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Posted on 05/07/2012 2:39:34 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Although the sinless life of Jesus Christ is a foundational tenet of the Christian faith, a study recently released by the Diocese of Camden found that 60 percent of practicing Catholics in southern New Jersey believe Jesus sinned during his time on Earth.
"The number of Catholics who have a very flawed, a seriously flawed, understanding of who Jesus is, that's troublesome," Bishop Joseph Galante of the Diocese of Camden said during a press conference, USA Today reports. "We've got to re-focus on how we teach and inform people. Jesus is the foundation of who we are as Catholics."
The study was commissioned by the diocese with the hope that the results would help it to better evangelize the communities it serves. The study was conducted by the Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based research organization, which surveyed 612 adults living in the six New Jersey counties within the diocese.
Of those surveyed, 34 percent identified themselves as Catholic, but there are some discrepancies between what the church teaches and what some of them believe.
For example, the study showed that four out of ten of these Catholics disagree with the idea that sex should be reserved solely for marriage. While 38 percent of the total residents living within the Camden Diocese agree strongly with the idea that the Bible is "totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches," only 28 percent of Catholics in the diocese believe the same.
Another major issue Galante discussed during the press conference was the high number of Catholics in his diocese who simply don't attend Mass. One-third of lapsed Catholics said they have other priorities or are too busy to attend, while others said they just aren't interested in church (27 percent).
"What intrigued me in particular was the high number of people who don't attend Mass simply because they have other priorities," said Galante.
"One of the things we need to do is emphasize that worship time can also be part of family time as well. These findings are both troubling and a challenge as we begin to deepen our evangelization efforts."
Peter Feuerherd, director of communications for the Diocese of Camden, told The Christian Post on Monday that another thing that struck him from the study was the low percentage of Catholics who invite others to church. The study found that Catholics (33 percent) were half as likely as Protestants (66 percent) to invite someone to visit their church.
"I find that the 'ask' is so important, and Catholics are not in the habit of the 'ask.' Even our parishes are not in the habit of the ask," said Feuerherd.
He also indicated that a major issue all churches have to deal with is the tendency for people to want to always be productive in the American culture. Those who don't take time off from work on the weekends are honored in our society, he says, and other "distractions" like youth sporting events and various forms of entertainment can sometimes take away from church attendance.
"I think we have lost ... the idea that whatever that Sabbath day is, it is valuable. It's important that people have it," he said.
Other interesting findings from the study:
-Of the Catholics surveyed, 38 percent favor attending church only on holidays.
-Among all of the adults surveyed, 51 percent said churches are "too involved" in opposing abortion or same-sex marriage.
-Nine out of ten (89 percent) adults said they know about the clergy abuse scandals that have occurred within the Catholic Church. Among those who are aware of the scandals, 89 percent consider it a "major issue."
-Only 18 percent of Catholics strongly agree that it is their personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others, as compared to 40 percent of Protestants and 36 percent of people who believe in non-Christian faiths.
I was confirmed into the Church this Easter. I have accepted and believe that Christ is the Son of God and is free of sin, and died for my (many)sins so I may be welcomed into Heaven. I suspect these misguided souls need to spend more time at Mass and less time watching HBO. I will add them to my prayers.
Welcome home W. Lee! God bless you!
Pretty tame compared to what He did to Saddam.
You can be tempted internally or externally.
I might be tempted to eat a candy bar because I’m hungry and I smelled one. I guess if I entertained the possibility in my mind I sinned.
or
I might be tempted by John with a candy bar but not dismiss him out of hand. If said no and didn’t entertain the possibility in my mind I didn’t sin.
I think Jesus’s temptations were the latter.
Um, let’s pretend eating a candy bar is a sin for the sake of my example.
Indeed.
We read in Psalm 75:8, “For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.”
Catholics are not known to read The Bible.
Seriously? Seriously? the people call themselves Christian? Seriously? Lord help them.
Jersey.
RE: I wonder what percent of Catholics think Mary sinned....
Well, don’t sinners need the savior? If you don’t sin, you don’t need a savior.
Keep in mind, I was raised Catholic through my First Communion, attended Chatecism through sixth grade. I only converted to Baptist after agr 40, and many years of being a fallen-away non-denomenational slug. Over half of my family remains Catholic, and I know whereof I speak from personal experience for over 60 years.
The reason I changed to Baptist was, I started reading the Bible, and was amazed at how much of the basic doctrine of Catholicism is in direct conflict with Scripture and the teachings of Jesus.
;^\
I always thought Jesus was a bit rude to his mother at the wedding in Cana. And I wasn’t crazy about his reply to Martha either.
Jesus was a man, to think he never erred seems to me impossible.
Just little sins, you know, the kind that every person is guilty of at least at some point.
Even Jesus and even my sainted father, who really was a saint.
Of those surveyed, 34 percent identified themselves as Catholic.................
It Looks like door to door or on a street or mall. They were not surveyed coming out of your local church nowhere is that stated. Regular Catholic church goers hear the Bible every sunday or everyday mass.
Here is Today's
Reading 1 Acts 14:5-18
There was an attempt in Iconium
by both the Gentiles and the Jews,
together with their leaders,
to attack and stone Paul and Barnabas.
They realized it,
and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe
and to the surrounding countryside,
where they continued to proclaim the Good News.
At Lystra there was a crippled man, lame from birth,
who had never walked.
He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him,
saw that he had the faith to be healed,
and called out in a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet."
He jumped up and began to walk about.
When the crowds saw what Paul had done,
they cried out in Lycaonian,
"The gods have come down to us in human form."
They called Barnabas "Zeus" and Paul "Hermes,"
because he was the chief speaker.
And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city,
brought oxen and garlands to the gates,
for he together with the people intended to offer sacrifice.
The Apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their garments
when they heard this and rushed out into the crowd,
shouting, "Men, why are you doing this?
We are of the same nature as you, human beings.
We proclaim to you good news
that you should turn from these idols to the living God,
who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.
In past generations he allowed all Gentiles to go their own ways;
yet, in bestowing his goodness,
he did not leave himself without witness,
for he gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons,
and filled you with nourishment and gladness for your hearts."
Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 115:1-2, 3-4, 15-16
R. (1ab) Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory. or:
R. Alleluia.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name give glory
because of your mercy, because of your truth.
Why should the pagans say,
"Where is their God?"
R. Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
R. Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or: R. Alleluia.
May you be blessed by the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
Heaven is the heaven of the LORD,
but the earth he has given to the children of men.
R. Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or: R. Alleluia.
Gospel Jn 14:21-26
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
"Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
"I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name-- he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you."
I read 50 plus replies to this thread and all I really saw, save maybe 10 was Catholic bashing ignorance. Shame on you! Thank you to the freeper adding these poor souls to their prayers and welcome to the fold to the newly baptized freeper. I too shall pray for my fellow South Jersey Catholics. Sadly, we could not all be raised by my Mother and taught to read the bible.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
RE: Sadly, we could not all be raised by my Mother and taught to read the bible.
In regards to this... maybe you’d like to respond to Post #53 above, as it directly relates to what you just said.
Good point. You do have Jesus, though, wishing that he didn’t have to go through with the crucifixion but willing to do what His Father willed. This gives people a feeling that he was tempted internally, and from that they conclude that he was capable of rebellious thoughts. If thinking about giving into a temptation is already a sin, then the next step follows from that. I’m not saying that’s good theology, but it’s not hard to see why many people think about this as they do.
the only post worth responding to in this thread.
Here, Here! thank you
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