Fuzzy Inner Feeling (FIF)

[Ilroy]

Hello,

I have heard this same thought conveyed by some Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, Assemblies of God, and maybe a Unitarian or Church of Christ (I don’t remember clearly on this), etc.

Slander! I demand an immediate public retraction of this accusation and apology!!!

As for dealing with individuals. When I converse with a person of any given faith community and they tell me what they what they believe, I have to assume that they are conveying what their particular Church teaches. If it is not, I hope someone will then correct that misunderstanding and show then what the denomination official teaches.

Just like when someone hears a Catholic say they believe this and this - if they don’t know the Catholic faith, then they assume that the Catholic Church teaches what the person was told. If the Catholic they spoke to was not conveying the true Catholic perspective, then when they talk to someone knowledgeable about the faith - perhaps on a forum like Catholic Answers - they will be fraternally corrected as to the truth. Someone asks here - I heard Catholics believe xyz. If the Catholic Church teaches xyz, those here will say - yes, and this is why - or - no, this is what we believe and this is why. Official documents, Church Fathers, etc. will be cited to show why this belief exists.

And I am sorry if you feel I sometimes lump all Protestants in together sometimes. When I wish to know how non-Catholic Christians view a certain doctrine or idea, I couldn’t start a thread for each denomination, not even each major branch of denominations.

Are you addressing me personally or Catholic Answers Forums in general?

I wouldn’t worry about it…this steadfast person seems to just like hearing him/herself blather on as I’ve found in a couple of threads lately. Really has little or nothing to add to the discussion…just repeats the same tripe over and over.

 

[Steadfast]

How can it be slander if you ask me what I think about something and I tell you what I think about it?

Ilroy, please refrain from ad hominem. If you don’t understand something I’ve said, just ask and I will try to explain it to you. There’s no need to resort to insults.

 

[Steadfast]

Hello,

I have heard this same thought conveyed by some Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, Assemblies of God, and maybe a Unitarian or Church of Christ (I don’t remember clearly on this), etc.

Okay, so, I know Catholics who think they’ve seen the Blessed Virgin on a grilled cheese sandwich.

Slander! I demand an immediate public retraction of this accusation and apology!!!

No, it’s not slander. It might be making an undue assumption about your intent, but it’s hardly slander.

As for dealing with individuals. When I converse with a person of any given faith community and they tell me what they what they believe, I have to assume that they are conveying what their particular Church teaches. If it is not, I hope someone will then correct that misunderstanding and show then what the denomination official teaches.

Great, so if I talk with Rosemary Ruether and she gives me an earful of Womynist Thealogy, I should assume this to be Orthodox Catholic teaching?

Or when I encounter some Catholics gathered around a stain that looks vaguely like Mary, I should assume their candles and prayers to represent official Catholic endorsement of their activities?

Or, yet again, when I encounter a Catholic who insists that Vatican II was merely a “pastoral” council and not a dogmatic council and that it’s decrees are therefore not binding, I should also take this opinion to be magisterial truth?

Do you see how this works?

Speck, plank, eyeball.

Just like when someone hears a Catholic say they believe this and this - if they don’t know the Catholic faith, then they assume that the Catholic Church teaches what the person was told. If the Catholic they spoke to was not conveying the true Catholic perspective, then when they talk to someone knowledgeable about the faith - perhaps on a forum like Catholic Answers - they will be fraternally corrected as to the truth. Someone asks here - I heard Catholics believe xyz. If the Catholic Church teaches xyz, those here will say - yes, and this is why - or - no, this is what we believe and this is why. Official documents, Church Fathers, etc. will be cited to show why this belief exists.

Okay then, I don’t know of any Protestant denominations that teach that verification of the reality of ones standing with God is to be found in how one feels.

Does this clear things up for you?

And I am sorry if you feel I sometimes lump all Protestants in together sometimes. When I wish to know how non-Catholic Christians view a certain doctrine or idea, I couldn’t start a thread for each denomination, not even each major branch of denominations.

Okay

Are you addressing me personally or Catholic Answers Forums in general?

I was addressing you personally but I was feeling especially snarky at the time I wrote it. I beg your pardon if I was unduly sharp, I just get so irritated when I perceive hypocrisy from people who are bright enough and should know better.

 

[Mommyof02green]

Okay, so, I know Catholics who think they’ve seen the Blessed Virgin on a grilled cheese sandwich.

Or on toast? :bigyikes:

Wait you can buy toaster now that can do that…

outhouserag.typepad.com/gizmos/2006/10/zuse_customprin.html

gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/breakfast-art-toaster-warms-your-soul-218495.php

Everyone should know that the first step in determining something a “miracle” is to make sure there is no reasonable explanation.

