Posted on 01/27/2008 7:56:14 PM PST by Manfred the Wonder Dawg
January 25, 2008
ESV Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
In recent days I have spent time in Lima and Sullana Peru and Mexico City and I have discovered that people by nature are the same. Man has a heart that is inclined to selfishness and idolatry. Sin abounds in the remotest parts of the land because the heart is desperately wicked. Thousands bow before statues of Mary and pray to her hoping for answers. I have seen these people stare hopelessly at Mary icons, Jesus icons, and a host of dead saints who will do nothing for them. I have talked with people who pray to the pope and say that they love him. I talked with one lady who said that she knew that Jesus was the Savior, but she loved the pope. Thousands bow before Santa Muerte (holy death angel) in hopes that she will do whatever they ask her. I have seen people bring money, burning cigarettes, beer, whiskey, chocolate, plants, and flowers to Santa Muerte in hopes of her answers. I have seen these people bowing on their knees on the concrete in the middle of public places to worship their idol. Millions of people come into the Basilica in Mexico City and pay their money, confess their sins, and stare hopelessly at relics in hope that their sins will be pardoned. In America countless thousands are chained to baseball games, football games, material possessions, and whatever else their heart of idols can produce to worship.
My heart has broken in these last weeks because the God of heaven is not honored as he ought to be honored. People worship the things that are created rather than worshiping the Creator. God has been gracious to all mankind and yet mankind has hardened their hearts against a loving God. God brings the rain on the just and unjust. God brings the beautiful sunrises and sunsets upon the just and unjust. God gives good gifts unto all and above all things he has given his Son that those who would believe in him would be saved. However, man has taken the good things of God and perverted them unto idols and turned their attention away from God. I get a feel for Jesus as he overlooked Jerusalem or Paul as he beseeched for God to save Israel. When you accept the reality of the truth of the glory of God is breaks your heart that people would turn away from the great and awesome God of heaven to serve lesser things. Moses was outraged by the golden calf, the prophets passionately preached against idolatry, Jesus was angered that the temple was changed in an idolatrous business, and Paul preached to the idolaters of Mars Hill by telling them of the unknown God.
I arrived back at home wondering how I should respond to all the idolatry that I have beheld in these last three weeks. I wondered how our church here in the states should respond to all of the idolatry in the world. What are the options? First, I suppose we could sit around and hope that people chose to get their life together and stop being idolaters. However, I do not know how that could ever happen apart from them hearing the truth. Second, I suppose we could spend a lifetime studying cultural issues and customs in hope that we could somehow learn to relate to the people of other countries. However, the bible is quite clear that all men are the same. Men are dead in sin, shaped in iniquity, and by nature are the enemies of God. Thirdly, we could pay other people or other agencies to go and do a work for us while we remain comfortably in the states. However, there is no way to insure that there will be doctrinal accuracy or integrity. If we only pay other people to take the gospel we will miss out on all of the benefits of being obedient to the mission of God. Lastly, we could seek where God would have us to do a lasting work and then invest our lives there for the glory of God. The gospel has the power to raise the dead in any culture and we must be willing to take the gospel wherever God would have us take it. It is for sure that our church cannot go to every country and reach every people group, so we must determine where God would have us work and seek to be obedient wherever that is.
It seems that some doors are opening in the Spanish speaking countries below us and perhaps God is beginning to reveal where we are to work. There are some options for work to be partnered with in Peru and there could be a couple of options in Mexico. The need is greater than I can express upon this paper for a biblical gospel to be proclaimed in Peru and Mexico. Oh, that God would glorify his great name in Peru and Mexico by using a small little church in a town that does not exist to proclaim his great gospel amongst a people who desperately need the truth.
