Pedophilia Isn’t The Main Problem With Catholic Priests, Homosexuality Is

http://thefederalist.com ^ | September 28, 2018 | Maureen Mullarkey

[af_vet_1981]

I interpret it differently than you do, naturally. I don’t think it is talking about assurance of salvation at all. My question is, do you have a priest interpreting this for you? I thought you needed that, or did someone change the rules, to allow you interpret without a priest. I don’t like priests much, so I have no problem interpreting it for myself. The Holy Spirit helps me.

1. I find it interesting that you interpret it differently than me when all I have done is ask for your interpretation first.
2. How do you interpret the verse, which speaks of hell ?
3. No, I do not have a priest interpreting this verse for me.
4. Has the Holy Spirit helped you interpret this verse? If so, can you share the interpretation?

Two can play your game.
...

It is no game.

How do you interpret those 3 verses?

According to the whole

Regarding First John, it helps me to understand that he was writing those passages to his children (spiritual), whom he actually knew, not to strangers.

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

First John, Catholic chapter two, Protestant verses one to seven,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

[Mark17]

Luke 12:5 doesn’t have a single, solitary thing to do with assurance of salvation. Not a single thing. I don’t believe for a single, solitary second, that He is making a doctrinal statement on Heaven or Hell, and how to go to the first, and avoid the second. Check out Metmom’s post 140. She does a bang up job, of tons of verses, that DO make doctrinal statements on Heaven and Hell, but Luke 12:5 is not one of them. Maybe some people don’t think that a woman should be able to teach men, on any issue, but it’s ok. Metmom and boatbums can absolutely offer their interpretations, and I listen to their words of wisdom. 👍
Now, something else. He also said a demon (Democrat?) wanders around, then takes 7 other demons and goes back in. Listen to this bro. He was not making a doctrinal statement about demons and demon possession. He was merely making a contrast, saying the second state of the man, is worse than the first. That’s all He was doing.
To the Epistles Of John. Whoever they were specifically addressed to, is not important. They were written, to counter some false doctrine. Correct me if I am wrong, but it appears to me, you are saying, that since the epistles were addressed to certain individuals, that they don’t apply to the rest of us. Paul wrote to Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Timothy, and Titus, to name a few. Correct me if I am wrong, but are you trying to say, that Paul’s epistles only applied to those he wrote to, and not to us, here in the 21st Century? Is that what you are trying to say? I would certainly NEVER agree to that.
I believe in the security of the believer (assurance of salvation) It appears you don’t. I don’t know why you don’t, cuz it’s very plain. It’s SO plain, it doesn’t really require interpretation. It is so simple, that many people can’t believe assurance of salvation, is THAT simple. Trust me bro, it is. A good rule of thumb, for scripture. If common sense makes plain sense, then seek no other sense. Unfortunately, many people do, and all they come up with, is nonsense.
Last issue, and I sincerely ask, since it is 180 degrees opposite of what I was told. When I was a catholic, many moons ago, I was told, in no uncertain terms, that it was ok to read the Bible, but I had to ask the priest to interpret it for me. That did not sit well with me, but that is what I was told. You, on the other hand, don’t rely on the priest. I agee with you, you don’t need a priest. My question is very simple. Why was I taught that, by the priests and nuns, when it appears to me, that you were not? I don’t get it.
Am I correct in assuming that I was a AF VET longer than you were? 20 years bro. 😁👍👨‍👨‍👦👨‍

[metmom]

Hey, and it’s not like I *interpret* any of the Scripture that I post.

I just post the verses.

People’s reactions to it are on them.

Like I keep saying, it says what it says. The only reason people need to *interpret* something is cause they don’t like what it already says and want it to say/mean something different from what it already plainly says.

[Mark17]

You got it. 👍😁

[af_vet_1981]

I don’t believe for a single, solitary second, that He is making a doctrinal statement on Heaven or Hell, and how to go to the first, and avoid the second.

I note His emphatical assertion with ναί (translated as "yea" which expresses emphatic assertion) . It reminds me of His Word in Revelation.

But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

...

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

...

And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

...



