Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Reformation Day – and What Led Me To Back to Catholicism
The Catholic Thing ^ | 10/28/11 | Francis J. Beckwith

Posted on 10/28/2011 6:59:29 AM PDT by markomalley

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 521-540541-560561-580 ... 3,681-3,685 next last
To: CynicalBear
I asked a simple -- not in the sense of easy, in the sense of not complicated -- question. It was stated:
Those who have died cannot pray for others.

I asked where in Scripture that was shown.

Your references to the OT are apposite at least. But while the references to the NT are about another question.

And the OT statements about the dead are about the dead before the harrowing of Hell and the first Easter. It can be argued that things are different now.

In particular,our argument is that the saints(not just the 'biggies') who have 'crossed the Jordan' are still united with us in the one resurrected Body of Christ -- which, we hold, has no dead parts. We find nothing in Paul to say the union wrought in the Spirit is weaker than death. So we hold that Eccl9:5 no longer obtains and that we are not summoning spirits from Sheol as the pagan necromancers of old did.

Our teaching is not about Victorian and Edwardian Spiritualism. It is about the unity of Spirit in the bond of peace. It is about a unity in the Love of God in Christ that neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature can shatter.

I will concede that it is not a slam dunk. But neither is your contention.

And in any event when I asked for scripture to the those who have died cannot pray for others I was met with arguments against OUR praying to the dead (or FOR the dead) but I have yet to see conclusive New Testament evidence that they are unable to pray for us such that this blanket proposition is proved.

You know, this is not like game of rugby or a military battle. To strike a blow on another part of the field ... if Lee had been able to overcome Chamberlain's holding of the flank, why then Gettysburg might have come out quite differently.

But here, any number of arguments against the intercession of the saints or whatever will neither bolster nor weaken the proposition that the saints in heaven CANNOT pray for us. They may distract us,and they might even create a semblance of victory for one side over the other. But the issue itself, and the truth thereof, will remain unresolved.

541 posted on 11/02/2011 4:57:36 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Jesus, I trust in you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 524 | View Replies]

To: smvoice
Mark, your mother cannot pray for anyone’s soul. Those who have died cannot pray for others. No matter how much someone wants to believe, it simply is not true.

So then you do not believe that Jesus is the God of living? You do not believe that those in Heaven are alive in Christ? Interesting. Your "Christianity" is even more novel than I had believed. Would you care to expound on it?

542 posted on 11/02/2011 5:02:14 AM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 505 | View Replies]

To: CynicalBear
>>I will however, ask her to pray for your soul.<<

Necromancy is an abomination. Besides, without Christ within you, as you stated, there would be a problem anyway.

I did not say that Christ was not within me. Why are you repeating this fabrication?

However, my mother was a saint, and understood the Great Commission. My statement and my efforts on your behalf stand.

543 posted on 11/02/2011 5:04:38 AM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 506 | View Replies]

To: D-fendr
The intercessory prayer issue is tangentially related -- perhaps more than tangentially because if the saints in heaven (whom the other side calls "those who have died " while we call them "the Blessed" -- different emphasis) cannot pray for others, then asking them to is batting on a sticky wicket.

So when the assertion of that inability was made, I thought it would bear examining. But in response to my request mostly what I have received is answers to some other questions or references to the state of the dead before Christ rose and mounted on high taking captivity captive.

I don't know what the problem is, but I DO know that there IS a problem here. They are laying down smoke between us and the original assertion, as though distraction were a valid dialectical technique.

544 posted on 11/02/2011 5:05:32 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Jesus, I trust in you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 527 | View Replies]

To: metmom
You guys have Jesus. We worship Jesus. Worlds of difference.

Well, this is encouraging. It's a start that you are able to recognize the difference. Now, you guys need to learn what it means to have Christ.

Philippians 2:9-11 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

However, not every knee that bows belongs to a believer. Some will only bend the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord under duress. It will be too late then, even when they reach the point where they acknowledge what they've refused to admit for so long.

As far as having the Son.....

1 John 5:11-13 11And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Well, then, let's toss out our Bible and lean rather heavily on:

That's the problem with the Catholic church. They've already done that and it's gotten them nowhere but into a lot of unsupportable doctrines and teachings. You toss Scripture at your own peril.

John 5:37-40 37And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Well, at least you've included one Gospel passage. You might be getting it.

The whole thing is that Catholics believe that God lives within their being, and that He has them. You guys, by the very proclamations that you bleat, claim that you 'have God', which is a very different matter.

We do not mix up who is the Creator and who is created. That is a novelty of the Reformation.

545 posted on 11/02/2011 5:10:47 AM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 508 | View Replies]

To: MarkBsnr; smvoice; CynicalBear
Romans 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Those who argue against us seem to maintain that the death of the body is the controlling reality and that it imposes inability to pray on the ζωη of the Spirit. This they call "good news."