I give thanks to the LORD for allowing me the privilege of going to these countries and broadening my horizons. The things that I have seen will be forever engraved upon my heart. I will long remember the pastors that I spent time with in Peru and I will never forget Adolfo who translated for me in Mexico. I will relish the time that I spent with Paul Washer and the others. When I think of church I will forever remember being on top of that mountain in Sullana at that church which had no electricity and no roof. I am convinced that heaven was looking down on that little church on top of that mountain and very few people on earth even know that it exist. Oh, God I pray that the things of this world will continue to grow dim and that God’s people will be caught up in his glorious presence.
Because of the truth: Pastor: J. Randall Easter II Timothy 2:19 "Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."(Ps. 115:3) "He predestined us according to the good pleasure of His will."(Eph. 1:5) Those who have been saved have been saved for His glory and they are being made holy for this is the will of God. Are you being made holy? Spurgeon says, "If your religion does not make you holy it will damn you to hell."
AMEN, Cvenger. How sad it is for those who can’t see that forest for the trees.
In the Hebrew text there is no distinction made. He calls the man (male) and the "son of man" (human) on His right hand (not seated at His right side). There is no title there.
“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind” [Num 23:19]"
"In the Hebrew text there is no distinction made. He calls the man (male) and the "son of man" (human) on His right hand (not seated at His right side). There is no title there."
There is a distinction by context. Numbers by parallelism "is not a man" and "nor a son of man" and Psalms by title "upon the son of man". Whether seated or standing, "on the right hand" designates a position of power and prestige.
I see, and the basis for this unique interpretation is what? Is it what you would call "private interpretation" or is this what your Church specifically teaches?
In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham and when he is willing to kill his only son God stops him, because God was now convinced (!) that Abraham really did believe in Him.This is what it says: [Gen 22:12] It seems to me that the all-knowing God somehow wasn't really sure if Abraham feared Him, so in order to make sure he did, God subjected Abraham to this cruel test.
It sure could seem that way. However, those of us who consider the totality of scriptures are not confused. The totality of scriptures reveals an omniscient God, so we immediately know that God was using a technique here and did in fact already know all about Abraham. This is akin to God appearing not to know where Adam was in the garden. Of course He knew, but He was using a communication technique in order to impart something to the listener for His own reasons.
And I don't think there was anything cruel in this test. What an eye-opener, what would you (generic) do for God if He asked you? Would you trust that whatever God wanted was right by definition, or would you put God to the test by making Him pass the test of what you think is right on your own? I think that's a very tough question to answer even for very faithful believers. I am so thankful that we have the true story of Abraham to guide us. I am sorry that you do not find it inspiring or useful.
FK: Christ does NOT teach that righteousness is earned by works. Instead, He says: John 6:28-29 : 28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
In context of the whole section, Jesus tells them that in order for them to do the work of God, they must believe in the One He sent. You can't do Christian work without being a Christian, FK! Christians who do good works credit them to God, and not to themselves.
Amen, I'm glad we can agree on that, although I don't see how this works in with your works-based salvation model with free will.
The Bible says we will be judged for what we have done, FK. We will be judged (righteous or unrighteous) in the eyes of God based on our deeds; the Bible makes that perfectly clear.
This is what I mean. This doesn't appear to match your above. In the same breath you say that credit for good works goes to God, AND, that we will be judged for Heaven based on our works. You can't believe in both.
Your side's whole "certainty" of salvation is based on the biblical passage where God promises to never let go of His sheep. If you didn't hold God to His word, you would not be certain!
Yes, we rely on God's promises, but the difference is in the very nature of the promises we respectively believe in. The promises we rely on are of the kind: "I intend to do this in my sovereignty". The promises Apostilcs rely on are of the kind: "I'll trade you this in exchange for this". These are very different outlooks on the power of God. One acknowledges an omnipotent and sovereign God and the other has God as a tradesman, bargaining His wares with the general public.
That is entirely irrelevant to me.
How can it be irrelevant to you what your Church holds? By Apostolic sacred beliefs, your Church is THE AUTHORITY in the universe for all things Christian pertaining to us. You are BOUND and beholden to whatever your Church says. Your Church is the POWER, etc. etc. If you feel free to branch off, either because what the Church thinks is irrelevant to you, or, because the Church doesn't have a position on several matters so you are free to think whatever you want, THEN you would count as a separate denomination of Orthodoxy in your own right, as you judge Protestants. Your neighbor who is Orthodox would also be his own denomination for disagreeing with you and/or the Church on other matters. This is NOT the unity that is heralded by Apostolics.
