Godspeed, sister.
Or as another poster said on another thread
"Oooh look! The latest in anti-Catholic porn, so pathetically typical of FR lately."
The author should consider investing in a Bible, paying close attention to the letters written specifically to the Body of Christ. Then, he might see the foolishness of his premise - my religion can beat up yours.
For a Believer, there is no dilemma. There is God’s Way - Jesus, and man’s way - religion. One is by faith, and the other by works. One is by God’s Grace, and the other by human merit. One is Liberty, and the other is religious bondage. Seems like an easy choice to me.
1 Corinthians 2:12-16 (KJV)
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:1-4 (KJV)
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
And yet we have Francis...
Religion is religion and trading one way of trying to work your way to God for another is not going to get anyone to God because a relationship with God is not about performance but SONSHIP.
...” Whereas the Protestant can ultimately submit only to his own judgment, which he knows to be fallible...
Oh poppycock!....
The Bible is very clear that those who “thirst” after righteousness will be filled....that the man and woman of God may be prefect, mature, complete...’thoroughly furnished’ unto every good work.
2nd Peter further tells us ...
“He has given us “ALL THINGS” that pertain unto life and Godliness.... THROUGH the knowledge of Him....
...and further states....Him who has ‘called us’ to Glory and Virtue....and ‘given us’ great and precious promises...BY THESE we are partakers of the divine nature.”
Are you then saying that God didn’t mean what he’s saying in these verses written to us??????
...”God’s truth can be known—and known with certainty”....
Do you know “with certainty”, do you have that assurance you are saved?
WOw...that OP-ed is really hard to read. Quite convoluted to come to a simple conclusion.
I often read along on these threads that spark such heated debate. I have lived 50 some odd years and never really knew of this anti-Catholic thing. I have been Catholic, Evangelical, born again, atheist, and even Wiccan through the years to only finally come full circle back to Catholicism. Maybe it had to do with the way I was looking for God, Christ, Holy Spirit...but in traveling all those spiritual paths I didn’t meet many who harbored such vitriol as I often see here on FR.
All that personal history said, I offer to this contingent, James Chapter 2. Faith and deeds/works go hand in hand. One without the other is DEAD.
James 2
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.
16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.
24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
If you read the opening Chapters in Revelations and the letters to the Churches, even there God speaks of faith and works and how these Churches need to repent. Some did deeds and others only faith...but all had something God holds against them.
The admonishment by James is very clear. It is our deeds that demonstrate our faith, they go hand in hand.
“Preferable”???
If ya think ya want to wind up in Heaven, “preferable” isn’t the issue. R.C. links works to salvation (un-scriptural). The Bible, which is the default for most Protestant denomincations, clearly states, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us”. If Heaven is your goal, then Catholicism definitely is NOT “preferable”.
But if you get warm fuzzies from liturgy, chants, rituals, etc., not caring about where you’ll spend eternity, then Catholicism is “preferable”. (In which case there’ll be a lot of very, very warm, hot, blazing fuzzies in the Hereafter.)
“There’s no way to know whether you’re assenting to divine revelation or to mere human opinion about divine revelation.”
For the poor confused soul who penned the above:
“My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” (John 7)
>>Ultimately, then, a Protestant (who remains Protestant) studies the relevant sources—Scripture, history, the writings of authoritative figures in his tradition—and chooses the Protestant denomination that most aligns with his judgment.<<
That may be so but a Protestant does not a Christian make any more than does a Catholic indicate someone is a Christian. A true Christian does NOT rely on history, tradition, or the writings of authoritative figures without verifying with scripture if those teachings are true.
“I don’t care if there’s a billion of you. You’re in a cult.”
There’s also some protestants who talk of the pope as the anti christ. But I don’t think that talk is productive.
What has been killing both the catholic and protestant churches for two centuries and more has been the arian heresy.
But that doesn’t seem to get much press.
More junk.
Of course this was written to Catholics to try to prevent them from leaving the religion...There aren’t any Protestants who would believe this dumbness...
Nice, Morgana. I didn’t have you pegged as the type who enjoys starting Christian flame wars. I was wrong.
Pathetic.
I just scanned through 147 replies to your post, and none of them are yours.
What’s your M.O.? Just drop a Baby Ruth Bar in the swimming pool and move on to the next neighborhood?
Rest assured, I will avoid your posts like the plague from now on.