Actually, initially I did not know that this was that type of forum; hence why I did not expect a barrage of comments on subjects I had not raised. As above, I found this thread itself, not the forum generally, in a Google search for something else entirely.
So, you signed up for a forum without even knowing what kind of forum it was? You’re certainly braver than I would ever be, in that regard. I don’t even like to
visit forums listed in a google search, because you never know what you might find that you never wanted to see or know about!
When I came up against posts like this:
I did not feel the apparent hostility was justified.
I am more than happy to be disagreed with, and to have a discussion and debate. But there’s no need that it should have to be in any way hostile or un-necessarily argumentative.
Once again, LDS seem to perceive hostility from anyone that’s not LDS, especially when it comes to religious discussion, whether it’s really there or not. Many of us have a tendency to be very blunt in our posts, but that’s because we’re very confident that we’re speaking the truth. We don’t really think we should pussyfoot around the truth to make it more comfortable to another’s ears. Is it more charitable to speak the truth, honestly, hoping that it will hit a nerve? Or, should we avoid hurting someone’s ‘feelings’ at the risk of them losing their souls because we never told them what they believed was a grave error? Wouldn’t we also be partly responsible for their loss of salvation, in that case? Jesus certainly never softened the sting of truth when he spoke to the Pharisees. He didn’t just tell them they were wrong about what they believed, He came right out and called them a brood of vipers! He already knew that they would reject Him, because they really were vipers!
We shall see I guess. Now that I am better prepared for how to expect this works.
Just remember, Catholics are very adamant in their defense of the Church because we know that it is the original, and all others are mere shadows of it. We believe that many of them still have at least some portion of the truth, but not all of it. When we make our arguments, we are hoping that others may ponder what we say and at least better understand our Faith, even if they do not have a change of heart and fully embrace it as a result of what they learn from us. Either way, we love all who come here, whether they’re here out of curiosity about us, or to defend their own faith.
You misinterpret; it is not based on things we just feel out of ourselves; it is that we come to recognise the workings of The Holy Ghost within us, and what He teaches us to be true, must be true because He is The Spirit of Truth and The Spirit of Revelation. he is our conduit to converse directly with deity and thus learn the will of our Father in Heaven for ourselves; both individually and communally.
This, to me, is one fundamental part of faith. The other is study, ponder and think it out for yourself. The two together are vital to prevent being blinded by crafty words and the cunningness of men and the devil.
No, I didn’t misinterpret anything. I know exactly what you meant. What you don’t understand is that most Catholics have a very deep understanding of the interior spiritual life. When we read in the Gospel of John 17:16 “They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world.”, we understand it to mean that as followers of Jesus, we are all called to be more like Him. That means that even while we still exist and live in this physical world, we are called to a much higher existence, to live even more so in the spiritual world. We see that as living our lives in the interior world of the soul. So, we’re certainly not strangers to the workings of the interior spiritual life. Quite the opposite is true.
At the same time, we are also well aware that the devil can play tricks on us and try to fool us into believing that his inspirations come from God. Because of that fact, we are always very careful about what we accept as true inspiration. For those saintly Catholics that have a very deep interior life, they will always subject their inner thoughts and inspirations to the scrutiny and guidance of an experienced spiritual director. If you read about the lives of any contemplative Catholic Saints, you will see many examples of this type of spiritual action in their daily lives. The devil also has the power to put evil thoughts into our minds, that he will suggest to us are really good thoughts. He can also appear to us in disguise, in visions, for the same evil purpose. We have to be extremely cautious in determining whether any of these things are good or not, because he can be very persuasive if we’re not careful.
Ever heard of the game Chinese Whispers… I’ll assume you have and understand the concept I’m getting at here.
I’ve never heard the game called that, but thanks to another poster, I do know of “Telephone”. If you think Catholic Tradition is only passed down orally, then you might be able to make that kind of argument, but there are thousands of volumes of writings in the Vatican Library that would prove otherwise. Among them are many of the writings of the early Church Fathers, that are carefully preserved to this day. Our Traditions are certainly not just passed down verbally. All of the Catholic Church’s beliefs are very well documented in our Doctrines and Dogmas (which are open to the public), that have always been kept in written form, ever since the beginning of the Church.
I’ll do my best
Very good!
Thanks very much
lol
LOL… it might be a rough ride at times, but I’m sure we can all learn something from our exchange of ideas.
