Intellectual arguments will be responded to. Posters that are notorious liars will be treated with appropriate disdain. For example, Catholicguy, insinuating that there was a theological discussion of the preexistence of souls in heaven, when it was in fact theological speculation regarding only the pre-existence of the Blessed Virgin. Perhaps Catholicguy thinks the Catholic Church erred in canonizing SAINT LOUISE DE MARILLAC? After all, the Catholic Church had her writings thoroughly studied before making the decision to canonize her.
So traditionalists post material such as:
"But Holy Church goes further : she considers that the Blessed Virgin possessed «Her being from before the Creation of the world». What does that mean? To understand it, one need only follow the liturgy for the feasts of the Blessed Virgin and repeat the inspired texts: «The Lord created me when His purpose first unfolded, before the oldest of His works.» (Pr 8.22) The Latin says possedit me, «possessed me», but the Hebrew verb qanani is translated by the Greek as «created me». Furthermore, the Book of Ecclesiasticus clearly states that «before all other things Wisdom was created» (Si 1.4). It is this personified Wisdom which the liturgy so often identifies with the Blessed Virgin, proclaiming: «He who created me fixed a place for my tent. He said, "Make your dwelling in Jacob, and receive Israel as your inheritance." From eternity, in the beginning, He created me, and for eternity I shall remain.» (Si 24.8-9)
In the Proper of the Mass for 8 December, the reading, taken from the Book of Proverbs, continues : «From everlasting I was installed, from the beginning, before the earth came into being.» (Pr 8.23) The Hebrew verb nâsak is the same as that found in Psalm 2, referring to the Messiah : «It is I who have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain». (Ps 2.6)
«The deep was not when I was brought to birth (et ego iam concepta eram).» (Pr 8.24) The same Hebrew word hûl reappears in the following verse: «When there were no springs gushing with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought to birth (ego parturiebar).» (Pr 8.25)
"Applied to the «being» of the Blessed Virgin, this text read in Latin by Saint Louise expresses first Her «conception» (et ego iam concepta eram) and then Her birth (ego parturiebar). It was Saint Jerome who introduced this nuance, involving two different uses of the same Hebrew verb."
The Neo-Catholic posts "whack job". Gee, what a towering intellectual. If the Neo-Catholics choose to embarass themselves, they are free to do so. However, the thought of entering into any type of correspondence with such an individual does not appeal to me.
Additionally, posters of assertions such as "I have never seen an orthodox Catholic [on this forum] say that they knew better than the Pope", will not be responded to directly. It is a willful distortion of the traditionalist position. I have read the traditionalists here thoroughly refute this distortion 100 times. I will not waste my breath with such an individual.
The posts of that particular individual are nothing more than missives from the Darkness. Yours, however, are outstanding but at times it is like trying to teach Calculus to kindergarteners.
Thanks for the ping and the wise words.