Posted on 03/01/2015 4:54:44 PM PST by NKP_Vet
Archbishop Fulton Sheen once wrote: “There are not over a hundred people in the United State who hate the Roman Catholic Church; there are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church.”
I was one of those who hated because of what I wrongly believed about the Catholic Church. The reason I had these beliefs was due to being told what to believe about the Catholic Church from those who were told what to believe about the Catholic Church. No one was willing to find out what the bottom line was concerning the Catholic Church. Everything said about the Church was taken as truth while it seemed no one was delving into what the truth really was.
What about these Catholics? They worshipped Mary. They had a religion but not a relationship with Jesus Christ. They said they believed in God but really their belief couldn’t be the same, could it? The Bible says in James 2:19 KJV “Thou believest that there is one God; Thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble”.
So do Catholics have a belief such as the devils? When most Catholics are asked if they have been “born again” or “have accepted Christ as their Savior”, their main response is “I believe in God” or “I am a good person”, or “I’m Catholic”. Also, they have all these rituals, Saints, Statues and what about the Pope is he really standing in for God? Another big item, are they cannibals when they eat the bread and drink the wine during communion? Why do they leave Jesus on the cross, don’t they realize Jesus has risen from the dead?
For the rest of Steve’s story, click at link.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholic-convert.com ...
“I am always open to learning the truth, because truth matters.”
It does matter. Tyndale was a very intelligent man, and had many admirable qualities. Even the tribunal members that convicted him of heresy said he was a likable man with many fine qualities. That sort of praise doesn’t mean much when they relax you to the secular arm for execution, however.
Tyndale was most definitely a heretic but his execution should never have happened. The real irony is that Tyndale, if he was acting in good faith, and those who hunted for him and convicted him, if they were acting in good faith, might all be in Heaven together. I hope that is so. God is merciful to all who seek His mercy.
All I know is that the whole question over Bible translation in the Middle Ages is surrounded with modern errors and myths. Some historians are beginning to see this myths. German historians figured it out several decades ago. Only now is it happening in English.
As the historian Andrew Gow points out: “One of the most persistent inaccuracies regarding the European Middle Ages—both among the general public and even among scholars—is the notion that the Roman church forbade or banned the reading of the Bible in the vernacular.” By the way, I’ll post the source for that quote in a second. Please note the next sentence at that link. It mentions “Greatsite.com”. I wrote to them more than a decade ago about the inaccuracies at there webpage. I assumed they simply didn’t know any better. They wrote back basically saying they didn’t care about accuracy. They were pushing an anti-Catholic agenda to help gin up business among devout Protestants. I thought that was disgusting. Anyway, here’s the link to Gow’s article: http://www.jhsonline.org/cocoon/JHS/a115.html
I see your point...but then again, Catholics do not wrap their being Christian around a single phrase "Born again"
I may or may not call myself your favorite phrase, born again, that means nothing...I think born again refers to Baptism....you don't...too bad.................it does!
Yes it is. Most say they are Catholic before saying they are Christians. Church will not save anyone but accepting Christ will.
Did God REALLY say.....?
Correct. But its born in baptism just once and the Holy Eucharist, the Living Bread thereafter:
John 6:53
Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.
You're right of course...and He also said " Unless you eat of the flesh of the son of man and drink of His blood, you shall not have life within you"
Which of the two admonitions shall we discuss first???
That is a disgusting and pagan thing to do. You don’t “eat” Jesus, nor is that what He commanded. He died ONCE for all, for the sins of the world, and He does not need to be sacrificed again and again and again. I have always been amazed at the Romanist viewpoint on what is CLEARLY symbolic teaching from Jesus. CLEARLY.
You know better than that....he has been Pope for a VERY short time and while he seems to be mighty liberal, he hasn't done any damaage to the church as we know it....Vatican II was about as much nonsense as I can stand for a while....let's let this guy at least have a few more years under his belt before we turn him over to ISIS...
