Posted on 03/13/2013 8:11:02 AM PDT by opbuzz
Thats just it. There is no scripture that even remotely suggests this silly smoke signal business be conducted. But hey - if this traditional dogma makes anyone feel holy - then go for it.
How much respect should anyone have for an ignorant fool such as yourself, who already disrespects a great religion, and then attacks it because you don’t like the ceremonial burning of the ballots? Big deal.
What is wrong with asking Mary to pray to Jesus too? I may be a little tongue-in-cheek here but, her prayers probably carry more weight than most peoples’ prayers. Rallying her to your cause surely cannot hurt.
More seriously- Maccabees provides an excellent example of how praying for others can be useful. But that isn’t in your bible so...
1 Timothy 2:1 ESV
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
The bible seems to imply that praying for others is useful.
Being saved does not make you sinless. We are still sinners, the human being always sins, why do we continually as for forgiveness of our wrongs. We are saved sinners.
I agree with him.
Oh, you’re just blowing smoke!
CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY MARCH 12, 2013THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH THIS WEEKS BEGINS THE PROCESS OF SELECTING ANOTHER POPE. THE MEDIA SEEM FOCUSED ON THE POLITICS AND THE SEX SCANDALS. WHAT THEY ARE NOT FOCUSING ON IS CHURCH DOCTRINE.
THE IDEA OF A POPE IS BASED ON A FALSE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE, THAT JESUS WANTED TO BUILD HIS CHURCH ON PETER, INSTEAD OF HIMSELF. WHY WOULD JESUS BUILD HIS CHURCH ON A SINFUL MAN? HE BUILDS IT UPON THE ROCK, ALL RIGHT, BUT THAT ROCK IS HIMSELF. THEN THERE’S THE ISSUE OF CONFESSION TO A PRIEST, NOT TO MENTION PURGATORY WHICH IS NOT MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE AND SUGGESTS THAT THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST IS INSUFFICIENT TO CLEANSE FROM ALL SIN, AGAIN, A VIOLATION OF BIBLICAL TRUTH.
WHAT ABOUT PRAYING TO MARY AND INDIVIDUAL SAINTS? AGAIN, THERE IS ONLY ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN: THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. TRADITION IN THE CATHLIC CHURCH IS EQUAL TO SCRIPTURE. THAT, TOO, IS UNBIBLICAL.
JOURNALISTS WON’T QUESTIONS THESE THINGS. THEY TAKE ALL ASSERTIONS BY CATHOLICS AS GOSPEL. IT’S TOO BAD BECAUSE FOR THE UNINFORMED THIS COULD BE, AS THEY SAY, A TEACHABLE MOMENT. I’M CAL THOMAS IN WASHINGTON.
Thomas goes through the litany of standard complaints: Petrine succession, confession, purgatory, the Mass, Mary, and Saints.
Incorrect versus False.
He uses the word "false". It may just be me, but "false" implies "intentionally wrong" or "intentionally deceitful". Incorrect suggests a theological disagreement in which you think one party has come to a wrong answer.
Dr Scott Hahn has shown that there is a biblical argument for Petrine succession, confession, purgatory, the real presence, and the cloud of witnesses including Mary and other prominent Christians from the past.
To the extent that there is a biblical argument, one can't level a charge of deceit. One can only conclude that the other is wrong.
I prefer to see Roman Catholics as being on the same team as I am, struggling in their way to promote Jesus Christ. As to their tracing their lineage back to Peter, I'm fairly convinced that it isn't as clean a spiritual genealogy as they would like, but that they do accomplish the task of tracing themselves to Peter. I do believe that Jesus said He would found (get started) His church on Peter. The early part of the book of Acts tells that story in detail. I don't think that places Peter in charge because in Acts 15 James is seen in charge. However, it's a cool thing to have a genealogy back to one of the apostles, and an important one from the inner circle.
We could go into the other doctrinal discussions, and the one I'd focus on, if I were to argue with Dr Hahn on the biblical origin of Catholic beliefs, is the Immaculate Conception, and I'm not satisfied with his argument that Revelation 12 depicts Mary after her assumption. It depicts God's people (Israel?) as the context indicates.
I totally disagree with Thomas on his timing and his word choice. It's like speaking ill of someone in the presence of his family at the funeral, and that just being an opinion.
Ceremony is a kind of beauty. Beauty can be silly, too, but not ceremony.
Christ loves all, the church is not a building it is the Body of Christ.
What other kind of men does God have to build His church with, but “sinners?” And, it is precisely that we all do fall short of Him that is the reason for the Church (and synagogue) in the first place... to help connect us better with Him and His will for us.
Cal Thomas has totally missed the point...
I never saw his blog before. At first, I thought he was being hacked.
I’ll never understand why people care about other people’s religious ideas. I spend no time worrying about what Evangelicals think...
Why would any prominent person decide to attack the entirety of the Catholic Church as false, at the time of selection of a new leader? If this is legit, he exposes the face of religious intolerance which has scared many away from conservatives.
I’m sure he hasn’t stopped to think that maybe God didn’t want a “reformation” against the Church, which led to dozens of conflicting denominations each professing the one “true” interpretation and sometimes killing each other.
Maybe the Pope has more insight in Scripture than Cal Thomas. Maybe not. Why should we care about the theological certitude of Cal Thomas?
Maybe he wants to be a Quaker.
Isn’t it interesting that the very first miracle recorded in the bible was Mary interceding at the wedding of cana? And Jesus granted her request. Maybe God is trying to make a point?
I’m Catholic, and I often go directly to Jesus when I pray. I also often go to his mother because I love her and Jesus listens to her.
Jesus IS the one true mediator between God and man. Catholics don’t dispute this. At the same time we ask one another to pray for us. Haven’t you ever asked a friend or family member to pray for a certain need?
here's a good rule of thumb - not too many of us Catholics naming our kids Calvin. ;)
5."For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus:"
Meaning (commentary from the Douay Rheims): "One mediator: Christ is the one and only mediator of redemption, who gave himself, as the apostle writes in the following verse."
6. "Who gave himself a redemption for all, a testimony in due time
It doesn't say anything about not praying to God for others or to ask others to pray for us. I pray for anybody who needs prayers said. I ask Our Lady to pray for me. Her Son hears her pleas on our behalf, just as He hears our pleas for others.
If I am strong in my faith, and my prayers come from an agape form of love and mindset, Christ will provide as long as we are willing to receive it. Of course God's way of answering may not be what I expect, but it will be there.
Don’t forget the Church’s strong stance on euthanasia. They are wonderful on the subject.
Not a Catholic but as I understand it, it’s no different than asking friends or family members to pray for you on your behalf. Catholics believe that Mary and all the saints (individuals confirmed to be in heaven) can be asked to pray for you on your behalf as well.
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