Posted on 11/04/2017 12:24:50 PM PDT by Salvation
Question: Are the saints in heaven active in the affairs of Earth? — Robert Bonsignore, Brooklyn, New York
Answer: Yes, we have a lot of evidence for that. But exactly how and to what extent they are aware and active is not fully known to us.
It seems unlikely that the saints can merely look down and watch us as though they were watching a movie, or that they can know our inmost thoughts. Such things are probably beyond their capacity and might even be considered intrusive of our privacy.
It seems safer to assume that the saints are aware of our needs and condition to the degree that God reveals this to them. Thus, if I am asking St. Anthony to pray for me, his capacity to hear my request is facilitated by the Lord and due to the membership both St. Anthony and I have in the Body of Christ. By analogy, the two members of my body that I call my hands can interact by the fact they are coordinated through my head. Jesus is the Head of the Body, the Church and everything in his Body is under his authority and coordinated by him, including the awareness and communion of various members of the body with each other.
I’m back in the UAE working (again) aerospace/military stuff for a few weeks. Having spent the better part of 2 years working very closely with Moslems in my work I have been able to talk about my Catholic Faith in some degree with a number of them and I’ve also listened to some of the Iman’s over here. One of the items that the Moslems will bring up to refute Christianity is the fact that Christianity has so many denominations and even different Bibles where Islam, the “true faith” has one Koran. Nevermind that these guys are split into Sunni and Shia plus sub groups, reality does not matter. I’m just pointing out that our Christian differences are noticed by those that would like to see our fall. Anyhow, just an observation and I pray for all on this forum every day. God bless.
Between the Protestant,Catholic,Orthodox, and Coptic, the Bible go from 66 to 81 in regards to the OT.
That is when the Muslims do not fight each.
Iscool, amoreperfectunion and I have offered Biblical support for our positions.
You've offered, I have a phd and have written some books....none of which can we confirm or deny nor have you offered any proof of these.
You claim to be a "life long protestant" which means absolutely nothing in terms of salvation.
You've been asked questions to see if you align with the Roman Catholics to which you've not answered.
All you're offering is a kumba ya approach that appears to be saying all beliefs are equal. Would you stand with the Mormons?
We're following the Biblical model of being prepared to give a defense of the hope that is within us.
You forget the Sunni and Shia.
Would you include Mormons under this umbrella? They claim to be Christian.
Correction: When the Muslims do not fight each other.
Dang Salvation almost a 100 posts on this already.
I’ll have to do a thread on the Pope, Sola Fite, Mary, the True Presence, ect.
I think my average posts over the last 20 years is like 5 per thread.
You're joking, right? What "biblical support" other than your assertions that anything to do with the Catholic tradition is "of the devil"?
Your basic assumption, that Roman Catholicism is theologically evil, is fundamentally false.
The question you need to be willing to face is, are you ready to accept others who confess Jesus as Lord as your brothers and sisters in the Faith? Of course, I am not speaking of rank heretics who categorically deny the great Creeds of the Faith. These include Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, and all those who would deny, e.g., the Nicene Creed. To confess Jesus as "Lord" means that we accept Him as God incarnate, whose death on the cross and resurrection is the basis of our Faith. Praise God! Can you accept those who confess Jesus as Lord, even though they may not express their theology in exactly the same terms as you do?
“All those on this thread who are seeking to condemn other followers of Christ - be they Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, or whatever WILL ONE DAY ANSWER FOR THEIR DISOBEDIENCE. ”
All those who make up things and pretend they actually happened are not to be taken seriously.
“You are determined to justify condemning other Christians because they do not “toe the line”
Where was any believer condemned - EXCEPT BY YOU?
Waiting for her to cry to the mods about the non-Catholic posters. She does have a history of doing so.
I will ask again.
As a "life long Protestant" who stands with the Roman Catholics....
do you submit to the authority of the Roman Catholic Pope?
Do you have idols of Mary in your house or church and kneel before these?
Do you say the Rosary?
Do you believe the appearances of the apparitions to be Mary?
Do you agree with Roman Catholicism's dogmas on Mary?
Do you accept the Apocrypha as inspired Scripture?
Do you believe in Purgatory as do Roman Catholics?
Do you pray for the dead as do Roman Catholics?
Do you believe in transubstantiation?
The question you need to be willing to face is, are you ready to accept others who confess Jesus as Lord as your brothers and sisters in the Faith? Of course, I am not speaking of rank heretics who categorically deny the great Creeds of the Faith. These include Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, and all those who would deny, e.g., the Nicene Creed.
Ah...now you've made a distinction.
That's what we've done with Roman Catholicism.
Roman Catholic beliefs have been compared to Scripture and are found wanting.
btw...still waiting on the titles of the books you claim to have written.
So you are willing to accept Catholic Christians as Christians, despite the fact that you may disagree with some of their teachings?
Your so-called “questions” are more like an inquisition, and reflect a distorted view even of Catholic teaching. At some point you will need to face up to the fact that the true “enemy” of Christians and Christian culture lies in Islamic fundamentalism and secularism. It is high time that we face up to the real enemy of all that is good. Your attempts to focus on Christians who may disagree with you is frankly pathetic, and only serves the purposes of the Evil One.
Before we answer anymore of your questions, it is time you answer just one or two of ours.
Name of the seminary you attended and received your phd from?
I have a suspicion why you hesitate to reveal it though.
Just one title of a book you claim to have written written.
You've given nothing about where you stand on the issue of the thread.
Do you believe in praying to the saints....the original point of this thread.
Nice dodge. You can't answer the questions for some reason.
The true enemy of Christians is Satan. You seem to fail in understanding that. That must not have been covered in your phd classes.
Time for you to answer some questions. Please see my post on those.
Satan via what is mentioned in your posting.
This from You, who has not provided the slightest evidence of any competency in the matters for which you are presenting yourself as an "expert."
You, who will not answer the simplest question about whether you are willing to accept other Christians who may disagree with you on some doctrinal points!
This I can assure you of: God will judge all those who claim to be Christians but stand against and attack other Christians because they do not agree 100% with them.
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