I'm 14 years old. Please read and comment

[manualman]

Why so testy…Were told to hide His word…Were told to study to shew ourselves approved…What the original apostle wrote would be the first thing I would study…He should be a part of a church to hear it preached about but he should also read it on his own…The didache is not God breathed and a distance from the original apostles…

Not testy, just discussing. I see part of the problem. What I referred him to is the Didache series by Midwest Theological forum. That’s a bit different than the didache that dates back to the Early Fathers period. The Didache series I refer to is one of the best catholic, young adult oriented introductions to catholic teachings available today.

What the “original apostles” wrote was in Greek, so I’d be surprised if you have ever actually studied it at all. What is more, they wrote to specific audiences in a specific culture. While the message is timeless, the delivery requires both linguistic AND cultural translation to retain its full meaning and intent. This is why Jesus didn’t just leave us a book, but left us a living Church.

But then, you didn’t really expect us to agree in the end, did you?

 

[Hiskid1973]

What the “original apostles” wrote was in Greek, so I’d be surprised if you have ever actually studied it at all. What is more, they wrote to specific audiences in a specific culture. While the message is timeless, the delivery requires both linguistic AND cultural translation to retain its full meaning and intent. This is why Jesus didn’t just leave us a book, but left us a living Church.

But then, you didn’t really expect us to agree in the end, did you?

That’s one thing I like about my pastor is his knowledge of greek…It’s kinda cool to know the original word meanings when he preaches from God’s word…Just for a simple explanation like love

(v. 15) "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love “agapas”] Me more than these ? ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love "philO] you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed My lambs.’

See, I believe Peter had authority in the early church but he was not alone in it…The scripture does not tell the church is built on just a person or apostle…
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Yes, I do believe the local ecclesia’s taught with the teaching that was penned by the original disciples…Those letters/teaching went near and far…To remote places where the church was only a few believers…The Holy Spirit did His job and the believers used that word to grow/mature the church where ever it was…Anyway what we can agree on is that our salvation comes from Jesus and through His finished work on the cross…peace to you…

 

[heathernoel]

Hi sweetie!!

First, let me say this…I am a middle school teacher and am SO glad I came across your post I see too many kids that need Him but have no direction…I am So thankful you are here.

I was your age when I chose to be baptized in a Methodist church. I had no idea what Catholics were, and the church served my needs while I was learning about Him. It was later that I realized I needed more.

Do I think my Methodist friends are going to Hell? Not at all. They fervently belief what they believe. I can’t think my God would damn them because they believe what a man put forth as Biblical truth. I know that He will give them a chance when it’s their turn to accept His truth, and I know that they will.

I never thought Catholics would go to hell (as a methodist). Never gave it another thought because I know my God is an awesome God and wouldn’t allow it!

My advice to you is to join a youth group. I grew up in my Methodist group, and I loved it! We did scripture studies and a LOT of fellowship (ski trips, scavenger hunts, building Habitat for Humanity houses) that laid the foundation for my life of service. There are Catholic groups that are just as active.

Forums are harsh. This one is harsh sometimes, too. Don’t hang out here too much Live your life, and learn about the world around you. It’s His world, and it’s truly amazing!

Thank you for giving me cause to believe that our children of today (young people) are going to be ok!

Peace be with you

 

[PJM]

=Rhys Belding;5928809]I’m a young believer in God and Christened a Catholic. I’m Roman Catholic and i joined a forum a while back grace centered. It is a Christian forum but i think most people on it are Protestant. I try to follow God but i am sometimes upset about things as i want to do good for God but i don’t know if i will go to hell because I’m a Catholic. Can you please try to enlighten me. Also Ive heard that some Catholics think that Protestants will go to hell why do they think that?

**
Let’s see if I can clarify your concerns?**

Christ only founded One Church, and it was the ONLY Christian Church for nearly a THOUSAND YEARS. This is historically proveable fact.

Read carefully Mt. 16: 15-19. This is Biblical evidence of the One Church as is this from the book to the Ephisians, chapter 2: [19] So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,[SINGULAR] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; [SINGULAR] in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. [Speaking of the Catholic Church!]

The Bible was completely written by the end of the First Century, so it is a Catholic Book, compiled by Catholics [OT] and written an complied by Catholics [NT]. Therefore one correctly understands that is was by Catholics and specifically for Catholics. The Catholic Bible was the ONLY Bible for nearly 1,600 years!

Because ONLY ONE Chrisitan Church[the Catholic Church] was founded by Christ, who is God, it is defacto, the ONE TRUE CHURCH, through which all salvation flows.