Luke, Catholic chapter twelve, Protestant verse five ,
Revelation, Catholic chapter one, Protestant verses ten to eighteen,
Revelation, Catholic chapter two, Protestant verses eighteen to twenty nine,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

[Mark17]

Sorry bro. I am not buying what you are selling. I believe you are still a random scripture generator. You can be a catholic if you want, but I will NEVER be. Not now, not ever. I have assurance of salvation. Maybe you don’t. I keep saying, that is not my problem. It is yours.
I said, when common sense makes plain sense, seek no other sense. It appears you are only interested in nonsense. Assurance of salvation verses are plentiful and don’t need anyone to interpret them. They speak for themselves.
I notice you conveniently failed to answer my question. Why was I, as a catholic, told by the priests and nuns, that I needed a priest to interpret scripture for me, and you don’t? I found out I didn’t need a priest for ANYTHING, zip, zero, zilch, nada. I still don’t.
Have a nice eternity bro. I have complete assurance that I will. 😇🙃🤣 I have no intention of swimming the Tiber.

[af_vet_1981]

I notice you conveniently failed to answer my question. Why was I, as a catholic, told by the priests and nuns, that I needed a priest to interpret scripture for me, and you don’t?

I do not know what happened to you when you were raised Catholic. Someone on FR, a retired priest I think, once wrote that most people leave the Catholic faith due to unconfessed sin. That seems sensible to me.

In keeping with the subject of the thread, I think the main issue is sexual impurity. It is sin which prevents people from entering the Kingdom of God. Whatever the type of porneia (fornication, sexual immorality), pornography, lusting after young flesh (heterosexual or homosexual), sexual tourism to Italy, the Czech Republic, Thailand, the Philippines, Costa Rica, or any other nation, those ensnared by it will not inherity the Kingdom of God. Those sins kill the soul. It matters not who sins: priest, pastor, bishop, pope, deacon, husband, wife, or single person. All are subject to temptation and those who fall, fall. That is why there are so very many warnings in the scriptures. One does not need to fall, but some fall.

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

First Corinthians, Catholic chapter ten, Protestant verses one to thirteen,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

[Mark17]

I do not know what happened to you when you were raised Catholic

Nothing really happened to me. I was just told I needed a priest to interpret scripture for me. I am sure I am not alone. All I can give you, is my opinion, as to why. I think that if they allow us to read the Bible on our own, they will lose control of us, and we will leave the Catholic Church, and will no longer contribute money to them. Follow the money. I have a feeling, all the ex Catholics I pinged, did as I did. We read the Bible, and found out about all the false doctrines of the Catholic Church, and decided to leave. It had NOTHING to do with unconfessed sin.

In keeping with the subject of the thread, I think the main issue is sexual impurity. It is sin which prevents people from entering the Kingdom of God.

I gotta disagree again bro. People go to Hell, not for sin, but for refusing to accept God’s provision for sin. They refuse to be born again, therefore they must bare their own sins, and can never do it, so they must stay in Hell for eternity. All sins, are merely a symptom of unbelief (failure to be born again from above) as Jesus told us about in John 3. I don’t know if you have been born again from above, but I have. Your eternity depends on that one single issue. Have you ever been born again from above ? If not, why not? Your eternity depends on it. Then you can have assurance of salvation, unless you just don’t want it. If that is the case, then that’s on you.

the Czech Republic, Thailand, the Philippines, Costa Rica

Don’t badmouth the Philippines bro. I married one of those nice Filipinas. 😁👍🙃 Some nerds call them Asian blow up dolls. What nerds. She doesn’t look too kindly on sex tourists, and thinks the women who cater to them, are a bunch of low life skanks.

[boatbums]

I do not know what happened to you when you were raised Catholic. Someone on FR, a retired priest I think, once wrote that most people leave the Catholic faith due to unconfessed sin. That seems sensible to me.

I'm sure many Roman Catholics who are anti-Protestant would LOVE to believe that most people leave Catholicism due to "unconfessed sin" (sexual impurity). That way they can ignore or pretend that most people who leave Catholicism for Protestantism/Evangelical Christianity don't do so because they have been led out of Catholicism to the truth of the gospel of salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We know that we have eternal life because we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ and not a church or the works we do in that church to make us worthy of grace. God's word clearly tells us we can know we have eternal life and this life is through faith in Christ.

That was certainly the reason I left Catholicism and I haven't missed it for over 50 years now. I praise the Lord every day for His amazing grace.

