Posted on 03/04/2007 8:21:23 AM PST by Iscool
When a Catholic looks in the Bible they will not find purgatory. They will not find priests taking money to say a Mass to get souls out of the fires of hell. The Catholic church is popular because many do not want much out of religion and the Catholic church offers them the little they want.
Can't read any further ... laughing hysterically. This is almost as absurd as the Discovery show last night about Jesus' family tomb.
I didn't write the article..I'm still learning about the Catholic church...But tell me...Is the author correct when he says 'Lent' was initially a Pagan practice???
(I had to wash the dog and missed it.)
God ALWAYS brings good out of evil!
Textual analysis has shown that it wasn't just written down all at once -- the "received version" was only established over a period of time. Just like the Canon established by the Church . . . the conversion of oral to written tradition really does follow a pattern!
Then, of course, you have the issue of translations. I always thought that the Lattimore translation was as good as it was going to get, until Fagle came out with his. Lattimore is line-for-line more accurate in terms of a literal translation of the Greek, but Fagle catches the meaning better, if that makes sense. I wish I read Greek well enough to enjoy Homer without a "crib" . . . but I don't now and was just barely literate in Greek back when I was taking it seriously with an eye to a Classics major . . . but I started Greek too late and had switched Latin for German in high school, so there was no way I could get the required courses done in 4 years . . .
"..I'm still learning about the Catholic church..."
Why don't you just use porn or some such reading material. It has the same usefulness learning about Catholicism as this article.
Yeah, I'm blunt to a fault. That's my cross.
Not the whole thing. I was actually doing some work in the next room while my wife watched it. I did peak at it on occasion when I heard ridiculous statements. I don't think any of their claims hold water, IMO. Just speculation after speculation.
I have no idea, nor do I care, since the value of having a somber penitential season of fasting and prayer leading up to the commemoration of the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord seems quite obvious. Pagan things are bad only insofar as they contradict the teachings of the faith, and if they don't, they can be "baptized", like Christmas trees, to serve the inculturation and growth of the Faith. I think Lent is a terrific reminder of our fallenness and need for Christ's redemption. The fasting and somberness appeals and teaches our weak human senses. When I was a Protestant, there was not nearly an emphasis on our sinfulness. The mainstream Protestant churches have pretty much eliminated the concept of individual sin.
Why do you ask us if the author is correct when you obviously take his words as "Gospel" already.
You're right, things changed radically into an imperial Papacy at the time of Charlemagne, but it could not have happened without the Donation of Constantine. This document was pulled out and waved in front of Pepin and Charlemagne as evidence of the Pope's imperial rights of long-standing dating back to Constantine. It persuaded Pepin and Charlemagne to act of the Pope's behalf, even though the document was a blatant fraud.
Very nearly everything you have learned is wrong.
Is the author correct when he says 'Lent' was initially a Pagan practice???
NO. Are you aware that most traditional Protestant denominations observe Lent? Or does your hatred only extend to Catholics?
Where did you dig this up? From James Cameron's lost tomb of Jesus?
I agree with you.
However, I'll add that the author of that work can't know very much about Scripture to say that the practice of Lent is derived from pagan practices.
When 40 days appears in the Bible it is an indicator of a time of waiting, suffering, longing for the appearance of the Lord. It is 40 days of preparation and/or reparation: Noah, the Israelites in the desert, the 40-day encounter of Christ with Satan, the 40 days after the Resurrection to Pentecost. These are just the more signal uses of the term 40 in Scripture to indicate a time of waiting on the word, the voice or the action of God. Ther are more.
Lent is the 40 days of fasting and prayer to honor the 40 days Jesus endured before opening up his public life. For ourselves and for our salvation, He won victory over Satan with prayer and fasting--prayer and fasting is what Jesus Himself commanded us to do in order to win over temptation.
We become doers of His word and life when we enter into this "desert place" to fast and pray.
I never thought of it that way.
I apologize.
**I could also write a book defending the Catholic church - they have faced so many obstacles, do so much good, work to correct their errors over time and when I heard John Paul II speak or I hear my friend, a retired nun, I KNOW I hear sincere Christians seeking to do as God asks.**
**But this paper feels bad. It feels deliberately hurtful. It doesn't matter if Pastor G. Reckart gets some details right or not if the intent is to harm other Christians and their faith.
I keep coming back to this. God wants us to be good to each other and to love Him and ask forgiveness when we do wrong. Those three simple things that God asks simply don't call me to judge the faith and worship of other Christians.**
Thank you for your informed and wise feedback.
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