That is not saying that one “must be a Catholic” in order to be saved. However ONLY in the Catholic Church can one find the Seven Sacraments all authorized and instituted by Jesus Himself! Catholic Holy Communion is the REAL Jesus, anf only Catholic Confession has the power to absolve sins [which are forgiven by God Himself] working through His Catholic Priest.
**
John 20: 19-23 **"On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If **you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” **

**No one can other than God can read minds and hearts and therefore ONLY God can know what we have personally decided for our Eternal destinity. We decide, NOT God. God but affirms our lives choices. **

Because of the plentitude of Graces available through the ONLY Church founded by God,Catholics have greater access to heaven. On the other hand, because of these same opportunites not available outside the CC, Catholics will be more harshly judged. To those who have more, more will be expected!

In Judging God will access opportunity to know as being the same as KNOWING and chosing to say NO to God!

The minimum requirements for salvation are Christian Baptism [John 3:5}
Obedience to Commandments [Mt. 19:16] and acceptance of the Moral and Faith related teachings of His One Church. [Mt. 16:19, Mt.18:15-22].

An informed, fully practicing Catholic has a better and greater chance to get to heaven than any other Chrsitian! Why, because Christ only founded the One Church we know today as the Catholic Church

Love and prayers,
Pat

Pray often and stay in the Catholic Church!

 

[Alex246]

I can DEFINITELY relate. I’m 14 as well, and really got interested in my faith only through some tough personal times. Don’t worry about going to Hell for being Catholic. The more you read these forums, the more you will learn that the Catholic church IS the one true church. The most important thing to remember is that you’ve already made the first big decision: To come here and start posting. So keep reading and participating! I applaud your choice!:tiphat:

 

[Tony9712262]

I am glad that you are here and that you are trying to understand your faith. My recommendation to you is that you stay away from any forum that is run by protestants. I say this because you are too young in your faith and they will only cause you confusion. Before you go there you will want to strengthen your faith so that you have a firm foundation to stand on. This site is a great place to do that. Read the apolgetics forum and learn all their is to know. Pay close attention to historical Christian thought, it is there that you will find the roots of your faith. It all points to Catholicism and not to Protestantism.

Many Protestants believe that Catholics are going to hell. Do not be afraid that they tell you this. God is the one who will determine your eternal destiny, not some protestant religious group. Place your trust in Christ, follow and serve Him, accept all that he has to offer you and give all of yourself to Him. In doing this the truth WILL be revealed to you.

Understand, my young friend, anyone can scare and manipulate. I spent 20 years as a protestant, I was even a pastor for several years, and I say this with great sincerity. It is very easy to provide superficial “proofs” that lead you away from the truth. Go back to the 1st century church and start your research from there. Dispell ALL of your preconceived ideas and let the Hooly Spirit guide you. It really is easier and clearer than you think.

I agree. STAY AWAY from Protestant forums. While I was on my spiritual rollercoaster, talking to Protestants on myspace. I was poorly catechized, both in Scripture and what the Church teaches. They said that the bible forbad idols b/c 1 of the 10 commandments, and that the Eucharist was a fake. I believed them. I finally found out on my own on Catholic Answers, that the Bible ALLOWS statutes. Such as God telling Moses to make the cherubim angels for the ark of the covenant, and the bronze serpant to be made, and whomever looked at it when they were bitten, would be healed. And about the Eucharist, the Early Church Fathers wrote about the Eucharist! According to Scripture, Paul the Apostle said “he who eats the bread and drinks the cup WITHOUT DISCERNING the body and blood of Christ, eats and drinks JUDGEMENT upon themselves.” From then on, I was addicted to reading Catholic Apologetics, Scripture, and Protestant converts to Catholicism.

 

[Tony9712262]

Why so testy…Were told to hide His word…Were told to study to shew ourselves approved…What the original apostle wrote would be the first thing I would study…He should be a part of a church to hear it preached about but he should also read it on his own…The didache is not God breathed and a distance from the original apostles…

BTW Was the Holy Spirit doing His job even is the schism and even in the early church they was division…They gospel is preached in spite of it…Your whole priest scandal and the moving and hiding of offenders happend…The Holy Spirit is still moving in your church isn’t it…God move ispite of us…People are still beig saved and maturing in the truth…The Holy Spirit is using the word to accomplish that…His word never goes void…His church(true believers wil grow and advance…Till the trump sounds and the Bride(living and dead in Christ) wil arise tom Him…peace to you…K

There is only One Holy Spirit, who can only guide one Church unto all truth. The Holy Spirit can’t guide other churches unto all truth, b/c there is only One Holy Spirit.

 

[Hiskid1973]

There is only One Holy Spirit, who can only guide one Church unto all truth. The Holy Spirit can’t guide other churches unto all truth, b/c there is only One Holy Spirit./QUOTE

Tell that to the Orthodox…Guess well find out on the other side where the Holy Spirit guided… He guides me, I figure He guides you…He seals us and reside in these earthly temples…

He sure wasn’t guiding some in your higher up leadership to moving bad priest’s around and covering up their issues…

 

[Tony9712262]

Tony9712262;5935791:

There is only One Holy Spirit, who can only guide one Church unto all truth. The Holy Spirit can’t guide other churches unto all truth, b/c there is only One Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit guides unto all truth, when Christ promised his apostles that the Spirit would guide them, after Christ is long gone, the truth that they are to teach. It is not about whether or not bishops were pushing priests around. Oh, it’s about priests now? There are more Protestant ministers who molest kids than Catholic priests. Oh, wait, don’t tell me ur gonna call urself “Evangelical,” not “Protestant” cause they’ve done the same thing.

