T
thecoach
Guest
Then all is forgiven and forgotten!
Former Catholic Priest Condemns the Catholic Church and Scott Hahn
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T
thecoach
Guest
Then all is forgiven and we will tread along together!
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ralphinal
Guest
Cool
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distracted
Guest
That’s funny - the Spirit of Truth led me into the Catholic Church… or back, i should say…
I have been Crhistian all my life… but i fell away from the RCC… and when i did, i also fell away from Christ… I went to this or that non-C church when i was lost, but never had any power to overcome sin… and i so longed to do that so that i could stay connected/committed to Jesus, whom i loved but could not seem to stay wholly committed to… It was when i started on my way back to the Catholic Church (prayed rosary) that i began to overcome Satan and sin… The rosary broke my bondage to Satan… I wasn’t into big sin but my life had gone into the ditch because of the life i lived (people i associated with, etc…). The devil didn’t like that so he made my life miserable… but i held on and got more and more knowledgable about the Church, etc…
I love the Church. Have you ever spent time there in the Real Presence of Christ???
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vocatio
Guest
I really am sorry. I read it out loud to my wife and realized that the sentax was quite offensive. SORRY.,SORRY…SORRY. Sorry a hundred times over. I really did NOT mean to say what I said that way.
I was really trying to say something that educated about the term “Roman” in RCC. That originated in an attack on “Romanism”. It’s roots are actually from anti-Catholicism. That’s really what I was trying to do. And the KKK remark should have said something [and I attempt to say it correclty so assume the well meaning part if it comes out wrong again] something like this:
The Catholic Church is not Roman Catholic, it is just Catholic. The Catholic Church consists of about 24 or 25 rites. Most peole that refer to the Catholic Church think about the Pope and also the Latin Catholic Rite. I want to be a Byzantine Catholic, partly because the priests are allowed to be married. I alos love the Divine Liturgy and can relate a lot with the easter Chruch since initially I wanted to convert to the Easter Orthodox Church that also consists of numerous rites. The reason is I realized by my historical research and bible study that the writers wrote a lot about stuff that sounds speficially catholic…and I can give examples if you will, but the most important ones deal with the Eucharist, Tradition and Church Authority. If you are seriously studying the scriptures then you might realize it already. It took me years to come to the realization of it. And had I not been so active in my former Protestant faith I may not have ever come to realize the Problems of that faith. As I applied the things that lead me out of Catholicism to my then “Christian only” faith I discover the same and even worse problems with them and others ecclesial communities [churches] that I seriously looked into and experience within my life time. I discovered that they all have an “authority”. They say the bible, but in reality it ends up being someone in the leadership or as a group of leaders that agree on the same emphasis of something that is one of their pet peaves or …too detailed to go into without writing a book.
The bible never says that the bible is the sole authority. And even if it did then where does it say which books belong in the bible. I’m not even talking about the so called “apocrypha” or the deuterocanonical books as the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox say it. That really caused me to struggle…in a really big way to the point that I wondered if this was even made up in the first place. There is a whole lot more. I am an analytical thinker and have had many issues trying to “know the truth” my entire life because my dad was a traditional Catholic that constantly failed at being even a good father and worse as a faithful husband. My mother was a very resentful Protestant that hated Catholicism and took every opportunity at hurling anti-Catholic remarks along with hateful remarks about the Blessed Mother that even Protestants would find offensive. They both used us against the other and this only lead me to a life long journey of trying to find out what the truth really is about marriage, divorce, parenting and God.
Remember we all come to the table broken. And again, I’m really Sorry that I came across so bad. Please forgive me. I have many distractons around me…just laid down a new vinyl floor last ngiht because we had mold really bad and my wife got a little too motivated for me. Top that off with an upper respiratory illness, sick as a dog, a home daycare and 3 young children. We’re replacing the dishwasher as well…long stupid story. But I’m tired and not thinking really clear. Gotta go and put in the dishwasher now. I’ve avoided as long as I can. The wife is teasing me again.
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thecoach
Guest
In my case, yes it is unreasonable, for I was once one of the staunchest defenders of the Catholic faith.
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thecoach
Guest
Just wondering why you experience is valid because you are in the RCC, and mine it seems is not because it led me away.
