Antionach, welcome my brother to the forum! You could not have said it better. We all believe in the same God. There’s only one.
And you conclude correctly. We Christians are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are united in Him. Christ is far greater than any differences which might divide us. Continued peace to you. God bless!*When you hit target…
*I was raised Catholic. I suffered a spiritual crisis from-of al the ridiculous things!-thinking Mass is boring. I never left the faith, but I came close.
I still think Mass is boring,*
If the Mass is boring then:
God is boring
The scriptures are boring
Praying is boring
…
Do you realise what you are saying???* but I now understand the tremendous significance and importance of it. No longer would it be a reason to leave the faith!*Welcome to the “boring Church”
Were you looking for entertainment?*
I investigated Zen Buddhism for a bit. I still admire much of the philosophy (only the stuff compatible with Church teaching, of course), but only thought of it as a philosophy rather than a religion. I nearly became atheist, but I was pulled from that brink by an excellent theology teacher.
I almost became Presbyterian then. You know what saved me? A website called fallible blogma, run by Matthew Warner. I highly reccomend it.*What is the link?
Blessings
Cinette
This…Well I don’t assume the degree of faithfulness the poster has. But for starters maybe because the Church says :bigyikes: he/she is. I’m certain you follow that teaching too though CW. Or maybe “Dont know” because he/she truly doesn’t know, remains so as not to fall under the judgment of “could not be saved”. (CCC 846)
You remind me of a prodigal son who had everything within his grasp, yet he wanted to venture in the wide world and hence took his wealth and squandered everything, until even his friends left him, and his only way back to life was to turn back even as a servant in his fathers house. I hope you are like that prodigal son and returns back with no shame but full faith. Do it soon as life in this world is short.
Sorry, to hear that - it sounds like you are no longer a member of the Catholic Church! And, yes, I am serious. Ultimately we all will be judged on how we respond to Faith God has given to us (for some interesting reading, try the 25th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel).
“Disproving the Diety of Christ” is an issue you ar working on? Maybe you need some more FACTS to work with? What specifically are you having trouble with?
Presbyterian, eh? The idea that Scripture was supreme (and the NT did not really take the form we know it as until 400AD) and it was the Catholic Church that actually gave it to the world) never made much sense to me…I was raised Catholic.
This to me is the pivotal item in the entire post!
I suffered a spiritual crisis from-of al the ridiculous things!-thinking Mass is boring. I never left the faith, but I came close.
That is one of the definitions of a real cirisis - you meet a fork in the road and you must choose one path or the other - you are never the same. There is an interestng poem by Robert Frost I would like ot share with you: poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/
You know, it souds like you have been living the ‘moth tothe flame’ type exerience(s) with your faith. By the time the moth realizes that the flame’s promise of light was just a lot of hot air… the moth is consumed in the flame. Now, as a group, most folks do not get serious about actively spending their time learning more about your Cahtolic Faith - until, at least for some - they realize that other faiths, just like the light cast by the flame, do not the sureness given by the Son of God when He founded His Church (and, that would be the Catholic Faith) on Peter (Matt 16:18).
I still think Mass is boring, but I now understand the tremendous significance and importance of it. No longer would it be a reason to leave the faith!
I investigated Zen Buddhism for a bit. I still admire much of the philosophy (only the stuff compatible with Church teaching, of course), but only thought of it as a philosophy rather than a religion. I nearly became atheist, but I was pulled from that brink by an excellent theology teacher.
I almost became Presbyterian then. You know what saved me? A website called fallible blogma, run by Matthew Warner. I highly reccomend it.
I think anyone really believing in the Love of God will get the chills with Calvin’s view of predestination and how God really operates! 
This reason seems as good or better than the ones I guesstimated.This…
I will not judge anyone based on their Faith beliefs and I’d expect not to be judged likewise.
Peace.Hi, Dontknow,
it sounds like you are no longer a member of the Catholic Church!
You either BELIEVE that Christ is the Son of God - or you don’t
You either BELIEVE that Christ has the Power and Authority of God - or you don’t
You either BELIEVE that Christ founded His Church on Peter (Matt 16:18) - or you don’t
You either BELIEVE that Christ’s Holy Spirit gave His Power to the Catholic Church as recorded in Acts 2 - or you don’t
You either BELIEVE that Christ’s Church (and, that would be the Catholic Church) is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic - or you don’t - and finally…
You either BELIEVE that Christ can neither deceive or be deceived and in setting up the Catholic Church as He did He has established The Way you are to come to Him - or you don’t
… and if ther is anything here listed that you do not believe … you are not a Catholic
:yawn: It doesn’t sound like that all.
And you either believe in whom the Catholic Church defines as a Catholic or you don’t.
But if you believe in all those things listed then I have no doubt you believe the poster is a Catholic.
Hi, Jim Dandy,
I have to hand it to you, JD, this shows a clarity of insight that just defies description!
But, you know, you just can’t get away with making unfounded or unsubstantiated statements without getting your hand called on it! So, put some facts where your mouth is: reference where Jesus did not tell us the truth while He was on earth.
