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To: Springfield Reformer

We can all sin against the Holy Spirit!

Do you deny the Mass?

Do you deny the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

Do you bless yourself with Holy Water every time you step through the narthex of your church? Or is the Holy Water absent?

Do you deny that Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ, true God and true man?


40 posted on 05/26/2013 1:40:35 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

I am a Baptist. I do not answer to the Pope or Catholic doctrine. If you wish to woo me, you must do so from Scripture, and I will gladly entertain such dialogue, and even some of the brighter lights of your own denomination would approve. But if you can only come at me with the mindless cudgel of your pet dogmas, I have better ways to spend my time.

I do know this. Every cultic operation with which I have either had contact or who has tampered with the lives of my loved one has used exactly this same argument. To question organization X, which claims divine authority for all it does, is to question the Holy Spirit, which you better not do or you can’t be forgiven. It doesn’t matter who X is or what X teaches. The pattern is always the same. Use fear and guilt to suppress criticism, even to the point of extinguishing honest private thought.

I’m past all that. But for some, fear of committing the unpardonable sin can become a full clinical neurosis/psychosis. It is extremely dangerous and irresponsible at a spiritual level to use it casually as a cheap device to lock out legitimate criticism of mortal, fallible, human authority.

But it is a free country, and I have no power to stop you from doing so. I advise against it for your own benefit, not just those unfortunates who might be unduly affected by it. It’s just friendly advise. Makes no difference to me whether to take it or not. It’s up to you.


41 posted on 05/26/2013 2:02:13 PM PDT by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
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