How do you know what Jesus said? Do you believe in The Bible? Does non-conformist mean full of pride and ego? Doesn’t the Bible say to do the will of the Father, not our own will? If so, we should all conform to his will. Isn’t that the major point of Christianity? I agree that non-conformity is the major point of Protestantism.
No, that’s not what I meant. Jesus and Christ are not two different people. Christ is not a last name – Christ means the anointed one. This conversation is going in circles and I can see where the problems lie. You do not accept that Jesus is His Church even though the Bible says so. You insist that Catholicism is something else, to be put in quotes. So really this boils down to the fact that you just don’t agree with the Church that Jesus Christ founded. You only agree to take from the Church, The Bible and ditch the rest. Jesus (and Catholic Mystics) do insist on the Catholic Church. All salvation comes through the Church even if a person never knew the Church, they still receive their salvation through the Church. This is where you may have misunderstood some mystics or even Jesus himself. Yes, there are many paths but all paths must go through Christ’s Church which is Catholicism. You pit the so-called “Catholic container” against Jesus as if they are two different things. Not so! Jesus is his church. The Bible says so, we’ve been over that already. You pit Catholic against Muslim and Christian. But Catholic is universal. It’s not one of many religions. This where the disconnect lies. Something can not be pitted against itself. Christ’s church offers his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity!!! There is absolutely no reason in the entire world to “warn” someone against submitting to His Church. You clearly do not accept the Real Presence of Jesus in His Church or you would not make such warnings to people in His midst. I don’t have a “Catholic” membership card in my wallet. But having the Catholic label allows me to receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist any day of the week in accordance with His law. Why would we do anything other than encourage this path even if it would be possible to have salvation through the Church another way. The desire to receive Him now is too strong. And I want every person on this earth to be able to have that life within them!
I have an idea to help you with your “hope and prayer” - how about you and the Lutherans and Methodists and Baptists, etc. giving up your split from the Catholic Church. Come back home to begin the unity right now. Give up the dissention that your predecessors had when they walked away from unity.
John, in the end, there will be one unified body of Christ’s Church, without distinction between denominations.
You believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible? What do you make of John 6:53?John, in the end, there will be one unified body of Christ’s Church, without distinction between denominations.
I am sorry, but I cannot, in my own mind, accept praying to Mary or believing she is the perpetual virgin or mother of all of God’s kingdom; nor do I think reciting written prayers over and over are true spiritually inspired prayers to God from an individual’s heart (the Bible says not to do that); nor do I believe that the Pope and the Catholic Church are infallible; nor do I agree with calling the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, or Priests “Father” because there is only one Father, who is God. I was simply indoctrinated to oppose those things as legitimate faith and worship of God.
Often, the verses used to defend these things are interpreted in such a way as to legitimize Catholic dogma/doctrine/theology. Yet, more often than not the literal words in these verses do not actually say what the Catholic Church says they do. I am also concerned with believing what is written in the Catechism before believing what the Bible actually says. It is almost always a matter of interpretation, thus, it is an arguable truth.
My BA in college was literary studies. I read works and critiqued them. I could always find something written somewhere by someone of authority to defend my thesis. My point is that it was my interpretation of the work, and I always defended it very well. I graduated magna cum laude.
I know that I am ignorant with regard to all Catholic dogma/doctrine, however, I just want to be a simple and humble servant, a Christian who believes in Him with all my heart, soul and mind. I want to be a member of Christ’s Church without distinction of who is a better Christian, of who is right all the time, or wrong all the time. I just don’t think that is in the spirit of Christianity.
Protestants do the same thing that Catholics do: always arguing over who is right or wrong about the correct interpretation of one single verse in the Bible (usually out of context). This is very upsetting to me. If the words were inspired by God, spoken by Jesus, and recorded by Christ’s Apostles, then why are we arguing?
Why did Protestants protest against the Catholic Church? At the time, they thought that they had very good and legitimate reasons. They protested against the political power and damnation of people who challenged the Church on some things that the Church at that time were doing to people. They wanted to learn and worship the Lord our God the way Christ described in His words to us. Now look at us! Now there are thousands of “christian” denominations in the world! It is so disheartening. What are we doing? To me it is the same as prejudicial wars between whites and blacks. Who is a better human and who is not? Who has legitimate rights to walk on the same pavement, drink from the same fountain, or eat together in the same restaurant? Who is smarter than the other? These prejudisms, unfortunately, still exist today.
