Posted on 03/11/2012 4:27:55 PM PDT by Heart-Rest
I should note that someone around here took a poll a couple of years ago. Turns out that Catholics are by far the largest religion of FREEPERS. Very close to 40% or more if memory serves.
I know that liberal boards are 30 or 40% Catholic as well, but the difference is that a high amount of FREEPERS are PRACTICING Catholics, not CINO’s.
You’ll find that you make little progress on theological matters in on FR, in spite of most of the lurkers being supportive. I’ve pretty much given up on it. On the other hand, you never know who might be swayed and not post anything.
Laura Ingram is a convert as well. Newt well you know the story. I tend to discount converts who converted because of a spouse. My spouse and I both converted at the same time because of our love of the truth.
Glen Beck is a former Catholic became Mormon because of his wife. Doing it for love instead of theological purity is I am sure is equally valid.
Anyway, my prayers go out to you and welcome home!
Fantastic post.
Issue #1 - The answer is found in the Great Commission and at the end of John both 20th and 21st chapters and even in the prophets. I will post answers to your other issues in separate posts. Thanks for writing.
The Apostles were uniquely sent, and while the commission is perceived as a general admonition to Christians to spread the gospel, it was uniquely given to them as a mission. They performed that mission. WRITING the gospel down for greater outreach across time and distance is really no different than the Apostles personally telling it.
- Matthew 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
- John 20:30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
- John 21: 24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
And, of course, there is the prophetic word of Isaiah 55 that testifies to this time after that of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."
Why not both? Isn’t God one Who provides daily bread - literally in the case of the Exodus?
ping for later
In 2 Peter, the Apostle Peter calls Paul's letter scripture. Boy, that was easy. If it was this easy to refute the first paragraph of this screed then there's no reason to read the rest.
NOBODY on earth uses the Bible without "additional manmade writings and traditions". Absolutely nobody.
Don't believe me? Look carefully at the Church of Christ (Campbellite) movement. You will not find a sect more devoted to the idea that the Bible ALONE is the SOLE rule of faith. They *invented* slogans like "Where the Bible is silent, we are silent" and "No creed but Scripture".
Now look at how many factions and spin-offs there are from the CofC. "Institutional" versus "non-institutional". "Instrumental" versus "non-instrumental". And the spinoff denominations, like the "Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)" and others.
It isn't because any of them are using different Bibles. All of them read the same Bible, but they don't agree on what it means. *By definition*, all of those disagreements are manmade "traditions" that they are adding on to the text, even though they *explicitly* set out NOT to do that.
You can't get away from "tradition". "Tradition" is born every time a church leader opens the Bible and decides what it means. And if you're a "church of one" -- a completely un-Biblical place to be, but I digress -- that doesn't fix the problem. It just makes you into a "church leader".
And when that church leader sets his opinions down on paper, you have your "manmade writings".
You can't get away from "tradition" or "manmade writings," no matter how "Bible alone" you try to be. The best you can do is pick the right set of "traditions and manmade writings".
And no, John's warning about "not adding to this book" did not refer to the "Bible," which didn't exist as a single "book" when he wrote those words. They referred to the book of Revelation itself. To believe that it refers to the Bible is ... wait for it ... your very own manmade tradition.
Whatever. You don’t post a thread labeling most of FR as anti Catholica and get labeled yourself as anything less than weird. He also ‘reverted’ from believing the every word of the Bible to becoming a Catholic, insinuating that Catholics don’t believe all of the Bible (which is true)...that’s weird.
You don't seem to be able to READ what is written. I SAID, Jesus gave the priests AUTHORITY to forgive sins in His name: John 20:23 Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven....
That wouldn't be in the New Testament if we needed ONLY to believe. Jesus wouldn't have given priests the AUTHORITY to forgive sins in His name if what YOU said were true. I believe John, not you.
Like I've told you more than once, go to Catholic.com for more answers, NOT TO ME. Why do you keep coming back to me when I've asked you not to? catholic.com....NOT ME. Get it? No more communication.
Welcome home!
—When you see people kneeling before a statue or picture of Mary (or some other saint) and praying, they are using the statue or picture to visualize Mary, as they ask her to pray together with them to God. —
Correct.
That also goes completely against scripture and who Jesus is. My intercessor is Jesus. I have a personal relationship with him. It’s one on one. I don’t need Mary in there to muck it up.
Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Ezek 3:1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this scroll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that scroll. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Revelation 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
1 Corinthians 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Eat and drink the word of God.
Of course, everything proceeds from God, but we are commanded to feed one another. God has promised us the bread of life.
The holy Eucharist thing is just silly. Communion is a simple symbol to remind us of what Christ did for us. It is so simple you can’t screw it up unless you try really hard.
It is a reminder of the thing that makes Christianity truly unique - Grace - and what it took to attain it.
And the really great news is that my family can participate in it after every single meal if we so choose: “As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of Me.”
The priestly scandals just prove we are all sinners. AG churches have Jim Jones.
The Catholic Church is not about "man-made" teaditions. The Apostolic Tradition proceeds from the Holy Spirit exactly like the Sacred Scripture.
—That eerily echoes the spurious argument used by Judas Iscariot, where he said that the woman who poured expensive perfume on Jesus should have used that money for the poor instead, but Jesus immediately rebuked him, and said the woman did exactly the right thing. —
Yeah, until you get past the surface. The perfume was for Jesus. The church building is for the members. My wife’s side of the family is VERY Irish Catholic. MY wife was too, until her mid-30’s. Her sister goes to mass every day.
They are very proud of their buildings. They are not quite as bad as the muslims, who think their buildings are “holy”, but close. The mere existence of the buildings doesn’t have much to do with salvation, though.
“Church” means “body of believers”. Check out a Greek Lexicon.
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