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mercygate
Guest
I find this puzzling, given that your posts here indicate that your idea of what the Catholic faith is is painfully off target.
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ralphinal
Guest
Interesting. Very few former Catholics that I know really knew the faith before or they already had an axe to grind, so to speak. In my experience, that makes you unique. I really would like to know what it is that lead you away.
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vocatio
Guest
Sometimes people cognitively place themselves outside the Church. Sometimes they know much of the Churches teaching but pride gets in the way. That’s what I believe is the case with priests, deacons and laity that do this. But to truly do this fully knowing is very dangerous and a form of rejecting the fullness of the truth. It reminds me of John 6 when many if not most of Jesus followers left him because of what he said. He then turned the his disciples and proposed “what are you going to leave too”… they replied back “but to whom shall we go” etc. You know the drill. John 6: 32-69 I beleive.
Many of us make our own beds for one reason or another. I hope you find what you’re looking for. I hope that if you end up in a “what’s happening now church” or a " me and my big butter Jesus" you find what you’re looking for. It never worked for me. I found that all of the different congregations in my own denomination changed from one congregation to the next. I also found the leadership to be quite the manipulative kind. I’m from a family of elders (bishops), deacons and preachers. In fact I had a scholarship lined up to get a Masters in Divinity from ACU… Once you axe out the Church leadership you just find yourself under somebody else’s control. It’s all the same…only without the fullness of truth. People twist scripture everywhere you go. One minister /preacher… said that “meak” does not mean gentle and kind, but rather bold and agressive… They redefine things to suit their own beleifs. In fact most Protestants approach the bible with a belief and then set out to find scirpture that supports what they believe, not the other way around.
It would take a lifetime to really learn scripture. I guess you’re enrolled at a bible college now to make sure you’re interpretting it correctly. Have you studied the Greek yet? And don’t forget to study the Hebrew. Can’t be a good fundamentalist unless you study the Greek though. Make sure you check out the rapture trap. That’ll float with Baptists. Others too. But make sure you know which one line of rapture they believe in. And don’t forget, if you go to a church of Christ, once your married you can never get a divorce and remarry without dooming your eternal soul to hell. And don’t even talk about ancient church fathers to them. If the elders tell you to do anything…you better do it. And did I tell you about my Southern Baptist preacher when I was in high school living in the counrtry attending both Batist and Catholic churches. The preacher called out the sins and named the names insuring that the particular sinners were present for all to condemn.
I hope you find what you’re looking for. I can’t imagine ever doing that again. I finally feel at home again. Oh, and I still have a lot of preacher in me. I’m trying to tone it down.
Many of us make our own beds for one reason or another. I hope you find what you’re looking for. I hope that if you end up in a “what’s happening now church” or a " me and my big butter Jesus" you find what you’re looking for. It never worked for me. I found that all of the different congregations in my own denomination changed from one congregation to the next. I also found the leadership to be quite the manipulative kind. I’m from a family of elders (bishops), deacons and preachers. In fact I had a scholarship lined up to get a Masters in Divinity from ACU… Once you axe out the Church leadership you just find yourself under somebody else’s control. It’s all the same…only without the fullness of truth. People twist scripture everywhere you go. One minister /preacher… said that “meak” does not mean gentle and kind, but rather bold and agressive… They redefine things to suit their own beleifs. In fact most Protestants approach the bible with a belief and then set out to find scirpture that supports what they believe, not the other way around.
It would take a lifetime to really learn scripture. I guess you’re enrolled at a bible college now to make sure you’re interpretting it correctly. Have you studied the Greek yet? And don’t forget to study the Hebrew. Can’t be a good fundamentalist unless you study the Greek though. Make sure you check out the rapture trap. That’ll float with Baptists. Others too. But make sure you know which one line of rapture they believe in. And don’t forget, if you go to a church of Christ, once your married you can never get a divorce and remarry without dooming your eternal soul to hell. And don’t even talk about ancient church fathers to them. If the elders tell you to do anything…you better do it. And did I tell you about my Southern Baptist preacher when I was in high school living in the counrtry attending both Batist and Catholic churches. The preacher called out the sins and named the names insuring that the particular sinners were present for all to condemn.