I know without a shadow of a doubt that one day, when the Anti-Christ comes to set up his church on earth, we WILL have to ALL come together as one unified body of Christ to fight the good fight against Satan, and that we will win that fight!
So, now can we all get on with praising Him, glorifying His name, staying in His word so that we can always learn more, and love each other as brothers and sisters in Christ? Can we all pray for the salvation of those who are truly lost, the ones who do not know God at all? Can we all work together in bringing those souls to Christ for their eternal salvation?
That is my hope and prayer. I am not going to argue about who is right or who is wrong anymore. To me, if we claim to be Christians, then we should all be charitable and loving toward each other.
I love the Catholic Church, and its members, for they do wonderful works in the name of the Lord. They always have, and I pray they always will. Just let me, and other Christians, also glorify Him and do our best to bring more souls to Christ. That is our free will. Nevertheless, it is all based on the same Bible. We all believe in the same God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. We all try our best, as sinners, to do God’s will in our daily lives.
Please be benevolent and kind to everyone. No one has a right to judge or condemn another. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and we are all fighting the good fight on the same side.
This is my goal in life. This is my dedication to Him. It is my duty, what Jesus commanded me to do. What is yours?
The division is tearing us apart.
Yeah, no one is suggesting you scare anyone or proclaim fire and brimstone. You say that the Bible is cut and dry yet you just mentioned that you are disheartened by the thousands of Christian denominations. Do you not realize that every single one of those 30,000+ Protestant denominations was started b/c each believed THEY were the ones who were interpreting the Bible accurately. And yet each one professes something different about salvation. By your own evidence, when you try to be “bible based” and make yourself your own Pope, it’s not a simple message at all.
Hallelujah! Amen!
Does this mean you won’t be answering the questions I’ve asked you?
I agree that this does not mean they are all not Christians and I too do not condemn them.May God rain down his blessings upon you, Kelley, so that your faith and love in God are constant and unwavering. May God give you understanding and compassion of your Christian brothers and sisters everywhere around the world. May He give you strength so that you can go out and fight the Good Fight. May He bless your family and friends with your presence as a child of God.
- Yes, I realize that the various denominations are influenced by different interpretations and beliefs in the Bible’s teachings. However, that does not mean that they are all not Christians. It just means that they are using free will to praise God in their own ways. Do I condemn them? Absolutely not.
- I would NEVER EVER EVER make myself leader of Christ’s Church. That is the Pope’s position on earth. To see to it that the Christian Faith is maintained throughout the world.
- The Bible does lay out a clear-cut and simple path to salvation…Believe in Jesus Christ.
- A church that is based on the teachings of the Bible maintains that the Bible is our instruction book on how to live our lives as Christians.
- At present, I am sad to say that I am disabled and cannot get to a church to receive the Eucharist. That is very depressing to me.
:hug3:
1, Great! We agree on something!
Catholic doctrine & the Catechism were not written to define something new, but to explain what was happening since the day of Pentecost. When a “new” gospel was invented by someone, or someone complained that they did not think they should have to believe the same as everyone else, the Catholic Church met together (the Apostles met together) to write down clearly about that particular issue for all generations to come. That is what happened at the first council in Jerusalem, when some wanted to force the Gentiles to be circumcised. And the first doctrine was issued as a letter by the council and sent out with the church representatives as they visited Gentile congregations. That is also what happened when congregations began to bring in spurious books to their worship in the 4th century, I believe, and the Church met together (official successors of the Apostles, having authority to make such decisions) and picked out the 73 books of the bible, and cast away all the spurious books. For 1500 years the church had the bible of the Catholics (300 years prior to official selection, plus 1200), And the bible that you, personally, have today was the decision of Martin Luther or protestants of England, who did not have the literary tools of today to critique manuscripts, but going on their private interpretations of Scripture (which St. Paul condemned) - Luther explicitly stated this as his reasoning (the books he removed did not fit his interpretation of Scripture, his definition of Justification by Faith Alone).
Ignorance can be used as an excuse for sin to a point. But in matters of faith / life, especially for one who is intelligent, disposed toward scholastic research, ignorance is a sin.
The Catholic Church is calling all to return from self-defined theologies and doctrines and gospels to the officially received tradition and scriptures. The Bible is the official property of the Catholic Church. Anyone else who has it took copies from the Church when they (their predecessors) left the Church in protest. And then did whatever they thought was expedient with that book to fit their protests.