 

[Hiskid1973]

Hiskid1973;5935842:

The Holy Spirit guides unto all truth, when Christ promised his apostles that the Spirit would guide them, after Christ is long gone, the truth that they are to teach. It is not about whether or not bishops were pushing priests around. Oh, it’s about priests now? There are more Protestant ministers who molest kids than Catholic priests. Oh, wait, don’t tell me ur gonna call urself “Evangelical,” not “Protestant” cause they’ve done the same thing.

From what I read it was higher than just the bishops and priest. Cardinal I think.I know someone affected by it, he’s Anglican now…Yes there are sick people is all our camps…I think it’s part of the end times condition of man…It happens with us there gone…I guess I am a prot. Our church roots are from the anabaptist…Evangelical, well we should be ready to give account of the hope this lives within us…I has a pretty radical conversion experience, I’m always ready to share it…

 

[manualman]

Tell that to the Orthodox…Guess well find out on the other side where the Holy Spirit guided… He guides me, I figure He guides you…He seals us and reside in these earthly temples…

He sure wasn’t guiding some in your higher up leadership to moving bad priest’s around and covering up their issues…

FYI, the orthodox are part of the catholic family. There just happens to be a long running family feud going on. They still retain the unbroken link of succession from the apostles Jesus himself chose. Nobody in leadership there is self-selected or spiritually descended from someone who was.

This is part of the sacramental system that catholics and the orthodox share because we both received it from the apostles and their successors. Each priest and bishop receives the sacrament of Holy Orders from a bishop who traces his ordination all the way back to the apostles. This was the unbroken way of things for the first 1,500 years of christianity until the protestant reformation came along and attempted to recreate the wheel from scratch.

As I mentioned elsewhere, Christ gave us sacraments as a visible manifestation of the Grace he imparts to his people. The sacrament of Holy Orders imparts the Grace to perform and be able to perform ministry and leadership for the church. It is NOT magic, however, nor does it turn the ordained into puppets. Priests and bishops retain their free will and must constantly choose Christ over their fallen inclinations through the help of Grace. Sadly, more than a few priests, bishops and protestant leaders as well too many times chose sin in their personal lives rather than grace. I, for one, am in no position to throw the first stone at them! But that Grace is real and when the bulk of the bishops together with the bishop successor of Peter come together and teach, that teaching has the protection of the Holy Spirit in a way that their individual, personal actions don’t.

Imagine if the first believers took your “Scripture Alone” principle to heart. When Peter and the apostles gather in council in Jerusalem and Peter proclaimed the revelation that God did not forbid believers from eating pork any longer. That prohibition was obsolete as mere disciplinary Mosaic Law. Imagine your reaction. Jesus had said nothing about this while on earth. The Scriptures were clear. You’d toss Peter out of the room, wouldn’t you?

This is obviously an extreme example since Peter, one of the original 12 still had a direct role in God’s general revelation. But nowhere does Scripture reverse this authority for the apostles, and Scripture clearly establishes the precendent of replacing lost apostles (death of Judas Iscariot) and the establishment of apostolic offices beyond the original 12 when geography and mission required it (St. Paul). Only later councils of the catholic church proclaimed general revelation completed and that all nothing could ever contradict the true teaching shown in scripture (in proper context and understanding, mind you).

Sorry to write you a book, but you seem truly interested in understanding rather than just arguing.

 

[Hiskid1973]

Schism is schism and they had it from day one…I’m of Peter, I,m Of Paul yet the Holy Spirit was among them and eich believer was a temple for the Holy Spirit…The scriptures came from growth/learning of the fledgling church…What God worked through those original disciples…All those letters turned into the NT…Peter preached a sermon and 3,000 were added to the church in one day…No programs, waiting period of time…I’ll even bet they all weren’t all baptized that day…Added to the growing body of believers called the “church”…Ekklesia’s where groups of believers gathered …Scripture is what the Holy Spirit used/uses for us to find Christ and to mature…Leadership lays hands on others to send them forth to minister to others and spread the gospel…Do you think new apostles showed up and new scripture was written after the original died ? What got scary was people started adding things and saying this is how the original apostles did…I look fwd to heaven to see may savior and find out what the original churches said did…I can imagine a lot of things will come up that man added along the way…I just think of sprinkling a little water over someones head…I can just see the Ethiopian eunuch being told " wait a minute til I get my water jar so I can sprinkle a little water on you"