Roman Catholics mean specific concepts when they use the words, among many, salvation, sin, grace, atonement, redemption, divinity, Triune God, revelation, inspired writing, Church, original sin, paradise (Garden of Eden), resurrection, ascension, Holy Spirit, Incarnate Word, baptism, heaven, hell, etc., etc., etc.
it is not possible to carry on a fruitful discussion unless those discussing agree on the meannings of the words they are using.
it could be that a fruitful discussion might ensue if it were limited to a definition of terms, remaining in discussion until a term is agreed upon. then going to the next term upon which there is disagreement and discuss that term until agreement is reached.
i would note that the RC definition of these words, terms, concepts have developed and been refined over the last two millenium through writing, discussion and practice among tens of thousands of RCs.
my suggestion, pick a term used by both parties to the discussion and discuss that single word (concept) until both parties agree on its meaning for the purposes of using in future discussions.
i realize of course that thousands of sincere, holy and knowledgeable people have been doing this for generations. in the case of the RCC, for nearly 50 generations (if we define a generation to be 40 years in length. if agreeing upon a definition of terms were easy, the hundreds of thousands of pages written by tens of thousands of RC intellectuals and saints would not have been written. and, these hundreds of thousands of pages, are, essentially, discussions of terms.
the most obvious example of how far apart in meaning bahai and RCs are when using the same simple words would be in the respective definition of the word Father in its relationship to divinity.
for example, to the bahai, the word father, when applied to a discussion of divinity, seems to be defined as one of the, if not the greatest, manifestations of the Creator of all things. to the mormons, the word means a physical human being who achieved godhood. to the catholics, the word father, in the context of divinity, means the First Person of the Most Holy Trinity of which there is nothing greater.
now we can all agree to disagree on the correct meaning of the word Father, but if we disagree, using that word to discuss spiritual reality serves little to no purpose.
so, can we start by identifying the words that hold the same meaning to all of us.
i hope that does not come down to the words the, and, and a.
. )