I hope you find what you’re looking for. I can’t imagine ever doing that again. I finally feel at home again. Oh, and I still have a lot of preacher in me. I’m trying to tone it down.
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thecoach
Guest
Sorry, but no. Since you have no idea of what I used to believe in terms of the Catholic faith (though there may be some of my older posts still around somewhere) it is your post that is painfully off-target.
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thecoach
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I have found what I am looking for.
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thecoach
Guest
I have no ax to grind but to speak what I feel is true, and to challenge what I feel is not, I guess just like everyone else here. Lets just say I had some questions about core Church teachings for a long time, but would speak to priests and get very poor answers. So I would bury myself in study of the Catechism and other sources of Church teachings. There came a time that I faced the questions head on through prayer and meditation, and well, the rest is history. Also, to be quite blunt, what I saw representative on this board also was a small factor. I honestly dont think I can ever go back, having the realizations I now do. Perhaps I should back off of this board a bit, in giving it thought, nothing will be accomplished here.
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GeorgiaPeach
Guest
Coach - Please don’t leave! We love having you here.
I’m curious what questions about the core teachings you had/have. I too had many unanswered questions, mostly steming from misconceptions. It is unfortunate that the priests you spoke to didn’t have good answers for you.
I’m curious what questions about the core teachings you had/have. I too had many unanswered questions, mostly steming from misconceptions. It is unfortunate that the priests you spoke to didn’t have good answers for you.
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mercygate
Guest
You have managed to construe my post in the most negative way. From your posts on this thread, it appears that whatever you “used to believe” bears little resemblance to the Catholic faith as the Catholic Church believes it.
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thecoach
Guest
Again, you have NO idea, and again you are in nothing but assumption. Why post twice to say the same thing?
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Crumpy
Guest
I ran into a young lady who falls into the category of the preceding description. We were at a bible study at a Christian Reformed Church ( more than half the group was Catholic) and this lady liked to stick the knife in and twist it: “I was a Catholic all my life then I became a Christian.” But, it doesn’t take long before the unspecified conflict she had with her Catholic mother to also come out on the table.
I simply can’t discuss that with somebody like her, she didn’t bring it up for discussion, that’s for sure. She had a pretty closed mind.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote a book some years ago called Introduction to Christianity. I find it a rather challenging read. At the point where he discusses conversion, he just says that faith is something that just “hits you.” I’m sure that he’s saying that God’s calling in one’s life is met by the proclamation of the Word, and then the person is lifted up by faith, as happens with so many of the disciples who are called to Jesus in the gospels.
One of the classic and often-repeated chants of people who have left the CC or have never made it in is that they don’t want a man-made religion (or “religion” at all for that matter). So, they construct that as a mental barrier (to them a “defense”) against the CC.
It’s a way for them to avoid thinking. Maybe that’s not it exactly, as much as to say that these people have simply lost their faith. That’s what it is , and that’s what they should admit, up front.
Gently, I have to add that Dr. Scott Hahn is a theologian, and theologians have a language all their own. Hahn not only is somewhat hard to follow in his writing, but he is that way when he speaks, too. Theology wouldn’t be a serious subject, if it wasn’t somewhat esoteric at times.
It also wouldn’t hurt to have a year of college theology to understand the Catechism, either.
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thecoach
Guest
Closed minded like yourselves I guess?
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Contarini
Guest
I have never read anything of Hahn’s that could remotely be called esoteric. All his books have corny puns and quips and are written in big print with about a dozen words on each page (OK, that’s hyperbole).
Now Karl Barth, that’s getting toward esoteric (though he’s not as bad as he’s made out to be). Aquinas could be considered esoteric. Shucks, even C. S. Lewis, while by no means esoteric, is a bit more so than Hahn because he had an old-fashioned classical education and sometimes wrote for people who shared that education.
Edwin
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CatsAndDogs
Guest
What were your specific questions about these “core” Church teachings?
You got poor answers? So you were scandalized by bad teachers?
You say you were a Catholic, and yet accepted your personal interpretations of personal revelation, via prayer and meditation, over those of the Magisterium?
You were scandalized by people on these boards?
You don’t THINK you can go back, or you CAN’T go back because you actually do now believe that which would prohibit you from “coming back”? Which is it?
I’m obviously a bit confused on what it is you were referring to in your above statements.
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