Posted on 01/23/2014 9:29:40 PM PST by NKP_Vet
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy.
2. Alternate: I am a Catholic because I sincerely believe, by virtue of much cumulative evidence, that Catholicism is true, and that the Catholic Church is the visible Church divinely-established by our Lord Jesus, against which the gates of hell cannot and will not prevail (Mt 16:18), thereby possessing an authority to which I feel bound in Christian duty to submit.
3. 2nd Alternate: I left Protestantism because it was seriously deficient in its interpretation of the Bible (e.g., "faith alone" and many other "Catholic" doctrines - see evidences below), inconsistently selective in its espousal of various Catholic Traditions (e.g., the Canon of the Bible), inadequate in its ecclesiology, lacking a sensible view of Christian history (e.g., "Scripture alone"), compromised morally (e.g., contraception, divorce), and unbiblically schismatic, anarchical, and relativistic. I don't therefore believe that Protestantism is all bad (not by a long shot), but these are some of the major deficiencies I eventually saw as fatal to the "theory" of Protestantism, over against Catholicism. All Catholics must regard baptized, Nicene, Chalcedonian Protestants as Christians.
4. Catholicism isn't formally divided and sectarian (Jn 17:20-23; Rom 16:17; 1 Cor 1:10-13).
5. Catholic unity makes Christianity and Jesus more believable to the world (Jn 17:23).
6. Catholicism, because of its unified, complete, fully supernatural Christian vision, mitigates against secularization and humanism.
7. Catholicism avoids an unbiblical individualism which undermines Christian community (e.g., 1 Cor 12:25-26).
8. Catholicism avoids theological relativism, by means of dogmatic certainty and the centrality of the papacy.
(Excerpt) Read more at ourcatholicfaith.org ...
Fair and intellectually honest reply...thank you
Sounds like you should become a Presbyterian. :O)
Naw. I like the people at my church. I’ve yet to find one I completely agree with on everhthing. But it does remind me of a couple of fun jokes, one told by a baptist minister:
How do you keep a baptist from drinking your beer while you fish? Invite another baptist.
What’s the difference between a baptist and a Catholic? A catholic will say “hi” when you meet him at the liquor store.
Find me a Jew who followed the OT perfectly and I can assure you it won’t be an issue for them.
HEY!
(-:
***For those Muslims, or anyone else that have not been exposed to Chrisianity and are living their life according to the Beatitudes***
How can a Muslim who didn’t hear about Jesus find out about the Beatitudes?
Not sure I follow your answer...
Me too. I answer to Jesus Christ. The Bible makes it CLEAR that ONLY through HIM to I get to heaven, not some guy in a booth on the other side of the curtain can forgive my sins. ONLY Jesus Christ can forgive sins. NO WHERE in the Bible does it say that He delegated that to someone else.
And being a Catholic does not guarantee you anything either.
Jesus came to provide forgiveness.
If someone follows the OT laws perfectly they have not sinned and do not require forgiveness.
So if you show me a Jew who doesn’t require forgiveness he is a shoe in for Heaven.
Romans 4:1-8 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Romans 11:5-6 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
What an indictment of the church.
I do admire your commitment to your faith in spite of that.
Thanks again for your honesty concerning these matters.
KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus. Source
Agreed that Christ came for the forgiveness of sins...but show me ANY man that ever lived that followed Gods law perfectly that didn’t need forgiveness...St Agustine writes that “the just man falls 7 times a day”. Not sure if we are disagreeing or not...
When the British were trying to exterminate the Irish, there were bishops who snuggled up to the British.
Today, we have Dolan, O’Malley, Gomez, Wuerl, and many others, who snuggle up to Democrats (who are all pro-abortion).
It's actually pretty simple, stated right here in the Catechism of the Catholic church, which says NOTHING about it being complicated.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM
841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."330
It goes back to your question about the Jew following the OT.
Rom. 3:28-30, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one."
Rom. 4:5, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness,"
Rom. 5:1, "therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
Romans 9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Gal. 2:16, "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."
Phil. 3:9, "and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
It’s by God’s grace that we are given the faith that saves. It is through that faith that we are saved.
Why do Baptists oppose fornication?
It might lead to dancing and card-playing.
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