James focuses on “genuuine” faith. Catholics miss the mark here. I can attened a Catholic mass, receive the sacraments, and be “good” by doing my good works, and at the end of the day, sexually abuse a child. I’ll get up the next day, and receive my grace all over again by following the rituals over again in order to receive my grace, but my heart is not with God - as this Scripture explains:
You should be able to see that your inerpretation of James is in error if you believe that the sacraments, instead of your heart condition, saves you. Catholics are in a perpetual mode of constantly trying to earn grace because they keep “loosing” it, and therefore cannot develop as healthy, and robust relationship with God as they otherwise might.
mepatri:
The first paragraph shows not only a complete misunderstanding of the Catholic Doctrine, but a disdain for the Catholics on this board. The insinuation that the Catholics here would tolerate child molestosters because they “followed the rituals” is beyond abhorent and wouldn’t be tolerated for a second by you or any other protestant if any Catholic here had the audacity to say that any of the many scandals of the protestant preachers had been tolerated for any reason whatsoever.
I think you owe your brothers and sisters here an apology for this uncharitable behavior.
For the forgivenss of sin, our Lord and His Church has always required that we have a “Firm Purpose of Amendment”, or what many of us have called “True Repentence”. In the case of a child molester, that would mean that he would turn himself over to the proper authorities as well as try to make amends to any one he has harmed. I understand that this is pretty much what Cardinal Pell in Australia has done by hiring a team of retired prosecutors and police detectives to investigate claims of molestation and sexual assualt/abuse in his archdiocese and turning over all of those records, and whatever else they could find, to the states’ prosecutors’ offices.
Here is where you demonstrate the need for a Tradition that shows what the Church has taught on a whole list of subjects and a Teaching Authority that has the ability to Decisively and authoritatively teach on Certain subjects as they come up now.
Your way of using the Scripture as the only source of Divine Revelation has resulted in no less than 31,000 different denominations, almost all of whom disagree with the “Reformers” who actually believed in the efficacy of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, The Holy Eucharist, Confession and the Anointing of the Sick.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church’s way of using Sacred Scripture and Holy Tradition, interpreted by the Magisterium or Teaching Authority which is continuing given the gift of Teaching, Prophecy and Infallibillty on matters of Faith and Morals only (which means that God uses fallible men to teach His word to each generation) has produced a Church that is ONE, that has Martyrs who willingly suffer and die for the faith.
Jesus prayed to His Father that we would all be one in Him. Which one do you think produces the result He asked for?
Your Brother in Christ, Michael
