It's not your father's Mercedes. A peek inside the pope's American ride.
Comment: http://religion.incrisis.info/
Comment: Some religious leaders seem to tell us that we're not smart enough or good enough to discover God on our own. Who says?
If God is good and perfect, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world?
How can anyone rely on the Bible for answers, if it's just a loose translation of ancient myths anyway?
How can we trust a religion that has advocated slavery and the subjugation of women throughout history?
These are serious questions-hot potatoes that nobody wants to touch.
Comment: it's a thing called free-will.
Comment: Every rock, every tree, every bird, eveything is from God. A bird doesn't believe that and neither does a rock. Are they not from God? Where are they from? Where am I from? What is the truth? Is it What you believe or where taught? Says Who?
Comment: I AGREE THAT THIS POPE IS IN IT FOR THE WORLD .BUT HE DOESN,T UNDERSTAND THAT GOD IS THE CREATOR FOR THIS WORLD AND IS IN CHARGE OF HEAVEN AND EARTH AND JESUS TO.REASON BEING IS THAT JESUS IS *(THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE)IF ANYONE OR ANYBODY DOESN,T BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE NOT FROM GOD OR CHRIST
Comment: The POPE Sure does not seem to put his faith in GOD riding around in a bullet proof Mercedes with secret service all around him. LOL
Comment: alot of Chinese have left China because of the government
Comment: shame to Chinese people everywhere???? Most chinese don't support there government??????:( that statement has lost the point of what you are trying to advocate.
Comment: the almost blind leading the blind. bravo Ross Bakerfield I agree 100%
Comment: the almost blind leading the blind. bravo Ross Bakerfield I agree 100%
Comment: the almost blind leading the blind. bravo Ross Bakerfield I agree 100%
Comment: the blind leading the blind
Comment: sheep
Comment: Bravo Ross Bakerfield BLESS
Comment: There is a differance between the differant religious leaders. You are not Muslim or Buddahist. Buddah and Mohamad as well as other religious leaders forgave people for there sins. Just to let you know. I forgive people for there sins all the time not on the level of Jesus of course. If you would open your heart and soul to the diversity of the world you might be a little closer to the true loveing message of Jesus and the rest of the great spiritual leaders. I love and accept your belifes but I think it sad that you think someone like Ghandi would go to hell because he does not belive the same things you do. Don't be one of thoughs Jews so quick to throw stones. They were differant peaple sent by god to deliver the same message to differant people in diffarent parts of the world. God intended there to be more then one religious leaders or there would only be one. Yes Jesus died for his belief, but so have millions of other people. It is his message that seems to have been buried under years of human ego ( I'm right, no I'm right) And are we all not children of god? According to Jesus him self. Or was that one of his followers that said that????He also said forgive them they know not what they do. Yes, I forgive the Jews for that and open my heart to all . How you live and feel about others has everything to do with what jesus was trying to teach. The more I read how close minded peaple are the more it conferms my thoughts on this subject. Jesus was the son of GOD and so are you. Choose your words and your actions wisely. It is up to you to listen, learn and feel not judge. It is funny how you act like you know jesus and his words as though you talked to him last night about this over the phone or had him over for coffee. You know what you have been taught not what is necessarily truth. The Dead Sea scrolls were not writen by Jesus eather so how with certainty can you know that YOU are wright. YOU can't
Comment: We need to remember that there is a difference between Jesus Christ and all the other religious leaders. Jesus Christ forgives sins and said that "I am" which caused the Jews to want to stone him because they thought that was blasphemy and he was putting himself on the same equality with God. So Jesus Christ is not merely a good man because for a good man to say something like that he would have to be a lunatic, a liar or in fact, the Son of God. The writings of C.S Lewis and Lee Strobel can shed more light on these facts. I challenge you to study the claims of Jesus Christ and accept him as the Son of God. What you find will astonish you, especially if you accept His mesage of salvation which only comes through the death of Jesus Christ. Praying for you. Thanks.
Comment: To LiveLife.LoveLife: You can BELIEVE "One World One God One Love" but if you believe Jesus had a message, you would know he said that "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the father except through Me." A common misconception is that all roads lead to God and this is simply NOT true. Regarding the many translations and apparent "losses over time" from the Biblical text, it is important to note that the Dead Sea Scrolls was an ancient manuscript found in 1949 that was confirmed to be identical to how the Old Testament reads now...even after thousands of years. The other thing that sets Jesus apart from all other "great men" is that he is the only "prophet" that had been resurrected. There is support of this not only in the Bible, but also in external writings of that day that can be verified.
It is foolish to believe that all roads lead to God. While he is the source of all created things, it doesn't mean that all will end up in heaven. God doesn't send people to heaven. You yourself have the ability to control your destiny. Jesus made it very clear.."all have fallen short of the glory of God" "no ONE is good, not one!" None of us are good enough to get to heaven on our own accord. Only by recognizing that we are sinners and confessing our sins to God will God forgive you. Then we are to repent and turn away from sin. Being a good person doesn't cut it. In a court of law today, you wouldn't stand before a judge telling him that you really are a good person while you are being tried for a serious crime. It wouldn't matter how good you were or who you are..the fact is you are on trial for the crime you committed. Since God is a perfect judge, he must be perfect in the sentence as well. The sentence for us all is death. However if you put your trust in Jesus as your Saviour and follow him, he will stand up and pay your fine. He did that by dying on the cross for all the things you have ever and ever will do wrong. Don't get misled by what you 'believe'. Different people believe different things. I could believe that the sky is green all I want. It doesn't change reality. What I believe doesn't matter, what matters is the TRUTH. The truth is that Jesus died for everyone and he wants to have a relationship with you. Once you make Him the Lord of your life and stop making excuses, your life will never be the same.
Comment: The Pope is undignified. He himself is a product of life's faults. For day does not exist without night and the word good has no meaning without evil. Religion has only separated people rather then brings them together. It has lead to wars, segregation and constant political battles. What message is the Pope sending by riding in a luxury brand vehicle? Is he sending a message out, saying if you???re wealthy you will be a good Catholic? What about Mercedes history? They were involved with making gas chambers during the Holocaust? What message is he sending out by representing something controversial? G-d is everywhere as it is said. Why look at a mediator when praying can be done individually? Do the right thing. Don???t worship material things or represent ideals that people can decide on, just treat people well and maybe mankind can make it for another 6000 years. Oh and one more thing, be sure to reduce your human footprint in society because if we don???t nuke each other we will end up destroying the environment that will wipe us out.
Comment: To ellegra: The word "father" is used in the Bible in the sense that it means "God." The original language that your quote was written in was Aramaic, and used "Abba.". "Father" is an English word. It translates to "Call no man God on earth, for one is your God, which is in heaven."
Comment: There is only one God, One Higher power, one energy behind life. The core of all religion preach the same things. Love, understanding, acceptance. Jesus, Mohamad, Buddha all great men, all with a clear loving honest messages sent through them by the same power (GOD). It is my hope that one day we can all see what in our souls, and our hearts we all know. All religions are the path to one GOD, one source. If you are willing to look beyond all the ego-driven outside negativity you can see and accept that. Remember, Jesus was not a Christain or a Catholic he was a man with a Message, Buddah was not a Buddahist but a man with a message, Mohamad was not a Muslim but a man with a message. The religions came after, created by their followers. Most of us have played the telephone game in school where one student starts a message and whispers it in the ear of another, and that student whispers it in to anothers ear until it goes through the entire class, and by the time the last student says the message out loud it is not even close to the starting message. Point being that if you take the words of great leaders, such as Jesus, and send their message through other people like Paul, Luke, John, Matthew, etc., the message gets slightly misinterpreted and put into their words. Then translate the message into other languages, rewrite them a few times, add thousands of years to that, when that is all said and done give those words to a preist, minister, pastor, etc... WOW you can start to understand why there is all this confusion and debate. People within their own religions can't even agree with each other about most things let alone one religion agreeing with another. If you are at all able to escape your ego and give up your right to be right, you might be able to see that the Messages at the core are all the same. I love you all in all your anger, frustration and confusion or understanding and acceptance. I belive with all my being ONE WORLD ONE GOD ONE LOVE
Thanks for reading my blog, Tim Muhs
Comment: Why is the Pope called father and priests also, when Jesus said to call no man father on the earth (which was not reffering to the father in your family, but from a religious standpoint?
Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Comment: Why is the Pope called father and priests also, when Jesus said to call no man father on the earth (which was not reffering to the father in your family, but from a religious standpoint?
Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Comment: Why is the Pope called father and priests also, when Jesus said to call no man father on the earth (which was not reffering to the father in your family, but from a religious standpoint?
Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Comment: MOSES, JESUS, AND OTHERS PROPHETS NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT CREATING CATHOLICS, PROTESTANTS, CRISTIANS, JEWS, ETC YOU NAME IT. THEY WERE MEDIATORS BETWEEN LAMBS AND A SUPREME KNOWELEDGE. (FAITH, KNOWELEGE AND DEEDS)FKD A FORM OF LIFE. BUT THERE???S ALWAYS A SMART ONE AND A BUNCH OF RETARDED PEOPLE FOLLOWING AND FEEDING THE WRONG PERSON. RULE #1 GOD IS EVERY WHERE. THEN THEREFORE WHERE IS THE TRUE RELIGION? FKD NO CRISTIANS, PROTESTANTS, MORMONS,ETC. WAKEUP!
Comment: MOSES, JESUS, AND OTHERS PROPHETS NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT CREATING CATHOLICS, PROTESTANTS, CRISTIANS, JEWS, ETC YOU NAME IT. THEY WERE MEDIATORS BETWEEN LAMBS AND A SUPREME KNOWELEDGE. (FAITH, KNOWELEGE AND DEEDS)FKD A FORM OF LIFE. BUT THERE???S ALWAYS A SMART ONE AND A BUNCH OF RETARDED PEOPLE FOLLOWING AND FEEDING THE WRONG PERSON. RULE #1 GOD IS EVERY WHERE. THEN THEREFORE WHERE IS THE TRUE RELIGION? FKD NO CRISTIANS, PROTESTANTS, MORMONS,ETC. WAKEUP!
Comment: THE DISEASE OF THE RELIGION IS THE MONEY, AND THE CURE IS THE SCHOLAR. BUT WHEN YOU SEE THAT THE SCHOLAR (CORPORATIONS CALLED RELIGION) BRINGS THE DISEASE TO HIMSELF YOU SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM HIMHIS BECAUSE ISN???T GOOD ANYMORE TO ADVISE OTHERS. NOW YOU UNDESTAND WHY WE HAVE SO MANY RELIGIONS CONFUSING PEOPLE ABOUT THE TRUE MAKINGS BUSSINES WITH THE WORD OF GOD! BETWEEN GOD AND YOURSELF SHOULDN???T BE ANY MEDIATORS!
Comment: THE DISEASE OF THE RELIGION IS THE MONEY, AND THE CURE IS THE SCHOLAR. BUT WHEN YOU SEE THAT THE SCHOLAR (CORPORATIONS CALLED RELIGION) BRINGS THE DISEASE TO HIMSELF YOU SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM HIMHIS BECAUSE ISN???T GOOD ANYMORE TO ADVISE OTHERS. NOW YOU UNDESTAND WHY WE HAVE SO MANY RELIGIONS CONFUSING PEOPLE ABOUT THE TRUE MAKINGS BUSSINES WITH THE WORD OF GOD! BETWEEN GOD AND YOURSELF SHOULDN???T BE ANY MEDIATORS!
Comment: hey
Comment: There is only one God, One Higher power, one energy behind life. The core of all religion preach the same things. Love, understanding, acceptance. Jesus, Mohamad, Buddha all great men, all with a clear loving honest messages sent through them by the same power (GOD). It is my hope that one day we can all see what in our souls, and our hearts we all know. All religions are the path to one GOD, one source. If you are willing to look beyond all the ego-driven outside negativity you can see and accept that. Remember, Jesus was not a Christain or a Catholic he was a man with a Message, Buddah was not a Buddahist but a man with a message, Mohamad was not a Muslim but a man with a message. The religions came after, created by their followers. Most of us have played the telephone game in school where one student starts a message and whispers it in the ear of another, and that student whispers it in to anothers ear until it goes through the entire class, and by the time the last student says the message out loud it is not even close to the starting message. Point being that if you take the words of great leaders, such as Jesus, and send their message through other people like Paul, Luke, John, Matthew, etc., the message gets slightly misinterpreted and put into their words. Then translate the message into other languages, rewrite them a few times, add thousands of years to that, when that is all said and done give those words to a preist, minister, pastor, etc... WOW you can start to understand why there is all this confusion and debate. People within their own religions can't even agree with each other about most things let alone one religion agreeing with another. If you are at all able to escape your ego and give up your right to be right, you might be able to see that the Messages at the core are all the same. I love you all in all your anger, frustration and confusion or understanding and acceptance. I belive with all my being ONE WORLD ONE GOD ONE LOVE
Thanks for reading my blog, Tim Muhs
Comment: There is only one God, One Higher power, one energy behind life. The core of all religion preach the same things. Love, understanding, acceptance. Jesus, Mohamad, Buddha all great men, all with a clear loving honest messages sent through them by the same power (GOD). It is my hope that one day we can all see what in our souls, and our hearts we all know. All religions are the path to one GOD, one source. If you are willing to look beyond all the ego-driven outside negativity you can see and accept that. Remember, Jesus was not a Christain or a Catholic he was a man with a Message, Buddah was not a Buddahist but a man with a message, Mohamad was not a Muslim but a man with a message. The religions came after, created by their followers. Most of us have played the telephone game in school where one student starts a message and whispers it in the ear of another, and that student whispers it in to anothers ear until it goes through the entire class, and by the time the last student says the message out loud it is not even close to the starting message. Point being that if you take the words of great leaders, such as Jesus, and send their message through other people like Paul, Luke, John, Matthew, etc., the message gets slightly misinterpreted and put into their words. Then translate the message into other languages, rewrite them a few times, add thousands of years to that, when that is all said and done give those words to a preist, minister, pastor, etc... WOW you can start to understand why there is all this confusion and debate. People within their own religions can't even agree with each other about most things let alone one religion agreeing with another. If you are at all able to escape your ego and give up your right to be right, you might be able to see that the Messages at the core are all the same. I love you all in all your anger, frustration and confusion or understanding and acceptance. I belive with all my being ONE WORLD ONE GOD ONE LOVE
Thanks for reading my blog, Tim Muhs
Comment: There is only one God, One Higher power, one energy behind life. The core of all religion preach the same things. Love, understanding, acceptance. Jesus, Mohamad, Buddha all great men, all with a clear loving honest messages sent through them by the same power (GOD). It is my hope that one day we can all see what in our souls, and our hearts we all know. All religions are the path to one GOD, one source. If you are willing to look beyond all the ego-driven outside negativity you can see and accept that. Remember, Jesus was not a Christain or a Catholic he was a man with a Message, Buddah was not a Buddahist but a man with a message, Mohamad was not a Muslim but a man with a message. The religions came after, created by their followers. Most of us have played the telephone game in school where one student starts a message and whispers it in the ear of another, and that student whispers it in to anothers ear until it goes through the entire class, and by the time the last student says the message out loud it is not even close to the starting message. Point being that if you take the words of great leaders, such as Jesus, and send their message through other people like Paul, Luke, John, Matthew, etc., the message gets slightly misinterpreted and put into their words. Then translate the message into other languages, rewrite them a few times, add thousands of years to that, when that is all said and done give those words to a preist, minister, pastor, etc... WOW you can start to understand why there is all this confusion and debate. People within their own religions can't even agree with each other about most things let alone one religion agreeing with another. If you are at all able to escape your ego and give up your right to be right, you might be able to see that the Messages at the core are all the same. I love you all in all your anger, frustration and confusion or understanding and acceptance. I belive with all my being ONE WORLD ONE GOD ONE LOVE
Thanks for reading my blog, Tim Muhs
Comment: There is only one God, One Higher power, one energy behind life. The core of all religion preach the same things. Love, understanding, acceptance. Jesus, Mohamad, Buddha all great men, all with a clear loving honest messages sent through them by the same power (GOD). It is my hope that one day we can all see what in our souls, and our hearts we all know. All religions are the path to one GOD, one source. If you are willing to look beyond all the ego-driven outside negativity you can see and accept that. Remember, Jesus was not a Christain or a Catholic he was a man with a Message, Buddah was not a Buddahist but a man with a message, Mohamad was not a Muslim but a man with a message. The religions came after, created by their followers. Most of us have played the telephone game in school where one student starts a message and whispers it in the ear of another, and that student whispers it in to anothers ear until it goes through the entire class, and by the time the last student says the message out loud it is not even close to the starting message. Point being that if you take the words of great leaders, such as Jesus, and send their message through other people like Paul, Luke, John, Matthew, etc., the message gets slightly misinterpreted and put into their words. Then translate the message into other languages, rewrite them a few times, add thousands of years to that, when that is all said and done give those words to a preist, minister, pastor, etc... WOW you can start to understand why there is all this confusion and debate. People within their own religions can't even agree with each other about most things let alone one religion agreeing with another. If you are at all able to escape your ego and give up your right to be right, you might be able to see that the Messages at the core are all the same. I love you all in all your anger, frustration and confusion or understanding and acceptance. I belive with all my being ONE WORLD ONE GOD ONE LOVE
Thanks for reading my blog, Tim Muhs
Comment: There is only one God, One Higher power, one energy behind life. The core of all religion preach the same things. Love, understanding, acceptance. Jesus, Mohamad, Buddha all great men, all with a clear loving honest messages sent through them by the same power (GOD). It is my hope that one day we can all see what in our souls, and our hearts we all know. All religions are the path to one GOD, one source. If you are willing to look beyond all the ego-driven outside negativity you can see and accept that. Remember, Jesus was not a Christain or a Catholic he was a man with a Message, Buddah was not a Buddahist but a man with a message, Mohamad was not a Muslim but a man with a message. The religions came after, created by their followers. Most of us have played the telephone game in school where one student starts a message and whispers it in the ear of another, and that student whispers it in to anothers ear until it goes through the entire class, and by the time the last student says the message out loud it is not even close to the starting message. Point being that if you take the words of great leaders, such as Jesus, and send their message through other people like Paul, Luke, John, Matthew, etc., the message gets slightly misinterpreted and put into their words. Then translate the message into other languages, rewrite them a few times, add thousands of years to that, when that is all said and done give those words to a preist, minister, pastor, etc... WOW you can start to understand why there is all this confusion and debate. People within their own religions can't even agree with each other about most things let alone one religion agreeing with another. If you are at all able to escape your ego and give up your right to be right, you might be able to see that the Messages at the core are all the same. I love you all in all your anger, frustration and confusion or understanding and acceptance. I belive with all my being ONE WORLD ONE GOD ONE LOVE
Thanks for reading my blog, Tim Muhs
Comment: btw I love Catholics - my wife was raised Catholic - just disagree with many of their doctrinal stances :)
Comment: either this "post your comment" device is really jacked up or I'm just straight retarded :)
Comment: The former theological error--apostolic succession--is based on the idea that the apostles "passed on" their authority (AND, BY EXTENSION, THEIR DOCTRINAL INFALLIBILITY) to successive generations. Acts 1 (where Matthias replaces Judas) is cited as proof of this, but if you read closely it is clear that the apostles did this in fulfillment of prophecy, not because of any doctrinal stance requiring apostolic succession. Also, in Acts 20 Paul himself says that many of the Ephesian elders which he himself had ordained would go astray. Now, if elders who were hand-picked by an apostle could go astray, how can we possibly say that error cannot creep into the church, or that the generations of church leadership that came after the apostles could not possibly err in its teaching?
So, in conclusion, I do believe that "church" and "tradition" are extremely important, but I only believe that Scripture solidly vouches for the infallibilty of itself. Scripture seems to make it pretty clear that both "church" and "tradition" can be in error. It encourages us to weigh everything according to "the apostles' doctrine", and since the books of the NT were written by the apostles (though some would argue that not all of them were, but that's another issue), we can be sure that the NT is an accurate reflection of apostolic teaching. That's why we believe in "Sola Scriptura". It doesn't mean that only Scripture is important; it does mean that only Scripture is infallible
Comment:
1. If Jesus' choice of Judas didn't prevent him from going astray, how can Paul's choice of presbyters prevent them! Catholic theology teaches that the Church is both divine - because of Christ and therefore infallible - and human - and therefore visible with members able to fall into sin. Bishops (episkopoi) and priests (presbyters), of the Church, are ordained to an office, but personally can be immoral and become heretics as we well know. Even the Pope can sin. He needs Christ.
But, the offices instituted by Christ remain for the benefit of the Christian faithful.
2. Why oppose the Church and the Bible? We accept the Bible because of the Church's authority, but in that Bible find Christ founding a Church not a New Testament. (The early Christians could not be sola scriptura otherwise we would only have the Old Testament!) Jesus never told his disciples to write, but to preach, Baptise, forgive sins, eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, accept celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, etc. And John himself declares Christ did many other things not written.
By what authority do you raise the Bible above the Body of Christ? Is it the man Luther's who in 16th c. invented the man made tradition of "sola scriptura" and even cut out some books of the Bible?
3. Ultimately, those who attack Catholicism fail to see that they argue from a "tradition." Otherwise everyone would interpret the Bible in the same way! [How many denominations disagree claiming sola scriptura?] The human tradition of sola scriptura ultimately leads either to every person deciding to find what they want in Scripture or it puts us at the mercy of experts and scholars who must interpret the true meaning of the Hebrew and 1st century Greek books. And what are we to do when we find variant texts? Who decides which is infallible?
Comment: The former theological error--apostolic succession--is based on the idea that the apostles "passed on" their authority (AND, BY EXTENSION, THEIR DOCTRINAL INFALLIBILITY) to successive generations. Acts 1 (where Matthias replaces Judas) is cited as proof of this, but if you read closely it is clear that the apostles did this in fulfillment of prophecy, not because of any doctrinal stance requiring apostolic succession. Also, in Acts 20 Paul himself says that many of the Ephesian elders which he himself had ordained would go astray. Now, if elders who were hand-picked by an apostle could go astray, how can we possibly say that error cannot creep into the church, or that the generations of church leadership that came after the apostles could not possibly err in its teaching?
So, in conclusion, I do believe that "church" and "tradition" are extremely important, but I only believe that Scripture solidly vouches for the infallibilty of itself. Scripture seems to make it pretty clear that both "church" and "tradition" can be in error. It encourages us to weigh everything according to "the apostles' doctrine", and since the books of the NT were written by the apostles (though some would argue that not all of them were, but that's another issue), we can be sure that the NT is an accurate reflection of apostolic teaching. That's why we believe in "Sola Scriptura". It doesn't mean that only Scripture is important; it does mean that only Scripture is infallible
Comment: The former theological error--apostolic succession--is based on the idea that the apostles "passed on" their authority (AND, BY EXTENSION, THEIR DOCTRINAL INFALLIBILITY) to successive generations. Acts 1 (where Matthias replaces Judas) is cited as proof of this, but if you read closely it is clear that the apostles did this in fulfillment of prophecy, not because of any doctrinal stance requiring apostolic succession. Also, in Acts 20 Paul himself says that many of the Ephesian elders which he himself had ordained would go astray. Now, if elders who were hand-picked by an apostle could go astray, how can we possibly say that error cannot creep into the church, or that the generations of church leadership that came after the apostles could not possibly err in its teaching?
So, in conclusion, I do believe that "church" and "tradition" are extremely important, but I only believe that Scripture solidly vouches for the infallibilty of itself. Scripture seems to make it pretty clear that both "church" and "tradition" can be in error. It encourages us to weigh everything according to "the apostles' doctrine", and since the books of the NT were written by the apostles (though some would argue that not all of them were, but that's another issue), we can be sure that the NT is an accurate reflection of apostolic teaching. That's why we believe in "Sola Scriptura". It doesn't mean that only Scripture is important; it does mean that only Scripture is infallible
Comment: Speaking as a Protestant, here's what I believe to be the Biblical position on this issue: I think it's safe to say from verses like 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Cor 2:12-13, 2 Peter 3:15-16, and John 10:34 that 1) the NT church (and Jesus) considered the OT to be both inspired and infallible, 2) the apostles believed their ministry was directed by the Holy Spirit even down to the words which they spoke (and, by extension, wrote), 3) the NT church itself had begun collecting the written works of the apostles and gave them equal inspirational weight as the OT ("the other Scriptures" of 2 Pet). So the argument for biblical infallibility from the Bible (haha) is clear.
Now for church and tradition: the whole notion that the present leaders of a physical church institution ("church"), or that the codified works of post-apostolic church leaders ("tradition") are infallible is based on two erroneous theological positions -- apostolic succession and an incorrect view of the "church". I'll start with the latter. The structure of the early church as demonstrated in the book of Acts, along with the book of Ephesians, make it quite clear that Christ's "church" is not a physical institution run by a supreme earthly authority, but a spiritual reality made up of true believers in indepentently functioning local churches. (Of note as well is the fact that Peter was not the administrative head of his own home church [i.e. Jerusalem]. Also of note is the fact that Paul doesn't place his apostolic authority below that of Peter, James, or anyone else [cf. Gal 2]).
Comment: Speaking as a Protestant, here's what I believe to be the Biblical position on this issue: I think it's safe to say from verses like 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Cor 2:12-13, 2 Peter 3:15-16, and John 10:34 that 1) the NT church (and Jesus) considered the OT to be both inspired and infallible, 2) the apostles believed their ministry was directed by the Holy Spirit even down to the words which they spoke (and, by extension, wrote), 3) the NT church itself had begun collecting the written works of the apostles and gave them equal inspirational weight as the OT ("the other Scriptures" of 2 Pet). So the argument for biblical infallibility from the Bible (haha) is clear.
Now for church and tradition: the whole notion that the present leaders of a physical church institution ("church"), or that the codified works of post-apostolic church leaders ("tradition") are infallible is based on two erroneous theological positions -- apostolic succession and an incorrect view of the "church". I'll start with the latter. The structure of the early church as demonstrated in the book of Acts, along with the book of Ephesians, make it quite clear that Christ's "church" is not a physical institution run by a supreme earthly authority, but a spiritual reality made up of true believers in indepentently functioning local churches. (Of note as well is the fact that Peter was not the administrative head of his own home church [i.e. Jerusalem]. Also of note is the fact that Paul doesn't place his apostolic authority below that of Peter, James, or anyone else [cf. Gal 2]). This is important because the thrust of the argument that the Catholic church is infallible is the verse in which Jesus says the that Holy Spirit will lead his followers into all truth (as well as Petrine authority, which I've implicitly addressed already) [John 16:13]. The logical chain of thought which flows from this verse in the Catholic apology is "Christ promised to lead the church into all truth. Therefore, the church is infallibly led and makes infallible decisions (at least in terms of doctrine). The only true church is the Catholic church. Therefore, the doctrinal stances of the Catholic church are infallible." This argument simply doesn't flow logically from this verse, not to mention the fact that, even if it did, it would be talking about the "church" as a spiritual entity, and not any specific physical church institution.
Comment: Speaking as a Protestant, here's what I believe to be the Biblical position on this issue: I think it's safe to say from verses like 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Cor 2:12-13, 2 Peter 3:15-16, and John 10:34 that 1) the NT church (and Jesus) considered the OT to be both inspired and infallible, 2) the apostles believed their ministry was directed by the Holy Spirit even down to the words which they spoke (and, by extension, wrote), 3) the NT church itself had begun collecting the written works of the apostles and gave them equal inspirational weight as the OT ("the other Scriptures" of 2 Pet). So the argument for biblical infallibility from the Bible (haha) is clear.
Now for church and tradition: the whole notion that the present leaders of a physical church institution ("church"), or that the codified works of post-apostolic church leaders ("tradition") are infallible is based on two erroneous theological positions -- apostolic succession and an incorrect view of the "church". I'll start with the latter. The structure of the early church as demonstrated in the book of Acts, along with the book of Ephesians, make it quite clear that Christ's "church" is not a physical institution run by a supreme earthly authority, but a spiritual reality made up of true believers in indepentently functioning local churches. (Of note as well is the fact that Peter was not the administrative head of his own home church [i.e. Jerusalem]. Also of note is the fact that Paul doesn't place his apostolic authority below that of Peter, James, or anyone else [cf. Gal 2]). This is important because the thrust of the argument that the Catholic church is infallible is the verse in which Jesus says the that Holy Spirit will lead his followers into all truth (as well as Petrine authority, which I've implicitly addressed already) [John 16:13]. The logical chain of thought which flows from this verse in the Catholic apology is "Christ promised to lead the church into all truth. Therefore, the church is infallibly led and makes infallible decisions (at least in terms of doctrine). The only true church is the Catholic church. Therefore, the doctrinal stances of the Catholic church are infallible." This argument simply doesn't flow logically from this verse, not to mention the fact that, even if it did, it would be talking about the "church" as a spiritual entity, and not any specific physical church institution.
Comment: HOW MANY CHILDREN DID THE POPE RAPE???????????????????????
Comment: The ignorance continues.
Challenging each other is good. Dialogue is good. But, many of these comments are not dialogue. Too many of these comments are prideful and self-affirming one way conversations. The pick-and -choose commentors latch onto their favorite Biblical verses and ignore others. And even better, they pervert Sacred Scripture by sifting it through their limited human intellects to concoct man-made teachings. Then, these arbitrary teachings are used against a "Catholic" strawman.
No Catholic believes the Pope is divine or anywhere near divine. We, however, do believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and that His promises to Peter and His Church cannot fail. Jesus clearly gave Peter a leadership role by making Kefas the Rock ("YOU are Kefas") on which He built His Church, and the Shepherd (Feed my Sheep) . In choosing Peter as head of the Church, Christ also clearly made His Church an organized visible communion, a light to the nations, a city set on a hill. Since the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church, and the Church is meant to last until the second coming, it obviously means Christ wills Peter's unique ministry to continue. Catholics believe that Peter's ministry is passed on to the Pope. And we love and respect the Pope just as if St. Peter were here among us today.
The idolatry in regard to the Pope is lame. Read Acts 19:11-12 in regard to Paul's clothing!
Concerning the Lord's most blessed Mother, Lk 1:28 ff for the first part of Hail Mary. I guess you believe that Gabriel and Elizabeth were "Mary-worshippers." And you must also conclude the Holy Spirit is too since the Spirit inspired mary to say that all generations would call her blessed. (Lk 1:48)
Comment: AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!! i could not of said it better. The ones you refer to do not know any better, God Bless Them.
Comment: HOW MANY CHILDREN DID THE POPE RAPE???????????????????????
Comment: What the heck??? um... your username says it all...
Comment: The ignorance continues.
Challenging each other is good. Dialogue is good. But, many of these comments are not dialogue. Too many of these comments are prideful and self-affirming one way conversations. The pick-and -choose commentors latch onto their favorite Biblical verses and ignore others. And even better, they pervert Sacred Scripture by sifting it through their limited human intellects to concoct man-made teachings. Then, these arbitrary teachings are used against a "Catholic" strawman.
No Catholic believes the Pope is divine or anywhere near divine. We, however, do believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and that His promises to Peter and His Church cannot fail. Jesus clearly gave Peter a leadership role by making Kefas the Rock ("YOU are Kefas") on which He built His Church, and the Shepherd (Feed my Sheep) . In choosing Peter as head of the Church, Christ also clearly made His Church an organized visible communion, a light to the nations, a city set on a hill. Since the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church, and the Church is meant to last until the second coming, it obviously means Christ wills Peter's unique ministry to continue. Catholics believe that Peter's ministry is passed on to the Pope. And we love and respect the Pope just as if St. Peter were here among us today.
The idolatry in regard to the Pope is lame. Read Acts 19:11-12 in regard to Paul's clothing!
Concerning the Lord's most blessed Mother, Lk 1:28 ff for the first part of Hail Mary. I guess you believe that Gabriel and Elizabeth were "Mary-worshippers." And you must also conclude the Holy Spirit is too since the Spirit inspired mary to say that all generations would call her blessed. (Lk 1:48)
Comment: THE POPE IS GAY
Comment: THE POPE IS GAY
Comment: THE POPE IS GAY
Comment: one other comment on only believing in the Bible (Bible only). Where in the Bible does it say to do so, the Sola Scriptura. St. Paul tells St. Timothy to keep to the oral and written traditions before the Bible was even formally organized. I ask every Protestant that question and have never been given an answer. The standard answer is that they believe only in what's in the Bible and the word Bible isn't even in the Sacred Scritpures, because Bible means "Books" or "library of books". Any anwswers.
Comment: I'd like to see what the boys on Unique whips could do with pimpin up the pope's ride. Will Castro would be sure that it was very pridful before letting it out the door ther at Unique Autosports. or UA for short.
http://www.uniqueautosport.com/UAS.html
Comment: PART 2 OF 2 (II Thess 2:10-12) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Life without him is all that Christ is showing man and it's only going to get worst as the days go on not better! Christ suffered so what makes you think his people are not going to go thru some similar challenges? So can anybody explain why using the bible to back up their beliefs not just words or feelings, cause no where in my bible does Christ ever ask so what do you think I should do? As if he didn't know the answer all ready or perhaps, "How do you feel about this.......?" Doesn't happen because his will is to be done just like the example he set. P.S. What is a sinner's prayer? Does it exist or is it made up by man?
Comment: PART 2 OF 2 (II Thess 2:10-12) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Life without him is all that Christ is showing man and it's only going to get worst as the days go on not better! Christ suffered so what makes you think his people are not going to go thru some similar challenges? So can anybody explain why using the bible to back up their beliefs not just words or feelings, cause no where in my bible does Christ ever ask so what do you think I should do? As if he didn't know the answer all ready or perhaps, "How do you feel about this.......?" Doesn't happen because his will is to be done just like the example he set. P.S. What is a sinner's prayer? Does it exist or is it made up by man?
Comment: (Part 1 of 2) Well it's good to be similar in being "christ" like or minded if you well but sorry Catholics that is not the answer. You still confess your sins to some man in a box of which is one reason Christ even died so that man would be held in account for himself.............by himself. Words you can not find in the bible: denomanation, pope, and yes catholic. All these so called "churches" out here claiming to be a christ following group of people but they are treating the bible like a grocery store, you can't take what you want and leave the rest, it's all or none last time I read Revelations. And just how the heck are these guys "dedicated" to the call but busy abusing little boys cause they try and take away a man's need for sex........with a woman that is. Yes God loves gay people but guess what he hates the sin! And if people were to stop and say hey if everybody comes from a man and a woman (X and Y chromosome) then if gay was right in the sight of god then how would mankind reproduce with the same chromosomes? Can anybody answer that for me? For the most part people believe what they were taught and some good old fashion tradition thrown in. To follow Christ is to deny one's self for his will to be done not your own, so how many people can actually say in these "denominations" which can not be found in the bible any where or even a christian compound word or used in a phrase like, I'm a baptist, methodist, 7 days adevntist, etc, etc. Only word I found is christian and christian only. Remember THERE IS ONE BODY, AND ONE SPIRIT, EVEN AS YE ARE CALLED IN ONE HOPE OF YOUR CALLING; ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM - THEN WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE THINK WE ALL CAN GO TO HEAVEN DOING WHAT THEY WANT TO DO AND YET ALL ARE DOING AND BELIEVING DIFFERENT THINGS THINKING WE ARE ONE BODY OF BELIEVERS....WRONG MY FRIEND CHRIST DELIVERED ONE GOSPEL FOR ALL. And to the people who think they are right but yet can not find their "churches" in the bible or maybe you think you are doing the right thing by going where you are at (Matt. 7:21-23) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord. Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work inquity. And how could a person go thru life "thinking" they're on the "right" track to heaven?
Comment: Tanderson1015, Jesus spoke Aramaic, which is a genderlous language. Typical Protestant arguement about the role of Peter, who was Simon, to begin with. Every time God changed a name, it was something of significance (ie Abram to Abraham, Saul to Paul, etc. just a few). Translations from Aramaic written in either Hebrew or Greek have always been a problem. Jesus used the name Cephas which is genderlous. Keep digging for the truth and you will see how Jesus established the His Church on Peter as the first Pope on earth. The Catholic Church is not the pope's church, it Jesus' Church with the Pope just being the human person that Jesus works through to shepherd His flock on earth.
Comment: Wow! What a wonderful display of faith in the creator of the entire universe! The pope, being escorted around in a bullet proof and climate controlled chamber! Every time I say to myself, "People will one day realize the contradictions and hypocricies of dogmatic texts and leaders. They just have to! It's right in front of them!" I read about something like this. It's to the point I am tired of even addressing the issue. You can't talk to someone that only knows one word. BAHHH!!!! BAHHH!!! There is nothing more frustrating then wasting hours upon hours with a pious sheep completely obliterating their nonsense only for them to relent by saying, "It comes down to faith." That's my signal to walk away and hope that I won't be sucked into the same situation again. The "It comes down to faith" statement is really a lost and confused person that pretends to be in communion with whatever has brought about this existence, admitting that they are in fact just a lost and confused person just like the rest of us. Why they can't admit it I do not know. Weakness and fear come to mind as to why the followers can't or won't admit it. Power, greed, and control come to mind as to why the leaders do the same. Over the years my arguments against the christian dogma have been narrowed down to, "If you REALLY are so unshakably founded in your beliefs, put down your bible and try some good old Bertrand Russel. If you can read and I mean honestly READ 'Why I Am Not a Christian' by Bertrand Russel and still not have the courage to drop your ridiculous faith that has been and continues to be the source of untold misery. Good for you! You are officially beyond the point of no return!"
Comment: So this is what atheists do with their time! Come up with ridiculous insults to the Church. Wow. Now, I will start by disproving your arguments. First: the Pope's supposed lack of faith in God by riding around in a bulletproof car. Realizing that sin DOES exist in the world, you would have to agree that people do try and kill other people, including the Pope. The forces of evil also exist, and sin and the devil can both be powerful motivators for doing something you would not normally do, for instance, killing the Pope, or betraying Jesus. Here, I???m referring to when Judas was possessed by the devil to betray Jesus for money. God allowed it to happen, because it served His purpose of saving the world by dying on the Cross. I won???t pretend to know what the Pope???s purpose for dying would be, and I won???t waste my time theorizing. Second Point: lack of faith by using AC. Everyone wants to be comfortable. Deal with it. Third Point: you don???t like arguing with people who say, ???It comes down to faith.??? Well, as much as you may not like it, it eventually does. However, this is sometimes the answer of those who are young enough in their walk with Jesus to not understand the answers yet. Time, as well as moving closer to God, will reveal them. Also, this is part of the reason for having a Church in the first place! God wants to have those people who have the answers to help those who don???t, and in doing so, strengthen their relationship with Him. You also say that if they use the faith argument that they are lost and confused. Confused maybe, but really, it goes back to my original argument of them not being far enough in their walk with Christ. Finally, you say that we should REALLY read this author, as in to read it to desperately believe it. That just wouldn???t make sense to do so. Think thru it, and I think you will come to the same conclusion. I just can???t figure out how to express my thought process on paper. I think kind of laterally. Finally, I would like to ask you to stop trying to destroy other???s faith. It is their choice to believe in God, and everyone should respect their choice. I feel that it is unfair to be destructive to something someone has spent time trying to build up. I realize that the Church tries to convert people as well, however, just talk to someone who has had a ???God experience.??? They will tell you why it is a radically different kind of conversion than any other.
Comment: I'm sorry for entering the same post over and over. It's because every time I tried to post I was told my post couldn't be posted at that time and to try again. So I did, with the same results. Then BANG there they all were.. Again I apologize.
Comment: phugoid has some of the best information on these blogs. I am a Catholic and proud to be. If everyone really wants to know a lot about the churches, faith, history, and everything, alot of material is available. Anything written by Scott Hahn, a converted Fundamentalist/Protestant minister, and sources at the EWTN.com website library on all religious beliefs is available. I admired Billy Graham, my uncle is a Presbyterian minister, and don't trash talk other denominations until they trash the Catholic Church. JUST think for a minute. When you can't explain the beliefs of something or someone-----what is the typical human response------trash it some how. Jack Chick and other have done that. A good reference book that I have been reading is "Catholicism and Fundamentalism" by Keating. Take a chance, all you Catholic bashers, and do some research. Jesus started one church and it wasn't even called "Catholic" to begin with. Originally it was just called the church. Catholic mean universal, so research history and information------------IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO SEE THAT YOU MAY BE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've researched alot of different denominations and beliefs and none have swayed my belief that the Catholic Church is the "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic" church that Jesus established on Peter (Cephas - Rock in Aramaic).
Comment: Regarding Peter being the Rock: There are problems with this Roman Catholic position. First of all, when we look at the Greek of Matthew 16:18 we see something that is not obvious in the English. "...you are Peter (????????????, petros) and upon this rock (??????????, petra) I will build My church..." In Greek, nouns have gender. It is similar to the English words actor and actress. The first is masculine and the second is feminine. Likewise, the Greek word "petros" is masculine; "petra" is feminine. Peter, the man, is appropriately referred to as Petros. But Jesus said that the rock he would build his church on was not the masculine "petros" but the feminine "petra." Deut. 32:3, "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice."
1 Sam. 22:2, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge."
Psalm 18:31, "And who is a rock, except our God?"
Isaiah 44:8, "Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none."
Rom. 9:33, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed."
Jesus, who knew the heart of Peter, was not saying that Peter, the movable stone, would be the immovable rock upon which the Church would be built. Rather, it would be built upon Jesus, and it was this truth that Peter had affirmed when he said to Jesus, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:16).
Matthew J. Slick, www.carm.org
Comment: Tanderson1015 is proposing a mere human doctrine invented within the past few centuries to deaden consciences against accepting the papacy. Notice that even the Greek speaking Christians who rejected the papacy for political reasons did not use this "petros-petra" argument since they knew it was bogus.
This human interpretive tradition fails to remember that Jesus spoke Aramaic, and that even Paul uses the Aramaic "Kefas" which means both rock and Peter.
Comment: Grma: That is an amazing story. I'm sorry too, and I'm not even Catholic. Thank you for telling us your story. The thought that came to mind as I was reading what you said was, 'Why is there so much abuse of children here in the U.S. and not other parts of the world. At first I was assuming you are a male, but after reading about your sister, I'm not sure. I also wondered why there seems to be so much homosexual abuse of young boys at the hands of the priests. Is the priesthood a place for gay regious men to hide?
Secondly, if you kept this a secret for so long then how do you know if anything happened to your sister, if she can't remember it?
Comment: Grma: That is an amazing story. I'm sorry too, and I'm not even Catholic. Thank you for telling us your story. The thought that came to mind as I was reading what you said was, 'Why is there so much abuse of children here in the U.S. and not other parts of the world. At first I was assuming you are a male, but after reading about your sister, I'm not sure. I also wondered why there seems to be so much homosexual abuse of young boys at the hands of the priests. Is the priesthood a place for gay regious men to hide?
Secondly, if you kept this a secret for so long then how do you know if anything happened to your sister, if she can't remember it?
Comment: How about mentioning that the first Pope vehicle after the assassination attempt was a Landrover. Who cars about theology, this article is about the Pope's limo, not interpretations of the bible.
Comment: Grma: That is an amazing story. I'm sorry too, and I'm not even Catholic. Thank you for telling us your story. The thought that came to mind as I was reading what you said was, 'Why is there so much abuse of children here in the U.S. and not other parts of the world. At first I was assuming you are a male, but after reading about your sister, I'm not sure. I also wondered why there seems to be so much homosexual abuse of young boys at the hands of the priests. Is the priesthood a place for gay regious men to hide?
Secondly, if you kept this a secret for so long then how do you know if anything happened to your sister, if she can't remember it?
Comment: Grma: That is an amazing story. I'm sorry too, and I'm not even Catholic. Thank you for telling us your story. The thought that came to mind as I was reading what you said was, 'Why is there so much abuse of children here in the U.S. and not other parts of the world. At first I was assuming you are a male, but after reading about your sister, I'm not sure. I also wondered why there seems to be so much homosexual abuse of young boys at the hands of the priests. Is the priesthood a place for gay regious men to hide?
Secondly, if you kept this a secret for so long then how do you know if anything happened to your sister, if she can't remember it?
Comment: Dear People :
When you PAST AWAY you will rest in peace ..... this is HELL and nothing else , whatever religion you follow.
GOD is in your mind and your HEART ; all rest is what they invented so you'll support them.
YOU"LL SEE SOON............................................
Comment: Why does the pope have to ride in a vehicle with bullet proof glass. In keeping with the commonly used term "it was there time" or "god is calling them home" then why is he worried about a assasination attempt. If he was to be assasinated wouldn't it just be god's master plan. I wouldn't waste my precious time to stand in long lines or dead locked traffic to see just another human being....
Comment: One thing that I find common in all the posts today is... This all started with an article about the Popes transportation.
The posts immediately led into a discussion on peoples views on the Catholic church, clearly indicating it has struck a chord in all of the opponents in Yhe Catholic church.
All week long I have noticed this in different forumsin which mainly Protestants have had to bash and try to discredit the Catholic Church. This obviously shows your own insecurity with your own faith because I know when I see an article say about Billy Graham, who I have much respest for but dont agree with him on some of his beliefs I dont go out and trash him.
As a Catholic I believe in abd try to live the Gospel, including loving those I dont agree with and have a common love for all peoples of the world.
I would love to see a day where we could a an article about Catholics without bashing it.
When that day comes I will firmly believe that the people that used to bash the church have come to the conclusion that we should all love one another.
With all due respect us Catholics are not going anywhere. Like Christ said when instituting His Church "Not even the fires of hell will prevail and His Church will continue until the end of the age.
Peace of Christ to all of you. Phugoid
Comment: That verse you're referring to is not the physical building of the Catholic church. Jesus said upon this rock-meaning Himself. Peter clearly points that out.
The "Church" is all believers, and there is no seperation. It says we are all heirs of Abraham and there is no slave or master, Jew or Greek.
The reason there are so many outspoken Christians is because we are told to rebuke others, and scripture is profitable for reproof and correction. If you disagree with Billy Graham it's probably because he said something biblical that differs from Catholic teaching. If it's biblical then he's not wrong.
There's One Mediator and Intercessor and His name is Jesus Christ. It's not about religion, it's about a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Comment: I commend you with your thought and standing in what you belive in, i have found that works for me is study and search for what is true and what is not and use what you learn to make yourself the person that Christ would want you to be. i personnally don't believe that a title of a church or place of worship is whats going to get us to the ultiment place we all want to be when our time is up, its our knowlege and our use of that information and how we apply it to our everyday life and our belief of Christ and living it in the way he wants us too is going to make the diffrents but will say this as i have stated before when we stand before the judgement seat of God we stand alone and alone will be judge.
Comment: You know its a very sad day when people look to those in high places, for answers about things that happens around in their wold that surrounds them everyday, people talk about everday problems and things they hate seeing bad things that goes on everyday in places where we live, pointing their fingers at everyone else instead of looking at the person in the mirror and asking them what have I done to help change things to make them better, its not the Pope that going to get us to heaven, its not the President thats going to change the economy, and getting the Gangs from selling drugs to our children, or the robbing, the killings, the rapings, or giving our homeless a place to live, as well as those who need medical help but yet can't afford it, only you and I can do that, and as far as
religon you can have that everyday but until you look toward the man that counts Jesus him self and only him can make the diffrents between heaven and hell, The Bible states it very clearly we will stand before him to be judge alone and that mean us alone and not some one else with us... May God Bless you and yours and remeber look at yourself before judging others.
Comment: Justification is the legal declaration by God upon the sinner, where God declares the sinner righteous in His sight. This justification is based completely and solely on the work of Christ on the cross. We cannot earn justification or merit justification in any way. If we could, then Christ died needlessly. "I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly" (Gal. 2:21). Because righteousness cannot come through the Law (through our efforts of merit), the Bible declares that we are justified before God by faith:
"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3:28).
"For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Rom. 4:3).
"But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness" (Rom. 4:5).
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8).
However, in Roman Catholicism, justification by faith is denied.
"If any one shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that it is that confidence alone by which we are justified ... let him be accursed" (Canon 12, Council of Trent).
Which are we to believe? The Roman Catholic Church or God's word?
Comment: This is your interpretation and I am not going to argue with you about your beliefs. Although you can take the same verse and have a ton of different interpretations by man in all the other denominations. The Catholic Church is unified under one person so we all have the same belief whether you accept it or not, not issue is for Catholics to believe it.
Asfar as your post about the priest and his dissention from the Catholic beliefs which he vowed to uphold in his ordination, this isnt new, many priests have listened to the evil one and been led astray. The Church isnt perfect and neither are the men in the priesthood, but these priests dont represent Catholic teachings in their dissenting views.
Comment: Interpretation? No... those verses are very blatant in their points. Never the less... I hope you know that you can walk and talk with the Lord at all times. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is a very help in our times of trouble. I hope your relationship with Christ is that personal...If it is...Then praise God.
Comment: I must have missed the episode of mtvs Pimp My Popemobile bet this car can feed plenty of hungry people i mean whats all the excite for its all over the news a former nazi a man that wanted to hide all pedaphilia cases this is whats wrong with the world get popular for doing wrong and get a nice ride i dont get it
Comment: Joseph Tremblay. Born in Quebec, Canada, 1924. He was ordained a priest in Rome, Italy and was sent to Bolivia, Chile where he served for 13 years "as a missionary in the congregation of the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate."
Salvation by works. "My theology has taught me that salvation is by works and sacrifices....my theology gives me no assurance of salvation; the Bible offers me that assurance....I had been trying to save myself on my works...I was stifled in a setting in which I was pushed to do good works to merit my salvation." (pp. 9, 11-12)
Comment: The Pope...Big Hairy Deal! I bet he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like most people do. I have nothing against him but I wouldn't walk across the street to see him.
Comment: Mealmuch-Unfortunately if you keep this belief you will find out the truth in hell, and it won't be a laughing matter then. Even if we are ALL wrong and you're right, what have we lost? Nothing. We have that calm assurance and peace in our hearts that you dont seem to have. If we die and nothing happens then we lose nothing. BUT.....let's say we're right and YOU are wrong. Well then you will experience the torment of hell for eternity. You will be conscience and aware with no rest.
Who's the moron now? I have a win-win situation, while you have all your eggs in one basket.
Hopefully you'll wake up one day and see the truth. I can bet you're not truly happy and even searching for happiness in some way to fill that void in your heart. That my friend, can only be filled by Jesus Christ.
Comment: Reason1
Christ never spoke to people about similarities. He never told the priests, and those that didn???t agreed with him: "come, let's see what we have in common, we worship the same God, etc...???
He spoke the truth we love and sincere care for the people that surround him. We need to follow his example. :)
May God Bless you,
Comment: You will only find out the truth @ your death bed...FOOLS. No Jews. Catholics or whatever will help you then. God is in the heart Ignoranuses!
Comment: You will only find out the truth @ your death bed...FOOLS. No Jews. Catholics or whatever will help you then. God is in the heart Ignoranuses!