This is purely paganism, an irresponsible, foolish interpretation of the Scriptures. It shows a shocking lack of discernment upon the part of an entire religious organization, and I absolutely cannot believe that normally rational people can read the words of Christ and think that HE was talking about a literal consumption of His flesh. Really!
sorry....the Catholic church is indeed the gatekeeper...Christ said so, I didn't....remember the keys to the kingdom, and the bind and loose thing, and the whose sins you shall forgive part, and the take and eat of this, "THIS IS MY BODY" story....yup, the Catholic church is the place to be!!
All Catholics were and are Christian and all Christians were Catholic....and then came the revolution when some Christians weren't Catholic.....but all Catholics are still Christian....see how easy it is to understand when you pay attention...
And just where in Scripture are the words *Catholic church* found?
Ted Kennedy was a Catholic no doubt.
And that makes him a Christian?
And Pelosi? Chavez? Stalin?
They’re all Christians, too, because they were baptized Catholic and (allegedly) it leaves an indelible mark on their soul and once a Catholic, always a Catholic?
What an interesting definition of being a follower of Christ that Catholics have.
Ping to post 93.
You mentioned the 15th century and a farmer....VERY few people in the 15th century could read anything...They had nothing to read.....until the Catholic Gutenberg invented the printing press, most peopple in the world had never even SEEN a book muchless read one...
You cited SR Maitland, a Protestant Church historian of the early 19th century. He summed up Protestant anti-Catholic stupidity over the “They had no Bibles in the vernacular in the Middle Ages” this way:
Did they know anything about The Bible?
I believe that the idea which many persons [in Protestant England in the 19th century] have of ecclesiastical history may be briefly stated thus: that the Christian church was a small, scattered, and persecuted flock, until the time of Constantine; that then, at once, and as if by magic, the Roman world became Christian; that this Universal Christianity, not being of a very pure, solid, or durable nature, melted down into a filthy mass called Popery, which held its place during the dark ages, until the revival of Pagan literature, and the consequent march of intellect, sharpened men’s wits and brought about the Reformation; when it was discovered that the pope was Antichrist, and that the saints had been in the hands of the little horn predicted by the prophet Daniel for hundreds of years without knowing so awful a fact, or suspecting anything of the kind. How much of this is true, and how much false, this is not the place to inquire; but I feel bound to refer to this opinion, because the necessity of describing the church during the kingdom of the Beast in such a way as scarcely to admit of her visible existence, even when it has not led popular writers on the prophecies to falsify history, has at least prepared their readers to acquiesce without surprise or inquiry in very partial and delusive statements.”
Maitland knew many of his fellow Protestants were stupid, ignorant, mean-spirited anti-Catholics who continued to dwell in their own self-made ‘dark ages’ of Protestant fostered ignorance (Protestant and ignorance in that sense are redundant terms). Hence, he wrote The Dark Ages; a series of essays intended to illustrate the state of religion and literature in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. The quote is on page 188 or 189.
This by the way is what he goes on to say in answer to his own question:
To come, however, to the question,—did people in the dark ages know anything of the Bible? Certainly it was not as commonly known and as generally in the hands of men as it is now, and has been almost ever since the invention of printing. I beg the reader not to suspect me of wishing to maintain any such absurd opinion; but I do think that there is sufficient evidence—(I.) that during that period the scriptures were more accessible to those who could use them; (II.) were in fact more used—and (III.) by a greater number of persons—than some modern writers would lead us to suppose.
Clearly we are most fortunate that Zwingly came along in the 16th Century to correct the Christ’s Church on the sacrament of Holy Eucharist.
/s
Don’t forget Franco, Mussolini, and Hitler were baptized Catholic, too.
Then read more carefully...ALL Christians for over 1,600 years believed exactly that and real/complete Christians (Catholics) still do...
In the verse right after trinity and bible and do it yourself...
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