BAKERSTREET WRITES: You're description of how the religion has been passed to us a little at a time relies upon the authority of those it was passed THROUGH to get it right and not to alter it for their own ends.

Church doctrine or dogma comes from Christ Himself and has not been added to or changed one jot or tittle since He walked on earth or since the death of the last Apostle. CC doctrine is largely based on the Lord's Prayer, the 10 commandments and the articles in the Apostle's Creed. Sacred Tradition is protected by Christ's promise and has always "passed through", as you say, for over 2,000 years without blemish. Catholicism doctrines on faith and morals are protected by the charism of infallibility which very few people understand. They confuse it with divine inspiration I think. The problems that beset the Church that make me scream are those of dissenting religious playing with tradition with a small "t". The Church today is definitely in a state of purification and that is just as Christ promised too. He told us that scandals would come. It's this that makes what SConn1 writes about in his last posting so sad.

If I had the time, I would rebut that ridiculous link SCONN1 posted at the beginning of this discussion. There is a great capacity for the human mind to go astray and this site proves it. It's full of prejudice, ignorance, illogical and half-educated conclusions. ...oh well...it's late and I'm ranting...and besides, come to think of it, Dr. Guy has already levied his indictment against it very well.

there is only one being destined to spiritual death and it's not you nor I, no matter how either of us feel about the Saints.I'm not sure i understand...who?

Satan

btw xythe,,,i miss your "who is clever enough" posts.

I'll start posting them again Sean. Some of the other bloggers mentioned that it was lame, so I knocked it off.

I believe in personal revelation through our relationship with God, and I think that we can share that relationship with others for their betterment, but I don't think we can ever do it in an inerrant way.

Baker, I can't tell you how grateful I am that you made me see this, way back in one or two of my initial articles. Because of this, I 'feel" my relationship with God, and all Christian for that matter is somehow stronger.

We all pray or talk to God in our own ways (or we should), and we receive His devine wisdom in some personal way as well, that may be different from one person to the next. If I have a serious question regarding my faith, not to be confused with religion, I bring it to God and He imparts to me the answer. You may or may not understand his "answers" to me, as I may or may not understand His answers to you when you try to describe them to me, because our individual faith is as personal as a fingerprint. None the less, they are the only real answers you can risk your salvation over, in fact, Gods answers impose no risk what so ever.

I have found that acting like a lawyer, and using the bible as the absolute law fails, and often leads to more confusion than it does reason. This probably makes Satan quite pleased. I also find it may actually violate Jesus's advice or His command to us to plant seeds, but not to shove our faiths/religion down peoples throats.

Some of the other bloggers mentioned that it was lame, so I knocked it off.

It was lame, but we liked them anyway. Go ahead and start again, friend.

Some of the other bloggers mentioned that it was lame, so I knocked it off.

they were just stumped...anyway, don't blog by polls, lol

SILENTPOET WRITES: And that is where I split from many i know. I don't believe that a priest is necessary in faith, i believe that a person can find, maintain, and continue their faith on their own.
BAKERSTREET WRITES: I can't have that kind of faith in people. Period. My personal belief is that God would never risk anything pertaining to our immortal souls by placing it in the hands of fallible third parties. I believe in personal revelation through our relationship with God, and I think that we can share that relationship with others for their betterment, but I don't think we can ever do it in an inerrant way.
XYTHE WRITES: I have found that acting like a lawyer, and using the bible as the absolute law fails, and often leads to more confusion than it does reason. This probably makes Satan quite pleased. I also find it may actually violate Jesus's advice or His command to us to plant seeds, but not to shove our faiths/religion down peoples throats.

I write to defend Catholicism and not to shove it down people’s throats. That’s because after thorough scrutiny of her truth and authority, I believe Catholicism sheds light on the very most important matters. For example, the dogma of Hell saves me the from the mistake that there is no Hell. ---surely a vital matter.

Remember, Pilate asked of Jesus, “What is truth?” I believe the more a person seeks Truth, the more he will find that the credentials of the CC are quite in order, and that her dogmas contain nothing against reason. I also believe it is not a question of being ruled by one’s own “opinions” or “feelings” when it is a question of seeking Truth, which is written in our hearts from the first moment of life. To decide what one will believe or not for oneself is faith in one’s own ability, but not faith in Christ. The religion revealed by God believes what Christ taught because Christ taught it, without reference to one’s own likes and dislikes. It’s not like we are in a cafeteria and we can pick and choose what part of faith suits us at the time (although sadly, many do nowadays, we call them cafeteria Catholics). Rationalism, defective information, mere want of thought, and prejudice amongst other things leads to intellectual pride which in many cases renders religion useless.