FK: Why is that clear, and why would it be necessary for [Peter] to have seen ALL of Paul's works to declare the ones he had seen scriptures?
Do you know of any scripture that is consists of one chapter?
Yes, 2 John, 3 John, Philemon, Jude, and Obadiah all have only one chapter.
Besides, Peter would have said something had it been recognized as scripture. The truth is it wasn't, not until much later.
I know that Peter's epistles are part of the 95% of the Bible you reject, but your Church does recognize the Petrine epistles as such, so no matter who wrote them, it WAS scripture at the time. That is, Paul was recognized as scripture when the Petrine epistles were written, early to mid 60's. Of course, if they are all a fraud to you then they could have been written last week, etc.
No, to the contrary. Only Christians can relate to God in a uniquely personal manner through Jesus Christ.
But based on your prior statements, there is NO WAY you can call that objective. You CLAIM some sort of relationship with the Christ you believe in. But that's just your claim. You can't back it up. So again, you can't objectively claim your faith is any more true than that of a terrorist.
FK: Again, as warned, that's what you get when you reject the truth and historicity of scriptures.
It is? What does historicity have to do with loving your neighbor as yourself?
HA! PLENTY. :) You personally like the idea of treating your neighbor as yourself, so you personally have decided that those verses are accurate in portraying what Jesus actually taught. However, with some of Jesus' other teachings that you DON'T like, such as in Matt. 4:4, you then turn to claim that Jesus never said that, and that Matthew lied, etc. That's all historicity. You have fashioned the Jesus you like and rejected everything else that you don't like. Faith a la carte. That's what I'm warning against.
AMEN, my sister!! :) To God be the glory that we are included in His one true Church.
I DO understand that you believe the Eucharist is a never ending sacrifice, that is my criticism! :) The Bible says that Christ died ONCE! Christ SAID "It is finished". Nevertheless, men, in order to glorify themselves, continuously trot out the sacrifice over and over again to keep your faithful in line.
Why do you suppose that ALL of the Christians involved in New Testament canon believed the Eucharist to be Christ literally?
I don't know if that is true or not, but there were many cases of mass error in the OT so it was not unprecedented at all.
When you deny their 100% consistent belief of Eucharistic theology you have a New Testament decided by heretics and a Bible canon decided people influenced by the devil. Therefore the NT canon had satanic influence by protestant beliefs.
No. :) I don't think those men were satanic or anything like that. They were just flawed men who believed in some error, the same as the rest of us to one degree or another. That's why we do not believe they decided anything when it came to the Canon. God did because they were His words. God wouldn't go to all the trouble of breathing the scriptures only to "hope" that flawed men put it all together correctly.
The reformers were not worthy or humble enough to be the dirt beneath the feet of the early Christians who had the faith of the real presence.
Well, that certainly does show the humility I have come to expect from Catholics. :) I can only assume that the Fathers would have thought the same thing.
I would rather be in hell than deny Christ's true presence in the Blessed Sacrament. I sincerely mean this!
Then your extra-Scriptural tradition must be very important to you.
Why do you suppose Scripture puts focus on Bread and Wine?
They are used symbolically to compare the physical with the spiritual.
What about this.... Jesus said “Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and died...I am the living BREAD that came down from heaven...unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man you will not have life within you.”
Jesus was making a comparison. He meant that taking in bread physically will support a life temporarily. However, taking in Christ spiritually results in life everlasting.
How many non-Catholic ecclesial communities offer daily sacrifice, a clean oblation, as is clearly commanded for us to do by Holy Scripture? How many do not even offer sacrifice?
