Without study we can fall into heresy

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Uriel1

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Without study we can fall into heresy - because I am discerning a late vocation I have the benefit of a spiritual director so I am helped to avoid it. How does one avoid heresy without a spiritual director, and are they easy to obtain for all who need one?
 
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Avoiding heresy: I check things out in the Summa, or other reliable sources. Sometimes I do not find out right away, tho.

In my experience, SDs are extremely hard to find. 😦 There does seem to be a phenomenon of people studying and then becoming SDs whom one has to pay (which I do understand…) but I am not sure how well they work out.
 
Uriel1 said:
How does one avoid heresy without a spiritual director and are they easy to obtain for all who need one?
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Not having a spiritual director does not mean people are guaranteed to fall into heresy. I have no idea where you’ve gotten such a notion. A lot of practicing Catholics don’t have spiritual directors and are still able to avoid heresy.

I agree with the first part of your post about the need to study Catholicism in order to know what it teaches and what Catholics should believe. This is called being catechised, and it’s either a do-it-yourself business or done by parents and/or a priest. However, I don’t see how the first part of your post leads to the second part. You jumped from studying Catholicism to having a spiritual director. I don’t follow. If what you mean to say is that it’s necessary for people to study under a spiritual director in order to not fall into heresy, then I’m afraid I don’t agree. All that’s needed generally is a Bible, a Catechism, and a priest’s phone number so you can text them in case you don’t understand something. That’s what I do.

Good luck with your vocation!
 
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Salibi said:
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Uriel1:
How does one avoid heresy without a spiritual director and are they easy to obtain for all who need one?
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Not having a spiritual director does not mean people are guaranteed to fall into heresy. I have no idea where you’ve gotten such a notion. A lot of practicing Catholics don’t have spiritual directors and are still able to avoid heresy.

I agree with the first part of your post about the need to study Catholicism in order to know what it teaches and what Catholics should believe. This is called being catechised, and it’s either a do-it-yourself business or done by parents and/or a priest. However, I don’t see how the first part of your post leads to the second part. You jumped from studying Catholicism to having a spiritual director. I don’t follow. If what you mean to say is that it’s necessary for people to study under a spiritual director in order to not fall into heresy, then I’m afraid I don’t agree. All that’s needed generally is a Bible, a Catechism, and a priest’s phone number so you can text them in case you don’t understand something. That’s what I do.

Good luck with your vocation!
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Salibi said:
A lot of practicing Catholics don’t have spiritual directors and are still able to avoid heresy.
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Not so, as 2/3 of USA Catholics don’t believe in the real presence.

My proposition is this
Uriel1 said:
Without study we can fall into heresy
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. . . and not as you selectively quoted; my priest was not interested to help me - the diocese allocated another, My worry is that some need sd’s but I think they are hard to find.
God love you
 
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As I grasp this, material heresy does not need to be understood, while formal heresy does
 
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I have written and published articles on theology.
If there is a matter of faith that I am not sure about, I don’t say anything. I presume that later I may come to understand it.
Sometimes I myself become suspicious about a remark I wrote and delete it. If it is some some important point to what I am writing, I think very very carefully about it, and probably do research in sources of the sort found in Denzinger. In no way do I want to say something incorrect. That could be bad if you are writing about some matter like the Trinity.
If I didn’t well know Catholic theology, I wouldn’t write anything at all. It seems that there are those who write anyways, and what they say is in some part folly.
 
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While this is true, it is also true that study can lead one to fall into heresy. The way to avoid it is simple. Humility. Accept the wisdom of the Church as a more likely truth than our own developed ideas, when there is a contradiction, then don’t be so stubborn with ideas that have not been finally defined.
 
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