Faith is a free gift to be accepted or rejected. Once accepted, there is some effort in nourishing and preserving it. St. Paul says at the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight.” He worked out his salvation in ‘fear and trembling.” Scripture tells us our life upon earth is warfare. We have 3 enemies to fight....first the devil..who wants our soul. Second, is the world...with evil miserable people who want our company. Third, is our own flesh...Catholics call it concupiscence, that is our passions, evil inclinations and propensity to do wrong...our fallen nature and punishment after Adam’s Fall. God left us with this to keep us humble that we might strive to overcome it. God demanded humility of all of us who we wish to be children of God.


There is a great capacity for the human mind to go astray. The devil is always in the details. In the matter of salvation, you’re not going to get very far if you’re content of relying on yourself. No man is an island. Sorry, Christ never said, “Blessed is the man who thinks for himself, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.” Nor did He say, “Come to me all you intellectual people and free thinkers and I will refresh you.” If Christ has done the thinking for us on a given subject, all one has to do is to accept His teaching. How will you find it? Well, I’ll tell you that He left an authorized Church. Use sound reasoning to discern this Church, and then reasonably be taught by it. There is no way that you will be moving to a lower standard of living if you do. No way possible.


On this you can sincerely disagree...and that doesn’t make what I’ve said false or true. We are all free to accept or reject the Church and her teachings at any time even as we are free to accept or reject Christ. That doesn’t change the fact that each one of us has the ultimate responsibility of saving his own soul.....and
Just having a sincere desire to know the answer to Pilate’s question is a good start.

Sorry, Christ never said, “Blessed is the man who thinks for himself, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.” Nor did He say, “Come to me all you intellectual people and free thinkers and I will refresh you.” If Christ has done the thinking for us on a given subject, all one has to do is to accept His teaching. How will you find it? Well, I’ll tell you that He left an authorized Church. Use sound reasoning to discern this Church, and then reasonably be taught by it.



The text of Matthew runs as follows:

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 3)
Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land. (Verse 4)
Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Verse 5)
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. (Verse 6)
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Verse 7)
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. (Verse 8)
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Verse 9)
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 10)

maybe Jesus didn't put it as crassly as you attempted, but the above underlined beatitudes, at least to me, address basically what you said.

I write to defend Catholicism and not to shove it down people’s throats. That’s because after thorough scrutiny of her truth and authority, I believe Catholicism sheds light on the very most important matters. For example, the dogma of Hell saves me the from the mistake that there is no Hell. ---surely a vital matter.

I don't really care what you do lulabelle. But just for the record:

1) The Catholic Church hardly needs you to defend it. In case you have not noticed, the CC is one of the strongest political/religious/financial organizations in the world. Believe it or not, they can handle Sean Conners quite well.

2) You do not write anything lulabelle, you plagerize by copying and pasting. Your not fooling anybody here. Never have I seen you link anything you ever stole from various authors. You're lucky if 5% of what you have posted here is original. I wonder what Jesus thinks of that? Theft in his name. Is that not the same as taking the Lords name in vain? I wonder. Thou Shalt Not Steal.

Even down to this quote you so vahemently use to defend your crusade in the name of Christ:


For example, the dogma of Hell saves me the from the mistake that there is no Hell. ---surely a vital matter.

Whatever.

XYTHE WRITES: I don't really care what you do lulabelle.

You must because otherwise you would have ignored my comments.

Have I offended you with something I have written? I sincerely try to be positive and constructive by addressing the point of issue and not the person at least in a personal way.

Yours was quite a dressing down---false accusations and all. From time to time I'm allowed to and do quote directly from the Catechism of the CC, from Catholic commentaries, and from a very old set of Catholic encyclopedias, the prize of my collection. And on some occasions, I have quoted from sources from which I have obtained permission to do so.

I defend Catholic Church teachings which are those of Jesus Christ and handed down to us by the Apostles and their successors. Many times in this blog discussion the Church's teachings have been misrepresentated, maligned, sneered at and otherwise presented in totally erroneous fashion. I imagine that you would agree that error should be properly countered.
And that would include every erroneous line in the link posted at the beginning of this discussion.

"....Do not be afraid, speak out, and refused to be silenced......" Acts 18:9.

In case you have not noticed, the CC is one of the strongest political/religious/financial organizations in the world.

they sure are. and they are every bit as corrupt as the temple that christ tore down.

Believe it or not, they can handle Sean Conners quite well.

yeah, they'll probably have me whacked one of these days, lol

you plagerize

xythe does make a very valid point here. false accusations? i think not.

From time to time I'm allowed to and do quote directly from the Catechism of the CC, from Catholic commentaries, and from a very old set of Catholic encyclopedias, the prize of my collection. And on some occasions, I have quoted from sources from which I have obtained permission to do so

and if you write things and don't give proper credit when they were actually written by others, that's plagarism. i checked xythe's example and it was accurate.

"....Do not be afraid, speak out, and refused to be silenced......" Acts 18:9.

funny, i live by the same motto.