Many non-Catholics understand that Jesus made the sacrifice ONCE, and they honor the power of that sacrifice. We understand that it does not need to be improved upon. Every time that sacrifice is re-made or re-presented it is a testament to the belief that what Christ did was insufficient.
Can a mere “symbol” sustain the spiritual soul to eternal life?
No, and that's why partaking of the Supper has no salvific properties. The Holy Spirit is who sustains us spiritually. I suppose some men have in essence "fired" the Holy Spirit from those duties since they believe they can do them better.
Thanks for your pings and good work.
ROTFLOL!
The Bible says that Christ died ONCE! Christ SAID "It is finished". Nevertheless, men, in order to glorify themselves, continuously trot out the sacrifice over and over again to keep your faithful in line.
AMEN!
Doesn't it ever occur to Catholics that the magisterium seeks an unnatural power over other men by supposedly keeping hold of the means of salvation to distribute or withdraw as it alone sees fit, thereby attempting to usurp the targeted, specific, personal, successful and accomplished work of the Holy Spirit, which no man can deny?
Snap out of it!
LOL! You have been showed the scriptures and you have rejected them. That is up to you and there is nothing more I can do. :)
Don't spout your personal beliefs as some universal truth. I have no problems with people's beliefs as long as they understand that their beliefs are not the universal truth, but just their personal beliefs for whatever they are worth.
The Bible IS universal truth, so Bible-believers "spout" that truth. :)
FK: God ordered such specific missions of specific people at specific times ...
Prove it.
My proof is the plain text of Holy Scriptures. You reject Scriptures as proof. That leaves us at an impasse on the subject of proof. :) I have the strongest proof in the world available to me. How can I not use it?
Maybe one day you will come down from that cloud in the sky and realize that you are just like me. :)
Well, before God I pray that we are VERY much alike. :)
Then no Bible is needed either. :)
Well, the Bible isn't a matter of necessity. It is a matter of God's choice and love for His children. God had no duty to reveal any of Himself to us.
I see, so God only leads you to a point, then when you start to stray He lets you fall?
He allows me to make mistakes with the idea that I will learn from them. He will not allow me to "fall" permanently.
But that doesn't count against your righteousness so it really doesn't matter, does it?
I don't have any righteousness of my own. Christ's righteousness, which cannot be tarnished, has been imputed to me.
You can do pretty much anything you want. God will let you (or so it seems you imply)!
God "lets" me do whatever is in accordance with (or within the boundaries of) His plan for me. That plan cannot include letting me sin such that I will lose my salvation. That's what the Bible says.
It says in Mat 15:18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." And on the Cross (John 19:30) Jesus is quoted as saying "it is accomplished" without heaven and earth passing away!
There is no contradiction here. Look at the construction. First, the parameter of the condition is set: the following will be true until Heaven and earth pass away. Next, the condition is set: nothing passes from the Law until all is accomplished. Finally, the condition is met: it is finished. Heaven and earth passing is not part of the condition, it is a parameter of how long it will be true that a specific result will happen if the condition is met. Here is a like example: "For truly I say to you, until the end of the session, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from this law (we'll say it's sunsetted like Bush's tax cuts) until a new bill is passed." Now say a new bill passes and is signed two months before the end of the session. All is well and there is no contradiction even though the session is still going.
Here is another example that applies the same principles. Let's say that you need your grass cut TODAY. So you come to me and say: "For the rest of the day I will give you $30 if you cut my grass". Now, if I show up tomorrow morning, mow your lawn and then knock on your door for the money you will rightfully tell me to take a hike. But let's say that right after you make your offer that I agree and mow the lawn right then, at 1:00. You then pay me as promised. All is well even though the day isn't nearly over yet.
LOL! And we're just the guys to do it! :)
You can assume that the reformers were similar to the pagans that persecuted and tortured the Early Church fathers.
FK-”” I DO understand that you believe the Eucharist is a never ending sacrifice, that is my criticism! :) The Bible says that Christ died ONCE!””
The Bible DOES NOT limit Christ to time,FK. You do!
