Doesn't your relationship with God matter more than your denomination?

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I am sorry to break into this discussion but timing makes a huge difference. If the Immaculate Conception is true, is it a necessary truth?

God does not change so if it is necessary it must have been necessary from the beginning. If that is the case, the Church must have failed those who died before the dogma was defined by not telling them it was necessary. Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux come to mind. They both denied the Immaculate Conception as it was defined. Aquinas believed that Mary was born without the taint of original sin but denied she was free from it from the moment of conception which is what the definition says. If it was not necessary why define it?

I have heard it said that those living before the definition are fine because it only becomes necessary to believe it once it is defined. This would mean God changing what it is necessary to believe. If it is not necessary to believe it until it is defined, why define it at all?
St Thomas Aquinas believed that Mary was conceived in original sin, but not born in original sin. Do protestants come close to St Thomas Aquinas? As I see it immaculate was instantaneous with her conception. She was needing saved she was instantly saved. But then I have to try and understand the prophecy of Simeon, a Jewish man, a sword would pierce her soul.
 
i am catholic but i feel more engaged by protestant worship and preaching and appreciate the close fellowship offered by some protestant communities. i feel that my relationship with God would become deeper and my discipleship would become more intentional by joining a protestant church. please enlighten as to why this is a sin if my overall relationship with the Lord is improved.

thank you
Hi Jack, I did not read this thread but your title caught my eye and your initial post, my heart. Denomination does not matter when it comes to your relationship with God. If you feel Him pulling you to another church, then pray, pray, pray and read the Bible. He will speak clearly to you. As long as that church is Biblical in its doctrine and espouses the essential truths of Christianity, you cannot go wrong. God is not limited by denomination. The Church of Jesus Christ in not limited to a particular physical church/denomination. It is a spiritual church made of authentic believers across any denomination. I hope you have (or will soon) find God’s will for your life.

God bless you!!!
 
The fundamental flaw is protestantism. Which I was, and quite proud of it. Almost to the point of, well you. You don’t know the problem with your philosophy, I do, because I lived it, it was beautiful, it seemed tangible, but it was wrong. Are you going to educate me? You simply cannot my friend.
 
The fundamental flaw is protestantism. Which I was, and quite proud of it. Almost to the point of, well you. You don’t know the problem with your philosophy, I do, because I lived it, it was beautiful, it seemed tangible, but it was wrong. Are you going to educate me? You simply cannot my friend.
hiDB,

How do I not know the problem or pitfall of my paradigm when I admitted it, and have a history to show it, which then led to the question of your ability to humbly admit yours, and its history to show it.

Nothing to do with educating, for both sides have their converts from the other side.

Blessings
 
So just being submissive is more salient than the truth on the matter ?
Hi Ben,

But Jesus said whatever the Church binds is bound in Heaven. So we are being submissive to the truth.
That was my point. That I would fit in on this point for almost anytime in 2000 years.
Exteriorly you may have fit in, but the part that counts, interiorly, you would not, and your own words have proven this time and again.
The bigger question is would those of first church fit in our churches of today ?
They would in mine. The ones that would fit in yours are the ones that rejected the Council of Jerusalem.
Correct, in that I would not have today’s mindset that the church/bishop in Rome has infallible divine authority over all the other churches. Incorrect in that I would not fit in, for the church at the beginning did not say St. Peter was infallible, and the "head’ of the church (leader yes), over the other apostles, the other churches , even over all councils.
Can you show me where the Church at the beginning said Peter was not infallible? For Jesus did say whatever Peter binds is bound in Heaven. You cannot get around those words Ben. Your real problem is not with the CC, it is with Jesus.

I would add that two leading Orthodox theologians of the past century contradict what you say. Meyendorff says there is nothing in the writings of the early Church that can refute the Bishop of Rome’s claims. Afanasiev went even further, he said there is no doubt that if something were to be taught in the early Church, it had to have Rome’s approval, and that the Bishop of Rome was exercising universal jurisdiction from the earliest times.

