Posted on 01/05/2010 9:46:47 PM PST by the_conscience
I just witnessed a couple of Orthodox posters get kicked off a "Catholic Caucus" thread. I thought, despite their differences, they had a mutual understanding that each sect was considered "Catholic". Are not the Orthodox considered Catholic? Why do the Romanists get to monopolize the term "Catholic"?
I consider myself to be Catholic being a part of the universal church of Christ. Why should one sect be able to use a universal concept to identify themselves in a caucus thread while other Christian denominations need to use specific qualifiers to identify themselves in a caucus thread?
Keep at it! The Holy Spirit will convict you of where you should be.
Welllll . . .
Generally speaking, for folks flailing about in such a fashion . . .
if it’s an excess . . . of . . . uhhhh . . . a non-solid and non-liquid . . . we could pray for . . . healing or deliverance or release or something.
And if it’s a cockleburr under the saddle, we could pray it’s found and removed . . .
And if it’s an ingrown toenail, we could also pray for healing and suggest a bit of cotton and a toothpick to force sufficient cotton under the nail corner to be left there until it grows out—the best treatment I know—having had two big nails pulled off by the Doc for such horrors—when I was in marching band, no less.
Then again . . . we could just sit back and shake our heads . . . and watch the spewing tableau.
I should go to pottery. I’m already behind this first week of the semester.
LOL, it is so long ago I have forgotten the “never-ending thread” ...that really brings back memories of some sweet brothers and sisters in Christ..
So?
Many commandments were given the Jews for their inchoate form of religion. There were prohibitions on certain foods, lengthy regulatons of family life, mandated circumcision, and indeed a ban on making images and bowing to them. The Christian Church lifted all of them, — read Acts, or Galatians.
“When someone says that Constantine was a A Pope and the Church Fathers did not believe in the True Presence of Eucharist- what do you call it? It’s a lie!”
It MAY be a lie. It MAY be the poster is sincerely in error. Or it MAY be the poster uses somewhat different definitions, or has a different interpretation of events than you do.
I recommend saying, “You err!” rather than “You lie!” Not only does it stay within the RF rules, but it makes the rest of you post more likely to be read & thought about.
Suggestion only.
I don’t bow, but I cross myself and say a prayer before religious statues. I think after all the fuss about it, I just might start bowing so that anyone who likes can criticize me for it.
I do kiss my (deceased) husband’s photo, now and then. I didn’t worship him, but I sure did love him. Occasionally I talk to him, because it is my firm belief that he is alive with Christ in Heaven, and sometimes I ask him to pray for me, though he was not a saint, he was a very good man.
The only time I bow is during Easter Triduum when I kiss the crucifix, and before receiving the Eucharist at mass. I believe the Eucharist is Christ Jesus, body and blood, soul and divinity, and I kiss the cross because I carry my own in His most Holy Name, as He carried it for me. Oh, plus I bow to His Presence in the chapel. Oh, plus I bow during the stations of the cross, during the prayers.
But as I said, just to irritate and confuse those who hate the Church, I just might start bowing, especially to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. Anyone can think what they like.
Well, there is a difference, and that is that a Saint is a specially wonderful product of God. It is true that veneration of saints is always a celebration of the glory of God, but it is not true that a saint who prays for you is altogether no different from a friend in this life praying for you. We should solicit both, but we should not forget that sanctity is a tough road for us, like it was for every saint who made it to the end.
That’s OK. I still put my hand over my heart for the National Anthem. I just find it odd to learn I’m not an ‘authentic Christian’ because I haven’t bowed in front of a statue.
IIRC, Landmarkism holds to the belief that there is a continuous hidden church through out the Dark Ages. I don't think you can find evidence of that. What you can find is a lot of independent Christian churches that refused to be dominated by the RCC during the Dark Ages. It's hard to tell how interconnected these churches were because they were named by and written about by those who were opposed to them.
It's the consistency of the beliefs and practices that Baptists identify with. There was variations, but they usually were Baptistic (only baptize after belief), decentralized authority, pastors were not elevated, and the Scriptures were the rule of their faith. Among these Christian churches were the Petrobrussians, Albigenese, Waldenses and Annabaptists.
It's a very fascinating study I'll ping you to the next time there's a good thread.
THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO THEM:
John O’Brien, “The Faith of millions:”
“When the priest announces the tremendous words of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man. It is a power greater than that of Seraphim and Cherubim. Indeed it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary. While the Blessed Virgin was the human agency by which Christ became incarnate a single time, the priest brings Christ down from heaven, and renders Him present on our altar as the eternal Victim for the sins of man-not once but a thousand times! The priest speaks and lo! Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest’s command.”
BTW - a restaurant I was recently in has the clothes worn by John Wayne for ‘Big Jake’ (IIRC) on a mannequin in the lobby.
I ALMOST bowed...
I am a tad uncomfortable with mugging Machen. It makes me think of Karl Adams, who has done some things very well, and some thing very badly.
It would irritate me if every time I brought up something he'd done well I had to hack through instant jungle of everything he'd done badly.
In the last analysis, certainly a "school" (or denomination or whatever these groups want to call themselves) will stand or fall not on the merits of their earthly leaders but on the merits of their congruence with the Gospel of Christ.
Even Holy Peter seems to have had his off days, both before and after Pentecost. Our antagonists don't bring up his renunciation of Christ EVERY time we talk about the Papacy.
Besides, as I said, I used to have a textbook by Machen.
I think I get the urge to throw up what I'm calling "instant jungle" when dealing with our antagonists. (Sometimes I just get the urge to throw up.) But many of them really, quite seriously have no clue what they are talking about. It's a lot to expect that a life time of culturally reinforced prejudice can be overcome in a year or two.
Please do ping me then.
Perhaps we could refer to such people as “errorists.” ;-D
Well, John Wayne relics of the third class (something touched by the saint) ... I can quite understand!
LOL.
By chance do you live in California? I am sort of toying with the idea of a California tour after Easter and I would love to have a chance to meet.
Certain forms of Christianity are not authentic but rather later invention. Such are the Protestant communities of faith. However, we are all judged by our works and everyone is capable of holiness, with God’s help. The Church does not teach that those who practice incomplete forms of Chrisitanity — or are not Christians at all — necessarily go to hell. Nor do we teach that all Catholics and Orthodox necessarily go to heaven.
We should, however, without exception, venerate virtue when we see it, be it good works of a neighbor in this life, art that we get from works past, or, and especially, the saints in heaven. To bow or not bow is a personal choice, but to acknowledge the virtue of a saint is a necessary element of loving God.
Someone who sees a Christian bow or porstrate before an image of a saint and finds that an occasion to sniker needs to have his or her conscience examined.
Honestly, I am laughing out loud. I really like to see a sense of humor around here.
Way to go, Brother. ;-D
Naw.
Those are imposters from Hollyweed.
Stay tuned . . . you’ll get a gander at the real thing in due course.
BTW, you’re always forgiven instantly.
However, what God thinks of such inaccurate lambasts may be something to take up with Him.
This is yet another metric of the failure of Gresham Machen.
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