The Catholic Church also believes that Christ died only once,the difference is that you limit Christ to time.
We, are in time, and to us it would seem that this one sacrifice was consummated 2000 years ago. GOD, however is outside of time and space.
Everything is now in GOD’s eyes, and so we are taken back to that one sacrifice as if it were happening now at each and every Mass.
The Catholic Church teaches that the sacrifice on the Cross was a complete and perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of GOD, offered once.
St. Paul bears witness that the sacrificial rite which Christ instituted at the Last Supper is to be perpetuated, and that it is not only important for man's sanctification, but is the principal factor in man's final redemption.
In 1Cor 11:23-26, St. Paul told how, at the Last Supper, Our Lord said: “For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.”
During the Breaking of the Bread, we say twice, “Lamb of GOD, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us,” and a third time, “Lamb of GOD, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.”Thus at every Mass the faithful have a new opportunity to worship God with this one perfect sacrifice and to absorb more of Christ's saving and sanctifying grace of Calvary. This grace is infinite, and the faithful should continuously grow in it. The Mass is offered again and again, because of our imperfect capacity to receive.
The holy sacrifice of the Mass fulfills the Old Testament prophecy...
‘For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts’. (Mal 1:11).
The Sacrifice of the Mass is offered every day throughout the world, and in every Mass the only truly clean oblation is offered, that is, Christ Himself; thus the Mass is the perfect fulfillment of this prophecy.
FK-””Then your extra-Scriptural tradition must be very important to you””
Yes ,FK, Christ is everything to me,being that the Eucharist IS Christ and without Him I can do nothing.
It's only “extra scriptural” interpretations of scripture that lead someone to deny that Christ cannot be literally present in the Eucharist.
Not much has changed in over 2000 years later. There are still those who attack the Church that Christ gave us,weather by persecution in places like China or by the ignorant who twist the scriptures to create division.
No matter how hard they try the Catholic Church still stands and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the faithful produces such loving people like Mother Teresa,Saint Benedicta the cross(Martyred at Auschwitz)http://www.ewtn.com/faith/edith_stein.htm and a whole host of others throughout history
I encourage you to read about the life of Edith Stein (Saint Benedicta) I believe it will help you to understand the Catholic Faith better,Dear Brother.
Here is a her novena to the Holy Spirit.
It is so beautiful!
Novena to the Holy Spirit
by St. Edith Stein
1. Who are you, sweet light, that fills me
And illumines the darkness of my heart?
You lead me like a mother's hand,
And should you let go of me,
I would not know how to take another step.
You are the space
That embraces my being and buries it in yourself.
Away from you it sinks into the abyss
Of nothingness, from which you raised it to the light.
You, nearer to me than I to myself
And more interior than my most interior
And still impalpable and intangible
And beyond any name:
Holy Spirit eternal love!
2. Are you not the sweet manna
That from the Son's heart
Overflows into my heart,
The food of angels and the blessed?
He who raised himself from death to life,
He has also awakened me to new life
From the sleep of death.
And he gives me new life from day to day,
And at some time his fullness is to stream through me,
Life of your life indeed, you yourself:
Holy Spirit eternal life!
3. Are you the ray
That flashes down from the eternal Judge's throne
And breaks into the night of the soul
That had never known itself?
Mercifully relentlessly
It penetrates hidden folds.
Alarmed at seeing itself,
The self makes space for holy fear,
The beginning of that wisdom
That comes from on high
And anchors us firmly in the heights,
Your action,
That creates us anew:
Holy Spirit ray that penetrates everything!
4. Are you the spirit's fullness and the power
By which the Lamb releases the seal
Of God's eternal decree?
Driven by you
The messengers of judgement ride through the world
And separate with a sharp sword
The kingdom of light from the kingdom of night.
Then heaven becomes new and new the earth,
And all finds its proper place
Through your breath:
Holy Spirit victorious power!
5. Are you the master who builds the eternal
cathedral,
Which towers from the earth through the heavens?
Animated by you, the columns are raised high
And stand immovably firm.