As one Protestant theologian said, it is obvious from the epistle of first Clement, that you can see papal infallibility and universal jurisdiction in it.
Because the apostles laid the foundation, left us with a body of faith, and were contemporaries of Mary and her "end’, and make no historical mention of it.
I don’t feel they felt the need to write something that was common knowledge.
You really think that 2000 years later we have a better handle on the matter than those who were contemporary to her , and responsible for such binding ?
No, you obviously do not. But the CC has the same knowledge. It was common knowledge, that the Prots have lost.
So said error.
Error wants the truth to have an expiration date. Error would like people to believe error forever.
Yes, for they would have had same criteria on Mary as the other decrees, statements of faith, but they didn’t.
And this shows you do not know what was the deciding factor on the Trinity at Nicaea. St. Athanasius stated that the Arians were able to quote more verses in their favor than the Trinitarians. He stated they had to go outside of Scripture and appeal to the tradition of the fathers. Both the IC and the Assumption were defined because the CC had always believed it, from Apostolic times. It was common knowledge.
As I said before, “just following orders” goes just so far, and then it becomes a sin in itself, as much of a sin as disobedience to an apostolic teaching.
So what criteria does Jesus give for when His Apostles are teaching truth and when they are teaching sin? What about their successors? See Ben, your only criteria is submission to yourself, but submission to yourself is the road to Hell.
Well, why should early Christians have believed in a Jewish Messiah, and their Writ, when they crucified whom was prophesied ?
This in no way addresses my question.
Yes…it fits somewhat. Look, any mathematician knows the probability for error increases on eyewitness observation and conclusions the further away you get from the “incident”.
Actually, scientists tell us that the possibility of error is great from the very start. So how reliable are those Scriptures that were written decades after Jesus ascended? How reliable are the copies? I have heard it said that God protects the Scriptures, if I believe that, why wouldn’t I believe He protects His Church in the same manner?
Don’t think it is coincidence that these two doctrines came on the heels when the church dogmatized the pope’s infallibility.
One was before infallibility, and one was some seventy years after. So not even close to on the heels. Both popes took council with the many bishops, and their response was unanimous in favor of the dogmas, as they were already believed by the whole CC from time immemorial.
Perfect. Then one can see that they are not orphaned, and have an unction from the Holy One, that even Christ in you illumines every matter. You will be like Peter when every authority seemingly challenged where he needed to go, and only divine revelation led him properly to his thoughts on the matter, sifting the good ,bad , and ugly of all the (name removed by moderator)ut.
Hmmm. What Church authority was over Peter, challenging him on where to go? To my knowledge the only authority over Peter was the Trinity.
Well, she dealt with them with different criteria.
The criteria was exactly the same. I suggest you read Where We Got the Bible From by Graham, and you will see that the criteria is the same. In fact, those two dogmas that you cannot accept were more accepted in the early Church than some of the books that made it into the Bible!!
 
Correct. it is not apostolic.
So you have writings from the Apostles showing this is not true? If not, at best all you can say is you think it is not Apostolic. But this statement also shows you stated something that you knew not to be true earlier. I asked you this: Please, tell me, I beg of you, answer this question. What living authority has the power to bind and loose you on matters of faith and morals, such that you will submit to them even when you strongly disagree? You replied this:
Speaking only in a general sense of binding, I have answered that first was parents, then teachers, pastors, presbyters, as to visible authority.
You have now shown that your stating you would let your pastor bind you in something you disagree with to be false.

Ben, you have stated what the Ebionites did was wrong. It your correspondence with me over the years, nothing you have stated leads me to believe that if you had been in the Judaizer camp, that you would have submitted to what the Apostles decided at that first council. That is why interiorly, you would never have fit in with the Catholic Church from it’s inception.

Your own words prove you only submit to yourself. How is that any different than what the Ebionites did?
 
I am sorry to break into this discussion but timing makes a huge difference. If the Immaculate Conception is true, is it a necessary truth?
Please break in. Obviously, the Church felt it was.
God does not change so if it is necessary it must have been necessary from the beginning. If that is the case, the Church must have failed those who died before the dogma was defined by not telling them it was necessary.
Wrong again. You are only responsible for the knowledge that you have. By your logic, since the Council of Jerusalem did not proclaim a definition on circumcision of Gentiles for years after they were already joining the Church, they failed any Gentile that might have been circumcised before that council. Were all Christians failed before the dogma of the Trinity? Of course not.
Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux come to mind. They both denied the Immaculate Conception as it was defined. Aquinas believed that Mary was born without the taint of original sin but denied she was free from it from the moment of conception which is what the definition says.
And they were wrong, The question to ask yourself is, would they accept it after it was defined? Case in point. It is a well known fact that St. Jerome called into question the Deuterocanonicals. But what no Prot ever mentions is that after Hippo and Carthage, St. Jerome never calls them into doubt again, and that he quotes from them as inspired Scripture well over seventy times!! He submitted himself to the will of the Church.
I have heard it said that those living before the definition are fine because it only becomes necessary to believe it once it is defined. This would mean God changing what it is necessary to believe. If it is not necessary to believe it until it is defined, why define it at all?
Because, what is defined is truth. And since Jesus is a witness to truth, why would anyone want to believe error? But that is what you are arguing for, though you do not realize it. You want the freedom to believe error. Why?

By your logic, Jesus coming is a bad thing, because He states this:
If I had not come and spoken* to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin.
Before He comes and reveals the truth, no sin. Afterwards, no excuse for sin. Hmmmm :hmmm:
 
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