Do you have any links or references that proves your statement that they are the richest institution in the World? Sure, they have VERY expensive paintings, but they are not going to sell those, anymore than I would sell my Mom’s horrible (sorry mom) paintings.
**I am not fluent in Greek, but I have plenty of resources in Greek and Hebrew to help get the better meaning of many passages that are not always as clear as they could and should be with our English translations. I recommend to anyone to get a good set of Bible tools to assist getting the context and meaning out of the Scripture; particularly on some of the more difficult passages in Scripture.
**You right a statement i cannot back up. Any thing you would reference online would be an estimation because the Vatican would never disclose such a number; it would not be to any advantage to the Vatican to release such information. Yes it is possible they are not the richest nation in the world, but I would bet on it if I were a betting man.
**Thanks for the insights, but I have been told on the contrary - I will take what you said into consideration though going forward. Love is telling the truth; especially when the stakes are as high as they are-eternal life. God has granted me the wisdom of His understanding and i am only sharing the word of God. He has also given me the gift of discernment; which i continue to pray for an increase in faith and discernment between the things of this world and the things of God and He has been very gracious in this regard.
I became no more “introlled” with the teachings of the early Church fathers than it seems you have in the teachings from your denomination. Your assumption here–that I did not study Scripture or give it a certain prime of place throughout my studies–is misplaced. I studied the Scriptures daily and prayed for God’s guidance. I did studies of various teachings, examining every time they appeared in Scripture. For example, I studied every time Scripture made any reference to baptism and the context in which the statements were made. My goal was not to reinforce what I had already been taught–which was that baptism was a mere sign of the believer–but to arrive at the truth of what Scripture really taught. As a result of that study, I realized that Scripture explains baptism as much more significant than a mere “symbol” and that it was essential and always connected with faith. (i.e. they believed and were baptized, and were saved). When reading Scriptures such as those in 1 Pet, it became abundantly clear that baptism actually does something–it “saves you” as the blessed apostle wrote.
No I don’t expect to find a complete listing of every single doctrine the apostles believed and taught in every passage of Scripture. The individual books of Scripture were never intended to include every single teaching of Christ. The book of Acts is an overview of the history of the primitive Church, and the other various letters of Paul and the other writers were written for specific purposes.
Actually Scripture is far from silent regarding the real presence of Christ and the followers of the apostles also were very clear in their understanding of the teachings they received.
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That would be one theory; but given the rites, traditions, and rituals you participate in; there certainly should be a lot more written or added to the Bible, in my worthless opinion, for validity sake…don’t you think?
Hi again… or morning,
That lack of something (evidence) does not mean its not true… Common, your too smart to pull out this logical fallacy.
Tanner:
Quote= onenow1. Good job !
I agree with you but would like to add one comment. In my experience, I’ve noticed that most protestants will continue to protest even the most obvious facts, because they passionately believe that somehow the facts must be wrong. The belief is so passionate, it is like a mother defending her child even after the child did something incredibly wrong. The mother will protect the child out of love and compassion and therefore ignoring reality. However, some protestants who eventually tear down their own wall of ignorance, can become some of the most informed Catholics. Fine examples are Steve Ray and Tim Staples. If we approach protestants with some form of charity, they will eventually see the truth and accept. Leading by example is by far the best strategy. Remember, they are our brothers and sisters.
Matthew, Luke, John, Paul, Mark, James, Judas, Timothy and Peter. The book is known as the Bible. There are the earliest church fathers of the NT. If you want to read more, then there is the OT is David, Solomon, Joshua, Moses, Joseph, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Samuel and Job to name a few. These fathers were writing of the same salvation in the same person of Jesus Christ. The older OT fathers were looking forward to the redemption of man through the Christ (Jesus); while the early NT church fathers were testifying to the redemption which is available through the same, Jesus, the Christ. This is all contained in one book; which makes it easy for those that really want to know what is going on. For some of them were actually eye witnesses to the events, while others new the testimony of the eyewitnesses of the redemption of mankind. Really, if the truth be known; it is the only book you’ll ever need. It is living and sharper than a two-edged sword, able to cut right down to the marrow; so it is also powerful. It has brought change to many people who have felt its power; and destroyed those that have added to it; like false religious people or subtracted from it, like false religious people. If those false people had understood the power; they would have read that adding or subtracting would have lead to their own destruction. The Author of this powerful book gave these warnings at the beginning and at the end; maybe the Author anticipated those who like to skip around while reading; I don’t know.
I wouldn’t call my self anti-Catholic, but I was pretty set in my ways… I converted this past Easter. The Holy Spirit literally got a hold of me… It was pretty darn awesome!
What did the first Christians do when there was no Bible? Who determined the Table of Contents of the Bible? Who determined what books would be in the Bible? After the Bible was completed, why do we have so many well-meaning people like yourself who come to different conclusions about the Doctrines put forward in the Bible? (post reformation) ← I hope to here a direct answer to that one…
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Quote =onenow1 I guess some people think Jesus dropped the bible down to us directly from heaven. The sad thing fhat I don’t think they recognize is Jesus had to come down as a man to teach the apostles His commands. Jesus[God] always used man to relay his messages:shrug:
opcorn: