Posted on 08/10/2007 9:39:37 PM PDT by Salvation
I liked all the historical information in this article!
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And the “sign of the cross” as a personal unction, is found where in the Bible?
And Jesus told the Apostles:
Paraphrasing from a Gospel:
Go out and spread the Gospel, baptizing all in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes, I really wonder if you guys read the Gospels of if you just read St. Paul.
Still see nothing that requires me to show the sign of the cross, by crossing myself. Sometimes I wonder why some of you make stuff.
And that’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to. You also don’t need to recognize the cross as a sacred symbol of christianity either. OR recognize the canonization of St. Augustine, St. Peter, St. Paul, etc, etc. No one is twisting your arm. You can join the methodists, quakers or the Benny Hinn crusade.
**Still see nothing that requires me to show the sign of the cross, by crossing myself. Sometimes I wonder why some of you make stuff.**
So please stop crashing the Catholic threads then. Good bye.
And of course, the other thing you might do is open your eyes, your ears, your mind, and your heart.
You seem to be stuck somewhere.
Thank you so much for this post!!!
The individual must be mindful of the Holy Trinity, that central dogma that makes Christians "Christians."
This kind of teaching is what will send people to an eternity in Hell...
Belief in the Holy Trinity will not save anyone...Being mindful of the Trinity DOES NOT make Christians, Christians...
Jesus giving His life as the last Sacrifice and accepting that sacrifice for your sin is what makes a Christian, Christian...
You can make the sign of the cross a million times a day...It surely won't save you...
A deeper question is why you show no humility in the face of ancient practice. Who annointed you arbiter of things to be considered acceptible? This practice shows evidence of being in use virtually from the beginning, yet you have the nerve to ask: “Where is that in the Bible?” You’d do better to wonder why your ecclesial community jettisoned traditions that the Church adopted virtually - if not literally - from the time of the Apostles. You rail against anything not specifically found in the Bible, but in doing so you unintentioanlly point out how much the Catholic Church brings forth from apostolic times.
Not everything spanning the time of historical Christianity can be found in the Bible. For 1500 years, in traceable organic development, the Church, East and West, found no problem in these types of sacramentals. Only in the 16th Century did your spiritual forebears decide (on their own authority) that there was suddenly a problem with anything not specifically “mandated” by Scripture. If they were right, then there is little evidence that God, in the preceding 1500 years, showed any providential care for His Church, for He would never suffer such practices to develop if He cared for the Church. If they were wrong - and they were - then you should shudder at how much you and your ancestors threw away with no evidence of God’s mandate or authorization at all.
Your cry of “the Bible alone” is not correct, for it is not found in Scripture itself and its sudden appearance 3/4 of the way to our own time demonstrates clearly that it is a man-made concept. Your argument only holds true if the concept is demonstrably of apostolic origin. That cannot be proven. Therefore, your protests are founded on sand, and it is not our fault if you have built a mere shell of a theological edifice on that sand.
For 2000 years, the Church has upheld the three-fold teaching authority of Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium. The evidence of God’s design and positive will in this setup is perfectly clear. For you to remove two of the legs holding up God’s arrangement puts your balance entirely at the mercy of your ability to ride a spiritual unicycle - a very inefficient mode of transportation - spiritual or otherwise - indeed!
Thanks. I liked the touch of history in it.
Excellent post, thank you.
Many people will be quite surprised when they meet the Lord at their Particular Judgment at the moment of death and they are questioned about why they questioned the Holy Trinity.
Even in the Baptism of Christ, we have the voice of the Father, the Baptism of the Son, and the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. All this — at the very beginning of Jesus Christ’s public life!
There IS a message here!
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now,
and ever shall be.
Amen!
I don't understand this use of "unction".
Disbelief in the Trinity will surely lead to hell.
Creation of one’s own church will surely lead to hell.
Privately interpreting Scripture will surely lead to hell.
This is a public service message.
If you don’t understand Christianity, you’re unlikely to be able to be a Christian, Iscool.
The Trinity is part of Christianity.
Jesus giving His life as the last Sacrifice and accepting that sacrifice for your sin is what makes a Christian, Christian...
You can make the sign of the cross a million times a day...It surely won't save you...
You are right in principle. The act of making the sign of the cross can in no way save anyone from the mere act of making it. However, the idea is that when Catholics make the sign of the cross it is supposed to be a reminder to them that they need to accept Christ and submit to the sacrifice which the sign of the cross represents. By making this sign often it is hoped that an individual will remind himself how much he must rely upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and thus make the internal changes in their life which the Lord requires of them for their own salvation. You are right, belief alone will save no one. The Epistle of James says, Faith without works is dead being alone. there just saying that we accept Jesus Christ does not mean that we are saved. In order to work out our own salvation we must not only believe but go beyond mere belief. Once we have faith in Jesus Christ we must strive for the rest of our lives to live in harmony with Him.
I believe in the One who revealed himself as Trinity to the Church, the body of His incarnate Son.
I don't know about "surely leading to Hell" in the terms of your helpful public service announcement, but I think the "royal road" to a deeper faith in the God who reveals Himself and His love to us is found in the Church.
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