Posted on 02/10/2011 7:57:12 AM PST by Christian Engineer Mass
Jesus said that the truth will set us free. (John 8:32) However, He did not say that the truth would necessarily be easy to accept. It was painful for me to learn the information that I am about to share with you, but it was also liberating and it led to a closer relationship with God.
As a faithful Catholic, and later as a nun, I practiced Mary worship for many years without realizing it. The prayers and practices were so familiar. They were taught to me by good people, sincere people that I trusted. I prayed rosaries and wore a scapular and engaged in other “devotions” which I honestly thought were good and pleasing to God. Because of my lack of knowledge of the Bible and of Church history, I honestly had no idea that I was actually worshipping Mary.
If modern Catholic teachings and doctrines about Mary are true, then they will not be contrary to Scripture, the writings of the Early Fathers, or the decrees of past popes. For a devout Catholic to question these issues and put them to the test can be painful. It certainly was for me. However, it would be far more painful to have God correct us when we face Him on Judgment Day.
LETTING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SPEAK FOR ITSELF
I believe in letting people speak for themselves. Therefore my primary sources about Catholic doctrines and history come from the Catholic Church.
First and foremost is the official Catechism of the Catholic Church which was written for the purpose of summarizing the essential and basic teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. It was approved by Pope John Paul II in 1992 and the English translation was released in 1994.
(Excerpt) Read more at parkviewgospelhall.com ...
“Scripture is self-evident so the books that you are referring to were never true scripture to begin with.”
So you are God then, and what doesn’t fit gets tossed out.
Even Popes aren’t that powerful!
Oh, thank goodness! Carpe Cerevisi, you were fortunate, this time. But be careful, Charles is 'in charge'.
Jesus from the Cross:
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:25-27, NKJV throughout unless otherwise noted.)
The Amplified Bible quotes verse 26 of John 19 as follows:
“So Jesus, seeing His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing near, said to His mother, [Dear] woman, see, [here is] your son! “
“You don’t need to ask your family members for prayers...you have Christ Himself taking your prayers and praying on behalf of you to the Father.”
Oh sure. You think Catholics disagree with you?
We can take it to Christ whenever we want, and he will hear us and help us. But we are commanded by Christ to pray for one another! You ask, we’ll do what we can to ask Christ to help you. Just as you would for us.
I believe that scripture and tradition are inspired by the Holy spirit. Scripture is a part, not separate from tradition.
“Hmm, so presumably Pope Gelasius is one of the ‘Good popes’?”
OK, so you accept that the apostolic line is broken. That’s good.
Most Lutheran Bibles have those books in them. In the US they did till WWI when Wilson wanted to make Lutherans more like Anglicans and purge them of their hunnic influence.
Thanks very much. I’ve been to that site a good many times and have no idea how I missed that portion and links.
Regards
Many do. As I said...I've had Catholics say to me that they feel too dirty to go directly into God's presence.
But we are commanded by Christ to pray for one another!
When you find this command given by Christ it is only given to the living, not those who have passed on.
>>Obviously you don’t believe in the Resurrection of Christ or the Resurrection of the Dead.<<
Actually, that is core to my belief. However, for this particular space/time continuum (reality), the resurrection (other than the first fruit - Christ has not yet happened. The bible is VERY clear about that.
However, once resurrected, can one enter our reality at any point in time? I dunno. Again, it is that 1 Cor 13:12 thing.
>>Mary was assumed into heaven — Early Church Fathers have written about it. She is alive, just as Christ is alive in heaven.<<
Oh for crying out loud. The Jewish leaders contradicted scripture with their teachings and a lot of Jews believed them. It appears that many Christians are making the same mistake. It’s right there in the Bible. It’s not that complicated. Seriously. It’s not.
>>What don’t you believe about the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary — her last ones in the Bible?
“Do whatever He tells you.”<<
You mean when he turned the water into wine? And I don’t know where you are going with bringing up that scripture. What I mean is the one of the main messages of the NT is to do what Jesus tells us. That is not what we are debating here.
Having read what is available, I come to the conclusion that her excerpts are, like the rest of her presentation, taken out of context and are thus disingenuous.
>>What don’t you believe about the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary — her last ones in the Bible?<<
BTW, a little off topic, but when I hear people say “blessed virgin Mary” I am reminded of the main character in a bad movie called “Talledega Nights” where, when saying grace, the main character prays to “baby Jesus”.
He grew up.
If so, it would seem logical to assume you consider the scripture infallible, just as you consider the Pope infallible because of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, Christ is the only mediator but there are many intercessors just as Scripture states.
A Catholic does NOT need permission, from the Church, to marry a non-Catholic.
You are wrong, if you were trying to make that point.
I'm not sure I said differently.
Actually, we do not consider any Pope infallible in all things.
Only when “speaking from the throne of St. Peter” as it is called.
I believe that either you or your wife are being dishonest.
>>Mary was just a woman, so we’d expect to hear about Elizabeth as often as we do Mary.<<
Are you arguing who should be more “famous”? If you compare the offspring of Elizabeth (the reason for her fame) and the offspring of Mary (the reason for her fame), which of these women would you expect to hear the most about?
>>I’ve yet to hear a protestant (and I was a protestant), ever preach a sermon on Mary, despite her prominence in Luke 1. Why is this?<<
As a protestant I have heard sermons on Mary, Ruth, Naomi, Soloman, David and pretty much every other called out character in the bible. It is usually based on what they did, their adherence to God’s instruction and the outcome. That may be why even a sermon on Judas brings enlightenment.
Maybe you were going to a limited focus church.
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