Therefore if someone can determine that the image was “man-made” it’s not worth all the attention its getting.

 

[Steadfast]

Ilroy,

I should not have said this to you:

But now that I know that you cannot think analogically with any degree of critical accuracy I’ll avoid giving you such a hard time in the future when you say ridiculous things like you have here.

And I beg your pardon. I’ll try to do better in the future.

 

[Good_Daughter]

Once when I had Mormon missionaries visiting, they read from the Bible and I couldn’t help it, I started to cry. It had nothing to do with the missionaries, the passage just touched me deeply. It was a little embarassing for me, but no big deal. Eventually, I promised to read excerpts from The Book of Mormon and we agreed to discuss my experience.

When they returned, they asked if I’d had that “burning in the bosom” (a term used in their offficial literature) while reading The BoM. I honestly hadn’t and it surprised them. They weren’t sure what to do with me after that.

I guess in some faiths, it’s not just about having an emotional response (in this case to Scripture) it’s about having a specific, pre-determined response. It seems wrong and I wish I could explain why in a way they might understand.

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

No, it’s not slander. It might be making an undue assumption about your intent, but it’s hardly slander.

I was just quoting what you wrote.

You’d be better off dealing with their church’s official doctrine rather than slandering whole groups with the opinion of some person you met.

I was addressing you personally but I was feeling especially snarky at the time I wrote it. I beg your pardon if I was unduly sharp, I just get so irritated when I perceive hypocrisy from people who are bright enough and should know better.

I accept your apology, friend. We are reconciled you and me. :hug3:

Okay, so, I know Catholics who think they’ve seen the Blessed Virgin on a grilled cheese sandwich.

Do they want fries with that.

Great, so if I talk with Rosemary Ruether and she gives me an earful of Womynist Thealogy, I should assume this to be Orthodox Catholic teaching?

Or when I encounter some Catholics gathered around a stain that looks vaguely like Mary, I should assume their candles and prayers to represent official Catholic endorsement of their activities?

Or, yet again, when I encounter a Catholic who insists that Vatican II was merely a “pastoral” council and not a dogmatic council and that it’s decrees are therefore not binding, I should also take this opinion to be magisterial truth?

Do you see how this works?

Speck, plank, eyeball.

If you didn’t know anything about Catholicism and you talk with the above individuals, or about the Church’s view on the particular issue they were speaking of, then yes, it should be assumed to be correct. But, if you are sincerely looking for answers, it won’t take long to find out that (assuming they are way off base) you weren’t told orthodox Catholic teaches. And if you know the teachings on the Church, then when someone tells you something false, you’ll know what’s up.

This idea of assumption only works when you don’t know the position of a denomination. And being that there are several thousands of denominations, unless one is very, very, diligent they aren’t going to be able to keep up with all the differences.

Okay then, I don’t know of any Protestant denominations that teach that verification of the reality of ones standing with God is to be found in how one feels.

Does this clear things up for you?

From what I’ve read on this thread, it seems as if the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that. Of course, whether these two groups are Protestant and even Christian seems to be a point of open debate.

Question - is the FIF similar to being ‘slain by the Spirit’?

 

[jmcrae]

Question - is the FIF similar to being ‘slain by the Spirit’?

No, not at all. Being “slain in the spirit” is to fall down on to the floor when someone prays over you in the spirit.

This has happened to me once. It was not an emotional experience at all - I had been in an accident, and I was back at Mass for the first time since the accident. Someone offered to pray over me for healing - he just placed his fingertips gently on my forehead, and all of a sudden my consciousness was carried up into Heaven - I could sense the Trinity, and I was totally enveloped in love.

When I came to, I was lying on the floor of the church, feeling a little woozy, but none the worse for wear. The person who had been praying over me told me to stay down on the floor for a few moments because in his experience, if one gets up too fast, one might faint, so I just laid there until the woozy feeling went away, and then I just got up and walked home.

But there was nothing emotional about the experience at all - I don’t even remember the person saying anything to me - he just laid his hands very lightly on my head, and that was it. I certainly wasn’t pushed down - I guess what happened was when he noticed that I was collapsing, someone came and caught me from behind, and just laid me down on the floor very gently.

 

[Zooey]

I suffer from clinical depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. If I sat around waiting for a warm fuzzy inner feeling to tell me that I had faith, I would be waiting for a good long time.

I frequently feel perfectly horrible. Some of my Catholic brothers & sisters in Christ, both here, & elsewhere on the 'net have helped me to understand that by “offering up” my bad feelings, I can turn them into prayers. I am quite sure that satan is no end of upset about this, as he has lost a weapon in the battle.
I find no small amount of pleasure in knowing I can make him unhappy in this way.

God bless all here.