering that the entirety of Christianity has been thus accused by nonChristians it is truly a case of a splinter and a log.
Why are there no apparitions of the Apostles or prophets or patriarchs? Well, we have no need of them. We have their written accounts in Scripture, Apostolic Succession in the priesthood and the Magisterium.
We have only one Mother. She is the Queen Mother of the heir to the throne of the House of David, Jesus. She takes hers place beside her son as all the other queen mothers did when their sons took the throne. She acts on our behalf as a intercessor with her Son, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. She does not take the title for herself, it is hers by right of the birth of her Son. He honors her as all Jews honor their mothers and it is in her that the promises of Christ to all who believe in Him, love Him and obey Him have been fulfilled. She welcomed Him first, loved Him first, followed Him first and as such is with Him now.
If there is a dearth of anything, is that of love for her found on these forums.
“Virtually all the works that you would have to rely upon are later copies”
You are aware that we do not have the originals of any of the New Testament books, right? All we have are copies of copies of copies. The same can be said of them, oh and BTW, has been said.
I have never seen a claim that the Church sprang up fully formed overnight. What I see, what history teaches is that it has grown and evolved throughout its 2000 year history.
Yes, early stories have said that Mary died, that Thomas did not arrive in time and that when the tomb was opened for him(poor Thomas, always doubting)it was empty.
The Church does not claim that the story is true. It makes no declaration as to whether Mary died or was assumed while alive. It merely states that in light of the fact that she is the Mother of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, God made man and in light of her preservation from sin, and in light of the fact that Scripture allows that there have been humans taken by God into heaven, the Church can state as true, the belief that Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was united body and soul to her Son in eternity as she was with Him in their earthly lives.
She takes hers place beside her son as all the other queen mothers did when their sons took the throne
Whom are you married to the son or the mother in law ?
Excuse me? If they claim Scripture is error-free and infallible, then how can you or Mark or anyone else legitimately say they "contradict" each other? That is not what error free means, does it? You say perhaps God made it look like they are unreliable to make us "rationalize" them so that they will be "unified" and have a "comprehensive" meaning? Just what is THAT supposed to mean? God plays games with his Holy word? How about God's word - as he gave it to us - is his infallible word and we can trust in its authority and reliability because he GAVE it to us as THE authority for our faith? The way you guys make it sound it is a messy, coded mystery that only "special" people get to unlock its true meaning. How about, the word of God is spiritually discerned and understood and is not for idle curiosity seekers? Those who do not have the Holy Spirit, see foolishness instead of truth. Maybe THAT is the problem here?
II Peter 3:16 He (Paul)writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Some believe that God chose these apparently contradictory passages to illustrate that we cannot rely upon the entire Bible in its unified context, not individual versus and snippets. Since none of us are clever enough to learn this by ourselves, we Catholics call upon the Magisterium to decide.
That's just it, we CAN rely on the revealed word of God as long as we see it through our spiritual eyes and understanding through the Holy Spirit's illumination. You say you are not clever enough to learn the Bible's truths? It doesn't take cleverness or human brilliance, in fact:
I Corinthians 2:14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
Your "leaders" have done a good job over the years convincing you that you can't really believe what you read in the Bible, that you NEED them to tell you what God meant to say. When you read a verse that seems to contradict what you have been taught, you go to your priest and tell him, and he sits you down and tries to "interpret" the clear meaning by twisting and distorting it to fit the party line. Then by the time he is done, you're not even sure you can ever read any of it by yourself. Is that how God meant us to "study"???
I am saved by Jesus as all Christians are, Mary as my mother is just a bonus.
Then why do you not put your trust in him to intercede for you?
Who says I don’t?
No true student of the Bible dismisses the hermeneutical principle of context as well as audience and relation to other Scripture passages. Still, I do not at all believe God contradicts himself - and it IS God the Holy Spirit that does the inspiring. Anybody can rip a verse out of context and make it say whatever they want and some cults have done exactly that. But God did not insert errors just to trip genuine believers up and cause them to distrust his Holy Word. He has revealed his truth to us and we understand those truths because we have the Holy Spirit within us leading us into all truth. That is why we should study the Bible so that we are not misled by deceivers.
Jesus is our intercessor with the Father.
It is only through Jesus that we have access to the Father.
Mary is an intercessor with her Son.
Though one God, there are three persons, one Father, one Son and one Holy Spirit.
The Wedding at Cana specifically, but also from the OT descriptions of the influence and actions of the queen mothers.
The Holiest of Holies was where God resided in the OT. Only a priest could enter beyond the veil and only after he had been purified.
Jesus’ sacrifice tore the veil. He is the Great High Priest and because of His sacrifice, in which He was the victim and the priest, we are able to enter into heaven.
It is very different than asking for prayers or intercession to Jesus.
He was NOT a VICTIM .
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