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To: OLD REGGIE

I think I have to agree with your statement “It isn’t possible that the Holy Spirit would lead a Church or an individual into completely opposite directions.”...yes, I agree with that statement...

However, that is not what I am saying....people ‘say’ that they are led by the Holy Spirit and are in complete disagreement with other folks who also ‘say’, that they are led by the Holy Spirit...

Just look at the differences between Catholics, and non-Catholics, such as are represented on this thread...the general subject matter on this thread was about Mary...clearly there is great disagreement about Mary, whether she remained a perpetual Virgin, whether she is in Heaven, alive and interceding on behalf of all who ask for her help, whether she died a natural death and remains in the grave, or is she alive at the side of Christ, in Heaven...take other subjects where Catholics and non-Catholic Christians on this thread will generally disagree...transubstantiation, is always a hotly contested debate...celibacy for the clergy, is another hot button issue...and yet, the Catholic Church and Catholics as individuals will say, they are led by the Holy Spirit while other non-Catholic Christian churches or individuals will also say they are led by the Holy Spirit...both sides, ‘saying’, that they are led by the Holy Spirit, and yet clearly both sides coming to completely different beliefs...this is clearly not a case of merely emphasizing certain differences, it is clearly a case of having completely different beliefs...

And let us not forget the never ending Mormon/anti-Mormon threads on FR...the Mormons all claim that they read the Bible, read the BOM, prayed, and were led by the Holy Spirit to believe in the LDS faith....and then you will have the anti-Mormons say exactly the opposite...that they read the Bible, read the BOM, prayed, and were led by the Holy Spirit to see that the LDS faith was dangerous and a false religion...

I have acquaintances, who are Jehovahs Witnesses...I say only acquaintances, since I am not a Jehovahs Witness, they would never consider me a friend...their stance on refusing blood transfusions, based their understanding of a few Scriptures is repulsive to me, and yet that is their faith...they would and do also claim, they are led by the Holy Spirit to come to this belief...

I once took care of an elderly Christian Science woman...when she was dying, in agony, we were not allowed too offer her any ‘medical’ care, as it is not allowed by that religion...watching her die, in agony was just awful, and yet we were powerless to help, because if we did, we would be infringing on her religious rights, and we were not allowed to do that...and yet, I would venture that those who belong to the Christian Science faith, would assert, that they too, are led by the Holy Spirit...

And what about people whose faith, demands, that they isolate themselves from the rest of society, such as the Amish....I would venture to guess, that they also would assert that they are led to be a separate people, by virtue of being led by the Holy Spirit...

I could go on and on, into even more bizarre instances of where folks claim that they come to their beliefs, being led by the Holy Spirit...but you get my point, I am sure...people can ‘say’, they are led by the Holy Spirit, churches can ‘say’ their dogmas, their beliefs, are as they are, because they ‘say’ they were by the Holy Spirit...

Clearly individuals, churches, religions, etc, can ‘say’, that they are led by the Holy Spirit, but it seems obvious, that they are led to very different beliefs...

Whenever someone says, that they are led by the Holy Spirit, to believe in such and such a way, there is always another poster, who will pop up, and declare, that certainly it was not the Holy Spirit leading them to come to that belief, but rather a more evil, sinister spirit...the one popping up, to object, has come to completely different beliefs from the initial poster, and the one popping up, says that they are led by the Holy Spirit, which is how they know that the first poster is being led by the evil spirit...

It is a never ending go round, about who is led by the Holy Spirit, and who is led by an evil spirit...

Regarding Catholic beliefs on this matter...I will read what you have provided at your link, as I have time, and see what I think....thanks for providing it, for me...


11,248 posted on 07/04/2008 2:31:26 PM PDT by andysandmikesmom
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To: andysandmikesmom
Regarding Catholic beliefs on this matter...I will read what you have provided at your link, as I have time, and see what I think....thanks for providing it, for me...

Please be aware Unam Sanctam has been "explained" away over the ears to say essentially "it doesn't mean what you think it means." IOW contemporary Catholic teaching is that "salvation" is available to "non-Catholics under varying conditions. While it is not possible to deny "infallible teaching", it is possible to redefine it.

Thus the facetious, but essentially true statement, "There is no Catholic teaching which is so clear it cannot be denied, modified, or reinterpreted as required."

11,307 posted on 07/05/2008 7:43:41 AM PDT by OLD REGGIE (I am most likely a Biblical Unitarian? Let me be perfectly clear. I know nothing.)
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