546 posted on 11/02/2011 5:13:19 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Jesus, I trust in you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 542 | View Replies]

To: MarkBsnr; smvoice; CynicalBear
Romans 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Those who argue against us seem to maintain that the death of the body is the controlling reality and that it imposes inability to pray on the ζωη of the Spirit. This they call "good news."

547 posted on 11/02/2011 5:13:37 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Jesus, I trust in you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 542 | View Replies]

To: CynicalBear
>>Does your supposed exposition of the 'evil' justify the splintering and the eroding of Christianity?<<

Just the evil within the church.

So to your mind, the creation of man made churches is justified by the evil of a few men within the Church?

Fascinating. What other theological ends justify your man made means?

548 posted on 11/02/2011 5:13:40 AM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 509 | View Replies]

To: metmom
What are they [the saints in heaven] going to do for us that the Father Himself won't do?

They will do the same thing that Paul exhorts, make prayers and supplications and give thanks for all men.

549 posted on 11/02/2011 5:17:42 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Jesus, I trust in you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 525 | View Replies]

To: metmom
So? Does it matter to your immortal soul if you are wrong? Does being female alleviate your position in your Judgement? Do you think that if you flash some estrogen or a tanned knee at Christ, He'll let you off with a warning?

It means nothing but it is amusing to watch those who got a reality check try to deal with it without admitting their discernment didn't even cut it for something so simple..

Simple? This is an online forum. I don't pay that much attention to the alleged sex of most of the participants, since it doesn't matter to me. The only thing that matters is the content of their posts.

550 posted on 11/02/2011 5:21:07 AM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 511 | View Replies]

To: CynicalBear
And the RCC shuddered and then came the Reformation.

The theological Black Death.

551 posted on 11/02/2011 5:21:58 AM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 512 | View Replies]

To: metmom
And FWIW, CB is right. That was a totally uncalled for sexist remark that destroyed any respectability you may have had left.

Why am I not surprised?


552 posted on 11/02/2011 5:27:53 AM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 513 | View Replies]

To: CynicalBear
The pope is an imposter Mark.

As opposed to me, who is a real Mark?

553 posted on 11/02/2011 5:29:29 AM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 520 | View Replies]

To: MarkBsnr
>>So to your mind, the creation of man made churches is justified <<

Show me where I said man made churches were justified. Don’t twist my words like the RCC has twisted scripture.

554 posted on 11/02/2011 5:34:00 AM PDT by CynicalBear
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 548 | View Replies]

To: papertyger

The only scriptural reference to a queen of heaven is pagan. It’s always been pagan and still is pagan. The point of that post was to show that the RCC uses lack of denial in scripture to make up doctrine. The question was asked to show where anyone used the excuse that if scripture didn’t say it didn’t happen then the doctrine is possible and therefore valid. We showed that indeed people used lack of denial in scripture as justification for doctrine.


555 posted on 11/02/2011 5:43:26 AM PDT by CynicalBear
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 531 | View Replies]

To: CynicalBear
Jesus is our only Paraclete

John 16:7
αλλ' εγω την αληθειαν λεγω υμιν, συμφερει υμιν ινα εγω απελθω. εαν γαρ μη απελθω ο ΠΑΡΑΚΛΗΤΟΣ ου μη ελθη προς υμας·εαν δε πορευθω, πεμψω αθτον προς υμας.

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the PARACLETE will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

556 posted on 11/02/2011 5:45:36 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Jesus, I trust in you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 520 | View Replies]

To: Mad Dawg
Daggum. typo!

αθτον (near the end)should be αυτον = "him" "the same".

557 posted on 11/02/2011 6:00:30 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Jesus, I trust in you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 556 | View Replies]

To: Mad Dawg
Evidently Paul didn’t get the message since he expressed to Timothy his desires the prayers and supplications be made and thanks be given for all men.

FOR all men. Not TO all men.

558 posted on 11/02/2011 6:15:46 AM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 536 | View Replies]

To: D-fendr

Maybe they are. Maybe they aren’t. We don’t know cause Scripture doesn’t tell us.

In either case, that in no way justifies praying TO them for anything and there’s no point in praying FOR them since they are complete in Christ and don’t need anything any more.


559 posted on 11/02/2011 6:18:44 AM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 530 | View Replies]

To: papertyger; CynicalBear
Like trinitarian theology? The verses you cite no more define the doctrine of the Trinity than a check outlines your financial status.

The trinity is not named by name according to modern English terminology. Big deal.

Romans 8:9-11 9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

560 posted on 11/02/2011 6:22:04 AM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 534 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 521-540541-560561-580 ... 3,681-3,685 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson