Something I would like read about from authentic Catholics

[Newsy]

I grew up surrounded by Catholics and I always found it to be a very odd belief system.
There is an obsession with Mary, with blood, the saints, every other day is a feast day of some kind. In an effort to learn more about it, I came to realize that it’s mostly just a lot of made-up stuff from centuries ago.
You can bash me if you like, I don’t really care. But, I am of the opinion that most of the rituals, the mission statement and the early “history” of the Catholic church are just figments of vivid imaginations.
I have no problem with Jesus.
I like him, but, I find some of his so-called followers to be mostly a bunch of kooks!
The first couple of hundred years of the church was a messy mish-mash of beliefs centered around Jesus. The many churches founded throughout Europe and the Near-East and Northern Africa had many, MANY differing viewpoints in how to arrange and organize the church. It really wasn’t an unbroken line of succession from Jesus down to the Pope of today. Most of the early popes were horrible people! Interested more in political power than anything else.
Anyway, Once Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, things really began to take off. Thats why the Roman church is still in power today. Rome was the dominant economic, political, and military power of the day.
Constantine saw that the new religion appealed to the peasant masses and he used it to bind his subjects together under a common belief system. There used to be as many pagans gods as there were families in the Roman empire. This way, he could consolidate his power and his authority over the subjects of the empire.
If anyone should get a chance read some books by Bart Ehrman. I took a course of his way back in the early 1980s as a lark, and I still read his books today.
It is common knowledge among theologians and scholars that the Gospels were translated, re-translated and copied and re-copied and even changed along the way. Nobody was following Jesus around with a stenography pad taking dictation! The earliest book, Mark, was written a generation after Jesus preached. How accurate could a story be if written 30 years after the events happened? As time went by the scribes would copy the texts and re-copy them to send to churches all over the empire. But, some were added to, some were changed, some were made shorter. The copies that we have today are NO way the same documents that were written almost 2000 years ago. We know this because some scraps have survived through the ages, and almost all of them are different from one another!
So, in order to have confidence in a religion, I would think that you first need to have confidence in the books and scrolls and documents that you base your religion upon. If you wish to say that you have faith and that the Lord will provide, or something like that, fine, but, if all you have is faith…what does that really mean? You can believe ANYTHING you want to then. I could believe in a 6 foot tall white rabbit named Harvey if I wanted to.
All praise Harvey…the true messiah!
Also, how does anyone REALLY know if this is what Jesus really wanted? What if he came back tomorrow and said that you guys got it all wrong?
Of course, the Pope would disagree with me. He’s supposed to be the mouthpiece for Jesus in the interim.
What makes you guys think that jesus is coming back again anyway?
Where does he say this?
You don’t think that the idea of the General Resurrection is pretty bizarre?
But, Catholics don’t really know the Bible all that well. They just ask Father Bob down at The Church Around The Corner what to do so that they are absolved from all responsibility.
It’s a great belief system for the mentally lazy.
But, it is great exercise!
All that standing, sitting and kneeling is like Simon Says.

Thank you for that most enlightening bit of your opinion, completely backed up by more of your opinion and Bart Ehrman. You have really impressed me

 

[figs]

Thank you for that most enlightening bit of your opinion, completely backed up by more of your opinion and Bart Ehrman. You have really impressed me

What… you didn’t have a eureka moment just then?!! I’m shocked!
'sokay, lol I’m still waiting on mine after reading all that prattle :yawn:

 

[PJM]

=Wesley7;8748517]Would you care to explain why you are Catholic in short summary? Thanks.

***Sure, but dear friend you may not like the answer

Never-Ever did or does god permit belief in more than One god [triune] Him

Never- Ever has god allowed, permitted or tolerated more than HIS One set of Faith Beliefs NOT by the choice of Christ; in the care of the Pope and His CC

Never- Ever has God willed, accepted or willingly-tolerated more than the ONLY Church actually founded by Christ in Mt. 16:15-19; Mt. 18:18; Mt. 28:16-20 and John 20:19-23.

ALL of ther faiths and churches are either In Schism or False.

I personally consider the Orthodox as Brethern who have assuemed rights not gratned by OUR God:thumbsup:

God Bless you and THANK YOU for asking,

Pat***

 

[Stephen168]

Thank you for that most enlightening bit of your opinion, completely backed up by more of your opinion and Bart Ehrman. You have really impressed me

I agree.
My son told me about a Bart Ehrman lecture series that I should listen, too. After 14 hours and a little study of his background, it seems he is so anti-Catholic he had to make up another name for Catholicism, so he would not have to admit it was created by Christ. His illogical conclusions applied to any set of facts were almost laughable at time.

 

[Petergee]

I grew up surrounded by Catholics and I always found it to be a very odd belief system.
There is an obsession with Mary, with blood, the saints, every other day is a feast day of some kind. In an effort to learn more about it, I came to realize that it’s mostly just a lot of made-up stuff from centuries ago.
You can bash me if you like, I don’t really care. But, I am of the opinion that most of the rituals, the mission statement and the early “history” of the Catholic church are just figments of vivid imaginations…

Of course every single sentence in your post is absolute nonsense without any foundation whatsoever in fact. (Fancy the absurd idea that Catholics are in the habit of “bashing” those who tell outrageous lies about their religion!)

I’m certainly not going to bother re-refuting all of them as you probably know only too well how utterly wrong they are, and the reasons which prove them wrong. But I just want to pick out the sweet irony of one thing you said:

Once Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, things really began to take off. Thats why the Roman church is still in power today. Rome was the dominant economic, political, and military power of the day.
Constantine saw that the new religion appealed to the peasant masses and he used it to bind his subjects together under a common belief system. There used to be as many pagans gods as there were families in the Roman empire. This way, he could consolidate his power and his authority over the subjects of the empire.

The word “pagans” actually is the Latin word for “peasants” - “pagani”. Precisely because it was NOT the peasants who most rapidly embraced Christianity, but the inhabitants of the great cities which were the centres of commerce, trade, scholarship (and sin!) - Rome, Ephesus, Corinth, Antioch, Alexandria and (until its destruction in 70 AD) Jerusalem. And of course making Christianity the state religion (which happened long after Constantine (an almost life-long pagan) died, did not “bind” anybody to become Christian, there still remained masses of pagans in the Empire for many centuries later.

 

[jmcrae]

Most of the early popes were horrible people! Interested more in political power than anything else.

Yes, there is so much political power invested in you when you are living in jail, chained to the floor, and given only bread and water - oooooh, you meant Popes who lived after the 300 years of persecution.

Anyway, Once Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, things really began to take off. Thats why the Roman church is still in power today.

Then why isn’t Rome itself?

Rome was the dominant economic, political, and military power of the day.

Explain how it is that the Church continued to thrive and prosper even after the military, economic, and political power of Rome was wiped off the face of the earth by the Visigoths?

If the Church was surviving on Rome’s power, then how did it continue to survive after all of that power was gone?

How accurate could a story be if written 30 years after the events happened?

Uh … the Holy Tradition?

So, in order to have confidence in a religion, I would think that you first need to have confidence in the books and scrolls and documents that you base your religion upon.

Actually, my faith is in Jesus Christ; not in any book. But I know that the books are true, because the Holy Tradition is true.

 

[Thaelros]

I am a Catholic because God granted the Roman Catholic Church with a vast variety of tools necessary in order to easily gain salvation and full communion with Him.

 

[rinnie]

Would you care to explain why you are Catholic in short summary? Thanks.

I am Catholic because I find that it all lines up completely with the word of God. In either written or oral word.

And especially because we have all of the Sacraments. I love that Grace and feel that it is the sacraments that are the base of our faith.

The Eucharist and the Sacraments are the building blocks to the gate of heaven.

 

[rinnie]

I grew up surrounded by Catholics and I always found it to be a very odd belief system.
There is an obsession with Mary, with blood, the saints, every other day is a feast day of some kind. In an effort to learn more about it, I came to realize that it’s mostly just a lot of made-up stuff from centuries ago.
You can bash me if you like, I don’t really care. But, I am of the opinion that most of the rituals, the mission statement and the early “history” of the Catholic church are just figments of vivid imaginations.
I have no problem with Jesus.
I like him, but, I find some of his so-called followers to be mostly a bunch of kooks!
The first couple of hundred years of the church was a messy mish-mash of beliefs centered around Jesus. The many churches founded throughout Europe and the Near-East and Northern Africa had many, MANY differing viewpoints in how to arrange and organize the church. It really wasn’t an unbroken line of succession from Jesus down to the Pope of today. Most of the early popes were horrible people! Interested more in political power than anything else.
Anyway, Once Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, things really began to take off. Thats why the Roman church is still in power today. Rome was the dominant economic, political, and military power of the day.
Constantine saw that the new religion appealed to the peasant masses and he used it to bind his subjects together under a common belief system. There used to be as many pagans gods as there were families in the Roman empire. This way, he could consolidate his power and his authority over the subjects of the empire.
If anyone should get a chance read some books by Bart Ehrman. I took a course of his way back in the early 1980s as a lark, and I still read his books today.
It is common knowledge among theologians and scholars that the Gospels were translated, re-translated and copied and re-copied and even changed along the way. Nobody was following Jesus around with a stenography pad taking dictation! The earliest book, Mark, was written a generation after Jesus preached. How accurate could a story be if written 30 years after the events happened? As time went by the scribes would copy the texts and re-copy them to send to churches all over the empire. But, some were added to, some were changed, some were made shorter. The copies that we have today are NO way the same documents that were written almost 2000 years ago. We know this because some scraps have survived through the ages, and almost all of them are different from one another!
So, in order to have confidence in a religion, I would think that you first need to have confidence in the books and scrolls and documents that you base your religion upon. If you wish to say that you have faith and that the Lord will provide, or something like that, fine, but, if all you have is faith…what does that really mean? You can believe ANYTHING you want to then. I could believe in a 6 foot tall white rabbit named Harvey if I wanted to.
All praise Harvey…the true messiah!
Also, how does anyone REALLY know if this is what Jesus really wanted? What if he came back tomorrow and said that you guys got it all wrong?
Of course, the Pope would disagree with me. He’s supposed to be the mouthpiece for Jesus in the interim.
What makes you guys think that jesus is coming back again anyway?
Where does he say this?
You don’t think that the idea of the General Resurrection is pretty bizarre?
But, Catholics don’t really know the Bible all that well. They just ask Father Bob down at The Church Around The Corner what to do so that they are absolved from all responsibility.
It’s a great belief system for the mentally lazy.
But, it is great exercise!
All that standing, sitting and kneeling is like Simon Says.

No, I won’t bash you, you did enough to us and our Church. For now I will just say God Bless!!

 

[lakotak]

I do not need a long summary. I can sum it up in just a sentence.

I believe the Catholic Church is the true Church because Christ established it Himself and sent the Holy Spirit to guide it. I do not believe that a church can be more authentic than to be founded by God Himself.

 

[Granpa_Lemon]

Now I know the meaning of the saying “pearls before swine”.

 

[Incomplete]

How accurate could a story be if written 30 years after the events happened?

I won’t spend time refuting all of the stuff you wrote (others have in bits and pieces) but I want to comment on this part because I see this kind of statement more and more often, and it always puzzles me.

You speak as though 30 years was centuries, as though nobody could remember that long ago. I graduated from high school more than 30 years ago, but believe it or not, I still have memory of those years, and since some of that memory is shared with others, I’m betting on it being fairly accurate.

I could tell you a lot of things about my teen years, and much younger, and family members could back up my stories.

People talk to their parents and grandparents about things in their past all the time. My mother-in-law is 86 and tells me of things when she was growing up. Maybe every memory isn’t perfect, but I’m sure it’s fairly accurate.

I remember things I learned in elementary school…believe it or not, I can still add, subtract, multiply, divide, and do basic algebra, even though I learned those things over 30 years ago!

Seriously…30 years is nothing for memory, especially when you’ve been telling people those stories throughout those 30 years. And don’t forget, in that short a time frame there were many people around to correct them if they were wrong.

I’m just astounded about how often I hear now about that thirty year gap and how unreliable that makes memory.

 

[Ben_F]

I want to live forever and never be separated from my creator. There´s no salvation apart from the Catholic Church. God bless:thumbsup:

 

[Incomplete]

Now I know the meaning of the saying “pearls before swine”.

If your points are so well-founded, you could respond to what others are saying instead of just throwing out a comment that shows that you are obviously brighter than us.

You can find plenty of very intelligent people who can show you the problems with Ehrman’s work. You might find that some of them even make sense.

It might surprise you to learn this, but we do have bible scholars within the ranks of the Catholic church. Some of them are even priests and Bishops. Pope Benedict knows a thing or two himself. None of the criticisms that Ehrman makes of the Bible or the Church are new to them. Ehrman didn’t come up with anything new, he just has his own interpretation of things.

You know nothing about Catholics or about Church teachings if you think we are all mentally lazy. If you don’t believe me, read things from some of the brilliant minds in Church history.

And as a Catholic, I’ll challenge you any day on your knowledge of the Bible and Bible history. I’m sure many others here would do the same.

/rant over.

 

[nickybr38]

Could you define authentic Catholic?

 

[MonjaFutura]

Would you care to explain why you are Catholic in short summary? Thanks.

While I totally believe that Protestants will go to Heaven, I choose Catholic over Protestant because of it’s tradition, our views on the Eucharist, and because there are so many beautiful things in it that don’t exist in Protestantism.

 

[Neden]

Short summary: Because of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

The source and summit of the Christian life.

Short and simple!

Neden

 

[Eileen_T]

IF Christianity is true, the only choices that seem viable to me are the Orthodox and the Catholics in union with Rome. If I someday decided that Catholicism wasn’t true, I would probably reject Christianity altogether and become agnostic or atheist.

This was also my conclusion when I was searching for the One True Church. When I got to this point it was obvious that the Catholic Church was Catholic/Universal and Apostolic if only because of the missionaries and their commission to spread the Good News over all the Earth. Catholic churches in every town was a strong indication of this, along with the absence of Orthodox Churches.