And, yes, having credible sources is important …
God bless
What good is that going to do to actually prove anything? It will still be a matter of faith. Then you’ll have the question of whose interpretation of the words one believes and one’s definition of credible. It would be a lot better if you just finally accepted you walk by faith.If it would make it better for you than just ignore that piece of my profile then. You can define me anyway you’d prefer I guess - really has no impact on me.Hi, Dontknow,
You certainly have a curious position for one who claims to be a Catholic.
Sorry, to hear that - it sounds like you are no longer a member of the Catholic Church! And, yes, I am serious. Ultimately we all will be judged on how we respond to Faith God has given to us (for some interesting reading, try the 25th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel).
Let me demonstrate how this plays out in the ‘real’ world…
You either BELIEVE that Christ is the Son of God - or you don’t
You either BELIEVE that Christ has the Power and Authority of God - or you don’t
You either BELIEVE that Christ founded His Church on Peter (Matt 16:18) - or you don’t
You either BELIEVE that Christ’s Holy Spirit gave His Power to the Catholic Church as recorded in Acts 2 - or you don’t
You either BELIEVE that Christ’s Church (and, that would be the Catholic Church) is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic - or you don’t - and finally…
You either BELIEVE that Christ can neither deceive or be deceived and in setting up the Catholic Church as He did He has established The Way you are to come to Him - or you don’t
… and if ther is anything here listed that you do not believe … you are not a Catholic and will need to find some place that you can believe in - and have a really good story prepared for when you meet Christ as ***your ***Divine Judge to say why you did not believe what He has said.
Honest, that is the way it is going down - and, you can BELIEVE that!
God bless
But, the resolutions to your doubts are given to you in the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Bible whose canon it approved in about 400AD. There is no reason to continue with doubt in a area that can only be resolved with enlighted Faith - and this is the Grace of God.Doesn’t anyone else here just get worn to the bone listening to people argue the same points over and over? Let’s just face the fact that people have different belief systems, and we don’t have to convince everyone that our own way is right. To consider yourself right and everyone else wrong is exceedingly narrowminded – and besides, you’re not going to win converts that way anyhow!
You know, FaithG, if we were talking about the Big Bang Theory so speculating about the inner workings of a Black Hole, I would certainly agree with you. Come up with a theory you like and start developing some experimental models that try and replicate what it is we know for real… and see what you get!
I may remind our dogmatic Catholic brothers that the Catholic church itself says, in the catechism, that the church must be “all things to all people”. Catholic tradition is supposed to adapt to the native culture of an area as much as feasibly possible without adulterating core principles. (Yes, I have read the catechism, even though I’m not Catholic. I enjoy exploring other points of view, but even though I probably agree with 80-90% of it, that last 10% keeps me where I am.)
It is always good to find well read individuals on the list. You may want to go a bit easy on this view adaptation to the native culture ethic - it can easily get out of hand (by the way, can you spot me a reference here on that, thanks!) The Prince of this world is fighting aginst God and His people and has already been condmned. Let me recommend three sections in St. John’s Gospel which may shed some light on the limits of ‘adaptation’ that may be simply camouflaged ‘surrender’: John 12:31, John 14:30, and John 16:11.
Since you claim to be somewhere - all that was listed was ‘uncommitted’ I would be interested in knowing your criteria for the remaining 10%? It could be you have overlooked it…
It was this philosophy that prompted Paul to discard the mandatory practices of Jewish diet and circumcision. It was this same idea that prompted Christmas: experts argue which pagan religion spawned the composite traditions. One of the church’s most esteemed evangelists travelled amongst pagan tribes, preaching that the One God was, in fact, hidden in their own religions as the “nameless god”. The cross was a revered religious symbol well before Christianity, and besides, Jesus wasn’t hung on a cross, he was hung on a tree. A highly educated Catholic priest of my acquaintance was discussing with me the Greek and Hebrew vocabulary origins of our concepts of Hell: it is a cross of Greek pagan Hades, the Jewish word for “burn pit” (where trash was dumped – thus the writhing worms), and “graveyard”; and our visual pictures of Satan have encompassed facets of the Jewish word simply meaning “adversary”, with the Jewish god of the dead. (The Jews for a time worshipped a separate god for the dead, which was what made Jesus so revolutionary preaching that God is above the living andthe dead.)
Wow! FaithG, this is quite a jumble you have run together in one paragraph. Since you appear to be an admirer of St. Paul (he appears in several of your sentences… let me see if I can give you an idea or two on him. It wasn’t the ‘philosophy’ that caused Paul to change from being a highly observant Jewish Pharisee - it was the direct appearance of the Risen Christ to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-31). I think your reference to the esteemed evangelist was St. Paul and you can find this account in Acts 17 when he is traveling in Athens. This is an interesting story because the Greeks were a very religious people - they knew all of these forces in nature were not their making - so they knew superior beings responsible for the natural world. Polytheism is the best they could come up with - which considering atheists today, that is not such a bad move, eh?
God bless - CONTINUED -
**
