You do know that a whole lot of what gets fought over is vocabulary and specialized definition seen from how it looks from outside the specialized meaning group.
I am very happy to be a catholic, and know we know we don't earn our salvation, that we are saved by grace, and being the people Jesus wants us to be is a long hard process.
I know wonderful non-catholics who know that being the people Jesus wants them to be is a long hard process. It gets called sanctification. And although they think about stuff with different vocabulary, a lot of what they describe seems to be pretty much the same thing I go through, take two steps, and fall on my nose, get up and do it again for the love of God.
Then again, I've known both Catholics and non-Catholics who are shallowly catechized in their faith who seem to think that if they do the right action, like in a magick formula, all is well, without any transformation whatsover.
I leave it to God and ask him to deal kindly and mercifully with all of us with our own shortcomings and failings, and sometimes misguided desires to please him by beating each other up with his word in hopes that we can save each other, and honor what we try to do for good, and minimize and forgive us when our own motivations really aren't there.
Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on us, forgive us of our sins, and lead us to eternal life. Amen.
That would be a huge 10-4 -- with sprinkles.
It's immensely complicated. What constitutes a "proof" from Scripture, for example? What do we mean by "merit" and is it the same thing that say Luther or Calvin meant by the word?
And then, now I know this will astonish you, I, myself, have been, I know this will upset you ... known to err. No really. Even I. Both as to fact and as to interpretation or inference. Of course in my case it's extremely rare, but still, if I can err, why then nothing can be relied on!
I am grateful for the kind of nonsense that the article which started all this contained, because it's so very over the top. But in serious conversations, it's very easy to misunderstand and to be outraged, when no one means to outrage. And then sometimes we lose patience and stomp all over the most delicate and tender parts of our interlocutors' hearts.
Tricky business this.
**You do know that a whole lot of what gets fought over is vocabulary and specialized definition seen from how it looks from outside the specialized meaning group. **
Absolutely. And all we can do is continue to shine the light on the truth.
There's an awful lot of Catholics on this thread and out there in the world that don't agree with you...