The way to dialogue

[traillius]

The way for protestants and catholics to discuss matters of faith is to ask questions, and give honest answers, both done without accusation or condemnation.

an example:
protestant: why do catholics pray to mary and the saints?
catholic: because we want them to pray for us, to have more grace from God.
Their prayers are unhindered by earthly conditions. Also Mary is the Mother of God, so we believe she will present our prayers to Jesus, and that he will not refuse her.

 

[traillius]

A converse example

Catholic: Why do protestants believe in sola fide (faith alone) as opposed to faith with works.
Protestant: Because the Bible says that a man is saved by faith, and not by works, lest any one should boast. ( I predict the answer would be something like this based on past experience. )
We need not agree, to be able to honestly ask and answer. This can lead to constructive dialogue, and bring us closer to unity.

 

[Karen1960]

I totally agree, even if it does not lead to conversion, one way or the other, we can learn a lot from each other.

This includes our exchanges in the 3D world. I have learned a new respect and understanding of the Bible because of a Baptist. I would never convert, but I admitted that my understanding of Scriptures was minimal at best, now I am learning more and more each day and truly understanding Church Teachings and The Bible and how they go hand in hand.

No one never would believe a Baptist led me even closer to the Catholic Church, now if I just dismissed her, maybe I would have never bothered to dig deep into Scriptures.

 

[nohamaria]

God Bless You, Your examples are
closer to heavenly dialogues less than earthy.
But , as a start , we should keep in
our minds the esteem to others than
say the truth without rushing them to approve.:hammering:
That’s Jesus way: Say the truth and walk away.
It is a very instructive and helpful forum
for everyones spirituality. Let us keep it so.

Peace and Good.

Nohamaria

 

[JonNC]

The way for protestants and catholics to discuss matters of faith is to ask questions, and give honest answers, both done without accusation or condemnation.

an example:
protestant: why do catholics pray to mary and the saints?
catholic: because we want them to pray for us, to have more grace from God.
Their prayers are unhindered by earthly conditions. Also Mary is the Mother of God, so we believe she will present our prayers to Jesus, and that he will not refuse her.

This is great, so continue the dialogue:
protestant: I see. So, what you are saying is you pray to the saints in a way similar to that which we all ask our friends to pray for us? Correct?
catholic: Yes. We believe that the saints can hear our requests for intercession, and carry them in prayer, for and with us, to Christ.

Jon

 

[JonNC]

A converse example

Catholic: Why do protestants believe in sola fide (faith alone) as opposed to faith with works.
Protestant: Because the Bible says that a man is saved by faith, and not by works, lest any one should boast. ( I predict the answer would be something like this based on past experience. )
We need not agree, to be able to honestly ask and answer. This can lead to constructive dialogue, and bring us closer to unity.

catholic: Does that mean we don’t have to do any works?
protestant: Indeed, no! While we are saved by faith alone, faith is never alone. If we have a true faith, it is an active faith, joyfully obedient to Christ’s commands that we care for the least of His children. A faith that is not active, or that doesn’t obey His commands, is a dead faith, and a dead faith does not save.

Jon

 

[Reuben_J]

Protestant: Peter was just another apostle. There was no particular order in apostolic ranking.

Catholic: Peter was the rock that Jesus built his church upon. It make no sense for Jesus to say, “… you are Peter (Rock) and on this rock I will build my church” if Jesus is the rock. The sentence structure renders it impossible that the Gospel wanted the ‘rock’ to mean Jesus. Beside, Peter the rock (Cephas) was repeatedly mentioned by Paul in his epistles alluding to the significance name changing by Jesus from Simon to Peter.