Marked with the eternal name of God,
They stretch up to the light,
Bearing the dome,
Which crowns the holy cathedral,
Your work that encircles the world:
Holy Spirit God's molding hand!
6. Are you the one who created
the unclouded mirror
Next to the Almighty's throne,
Like a crystal sea,
In which Divinity lovingly looks at itself?
You bend over the fairest work of your creation,
And radiantly your own gaze
Is illumined in return.
And of all creatures the pure beauty
Is joined in one in the dear form
Of the Virgin, your immaculate bride:
Holy Spirit Creator of all!
7. Are you the sweet song of love
And of holy awe
That eternally resounds around the triune throne,
That weds in itself the clear chimes
of each and every being?
The harmony,
That joins together the members to the Head,
In which each one
Finds the mysterious meaning of his being blessed
And joyously surges forth,
Freely dissolved in your surging:
Holy Spirit eternal jubilation
PRAISE GOD.
I think.
LOL.
Humbled by your kind words.
LUB
Amen, Mary! Beautifully said. :)
Unsubstantiated claim, FK. No proof exists for this statement.
He allows me to make mistakes with the idea that I will learn from them. He will not allow me to "fall" permanently.
Personal interpretation, not universally accepted among Christians.
I don't have any righteousness of my own. Christ's righteousness, which cannot be tarnished, has been imputed to me.
Presumptuous unsubstantiated claim.
God "lets" me do whatever is in accordance with (or within the boundaries of) His plan for me.
God doesn't need a plan.
That plan cannot include letting me sin such that I will lose my salvation. That's what the Bible says
No, Paul says so. But Paul is neither God, not is the Bible.
There is no contradiction here. Look at the construction. First, the parameter of the condition is set: the following will be true until Heaven and earth pass away
I was waiting for you to come back with this only to remind you that we do not follow God's 613 commandments and claim the Law, as written, doe snot apply to us. Obviously by rejecting the law, we abolished it and choose to abide by 10 OT commandments and 2 NT ones.
And the explanation we always get amounts to: "Don't blame us, it's not our fault that God wanted to turn over all these powers to men of better judgment than Him". :)
LOL! Our side doesn't claim the superiority of men over other men (and even God!). Only your side does that.
FK-”” I DO understand that you believe the Eucharist is a never ending sacrifice, that is my criticism! :) The Bible says that Christ died ONCE!””
The Bible DOES NOT limit Christ to time,FK. You do!
But the Bible DOES limit US to time as finite creatures of God on earth. Did Divine Christ DIE on the cross? No, "Christ Man" did, and He died ONCE AND FOR ALL, and then was resurrected. Do you acknowledge that He was resurrected? If you do then why do you have Him every day still slowly dying on the cross? Why can't you folks get passed that? He died once and He rose once. Somehow that doesn't compute in Catholic theology. Christ isn't still up there, STF, it happened WITHIN time, and now it's done. It is FINISHED!
We, are in time, and to us it would seem that this one sacrifice was consummated 2000 years ago. GOD, however is outside of time and space.
Then why do you DRAG God back within time and space every day at your Mass? God never asked for this, but maybe He didn't understand who was in charge down here. :)
Everything is now in GOD’s eyes, and so we are taken back to that one sacrifice as if it were happening now at each and every Mass.
No, we aren't taken anywhere, we remain in time and space. It is YOU ALL who are dragging Christ away from the right hand of God, "as if ...".
The Catholic Church teaches that the sacrifice on the Cross was a complete and perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of GOD, offered once.
That's not what you practice because then there would be no need to re-present it. Remember it, yes. Re-present it, no. That is doing the same sacrifice again. You call the Eucharist a sacrifice. We do not call the Lord's Supper a sacrifice.
St. Paul bears witness that the sacrificial rite which Christ instituted at the Last Supper is to be perpetuated, and that it is not only important for man's sanctification, but is the principal factor in man's final redemption. In 1Cor 11:23-26, St. Paul told how, at the Last Supper, Our Lord said: “For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.”
It is a SHOWING of belief, not accomplishing added salvation by works and ritual. Your side goes way beyond a showing of belief, you are making sacrifices in hopes they will get you salvation. That is not doing something "in memory". Paul was making no reference to a salvific act, he was talking about in memory. Paul talked about salvation being by grace through faith, NOT by the performance of rituals.
Thus at every Mass the faithful have a new opportunity to worship God with this one perfect sacrifice and to absorb more of Christ's saving and sanctifying grace of Calvary. This grace is infinite, and the faithful should continuously grow in it. The Mass is offered again and again, because of our imperfect capacity to receive.
This proves that you believe that God's grace is ineffectual, unless man gives his approval. Man decides how powerful God's grace is, or more importantly a FEW men make that decision. That elevates man above God. Does your Magisterium presume the power to declare and determine how far and straight Tiger Woods can hit a golf ball? No, but it DOES presume to declare and determine how and when and to what degree God can dispense His saving grace. Interesting, and ALL this without a shred of Biblical support.
The holy sacrifice of the Mass fulfills the Old Testament prophecy... [Mal. 1:11]
Oh, please. With that level of typology anyone could make the Bible support Nazism. :)
It's only “extra scriptural” interpretations of scripture that lead someone to deny that Christ cannot be literally present in the Eucharist.
Oh, He COULD be, it's not a matter of impossibility. It would just mean that the Bible would have say and stand for MUCH different things than it does now. I don't deny Eucharistic theology on my own authority, but on the authority of God's revelation to us.
Not much has changed in over 2000 years later. There are still those who attack the Church that Christ gave us, whether by persecution in places like China or by the ignorant who twist the scriptures to create division.
AMEN to every word, STF. It is very sad.
No matter how hard they try the Catholic Church still stands and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the faithful produces such loving people like Mother Teresa,Saint Benedicta the cross(Martyred at Auschwitz)http://www.ewtn.com/faith/edith_stein.htm and a whole host of others throughout history.
I have no doubt of it. I am sure there are many many Catholics who either are now or will be in Heaven. I believe the same of Protestants, even though that belief is NOT echoed by the Magisterium.
I encourage you to read about the life of Edith Stein (Saint Benedicta) I believe it will help you to understand the Catholic Faith better,Dear Brother. Here is a her novena to the Holy Spirit. It is so beautiful!
Substantially, it IS beautiful. Thank you for posting it. :) On what "Divine Holy Spirit" means, we probably essentially agree. I think our differences stem largely from the role man plays in the universe, although those differences necessarily will affect God's role too. However, this particular novena was obviously not written to get into those differences, so I can appreciate it. :)
Personal interpretation, not universally accepted among Christians.
If everything that is not universally accepted by Christians is personal interpretation, then the Apostolic claim to authority over other Christians falls flat on its face. Yet, you and the Latins each independently claim to be the "one true Church". So much for that. :)
FK: There is no contradiction here. Look at the construction. First, the parameter of the condition is set: the following will be true until Heaven and earth pass away ......
I was waiting for you to come back with this only to remind you that we do not follow God's 613 commandments and claim the Law, as written, does not apply to us. Obviously by rejecting the law, we abolished it and choose to abide by 10 OT commandments and 2 NT ones.
No, we have not rejected the Law, we know better now that it does not determine salvation. Obviously, SOME of those 613 (or whatever the number is) commandments were specific to the people and the times. Others were timeless and apply today. Jesus helped us with this. For example, Jesus said this:
Matt 15:19 : For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
Well, what is adultery and sexual immorality as Jesus meant it? It seems clear to me that Jesus meant several of those 613 commandments telling who not to sleep with! :) Therefore, those commandments remain in tact to this day.
We didn't "choose" what to abide by, Jesus told us. And in addition to what He told us, we have to remember that some commandments are summaries of other commandments. Dietary restrictions, for example, don't really fold into any of the summary commandments, but sexual immorality clearly does.
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