[Mark17]

That was certainly the reason I left Catholicism and I haven't missed it for over 50 years now. I praise the Lord every day for His amazing grace.

That pretty much sums it up for me too. I left the Catholic Hamster wheel of guilt in 1970, about 6 months before I went to Vietnam. It was not easy to grow spiritually over there. More than a few times, I had to grab my flak vest, and helmet, and hit the ground, as Russian made 122 MM rockets 🚀 were raining down, but I survived it.
The Catholic Church does not offer salvation to anyone. At best, one can hope their good works outweigh their bad works, and maybe they might squeeze into Heaven, or not. That doesn’t cut the mustard for me. Live the best I can, and still end up in Hell? Not a snowball’s chance.
A few years later, I was taking a flight from Fort Wayne to Chicago, when I saw a catholic nun. I sat down beside her, and I thought, this will be fun, and it was. I just flat out asked her if she was going to Heaven. She said she hoped so, but wasn’t sure. I told her I was sure I was, and I wasn’t a catholic, and why wasn’t she sure of Heaven? I could tell she was clueless, and let it go at that.
I have known one priest, and two nuns, who got born again, and left the one true church. The man still dressed up like a priest sometimes, as he conducted revival services. All three were dynamic witnesses for the truth, as most ex Catholics are, present company included. 😁😇👍

[ealgeone]

You know....it really helps if you note the book, chapter and verse right after each passage using a recognized means of citing Scripture.

You've been asked to do this numerous times in the past.

That you refuse to do so says a lot of your demeanor....pretty sure stubborn would a "mortal sin" for you.

[Mark17]

That you refuse to do so says a lot of your demeanor....pretty sure stubborn would a "mortal sin" for you.

Maybe so. When I was a catholic, I asked several priests, what was a venial sin and what was a mortal sin. I got different answers to the same question. Maybe you can understand why I didn’t have a lot of patience with priests. I couldn’t pin them down. I wanted to only commit venial sins, and stop short of a mortal sin. If someone said I would go blind from sinning, I told them I wanted to sin, till I just needed glasses. 😇 That was my catholic mindset. Doesn’t hold water, does it?

[ealgeone]

On my recent trip to London I ran into a number of Roman Catholics. Sadly, one guy told me he used to be RC, but no longer believed. He'd given up on God.

I told him God hasn't given up on him and suggested he read John.

He told me I wasn't the first to tell him that.

If I were that guy I'd think God was trying to get my attention.

[metmom]

Again, that does not indicate the lack of assurance or loss of salvation of the INDIVIDUAL.

It’s simply a warning to the church as a congregation that if they don’t clean up their act, the congregation will cease to exist. disbanding the congregation is not sending the individuals to hell.

[metmom]

I'm sure many Roman Catholics who are anti-Protestant would LOVE to believe that most people leave Catholicism due to "unconfessed sin" (sexual impurity).

Absolutely they do.

I've been accused of adultery and having been divorced, and leaving the church because I don't like their teaching on sexual matters, IOW I wanted to go out and sin sexually, by FRoman Catholics both on this forum and by FReepmail.

And the language and vitriol spewed at me was, well, I would say unbelievable, but in light of my real life experience with Roman Catholics, it was more par for the course.

It was, shall I say, the antithesis of Christlike.

[metmom]

I have found that many people, in their reaction to a bad religious experience, reject God as well.

I tell them that’s throwing out the baby with the bath water.

I don’t have a problem with them rejecting bad religious experience, but God is not like that.

[Mark17]

On my recent trip to London I ran into a number of Roman Catholics. Sadly, one guy told me he used to be RC, but no longer believed. He'd given up on God.

As you know, I went to a catholic high school. At the last reunion, it looked like more than half of them left the Catholic Church, but they left, and were not looking for the truth. As far as I know, only 3 of us left the Catholic Church, because we saw the false doctrines in it, and were searching for the truth.
Just my educated opinion, but I think it just goes to show how only a few people will be saved, and the vast majority of people will go to Hell. This is after they say, but Lord, didn’t we do mighty works in your name, and he will say, I never knew you. Sad, but true. Many are called, but few are chosen.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

D

[Mark17]

Hey bro. Check your Viber for a message. 😁

[boatbums]

I've been accused of adultery and having been divorced, and leaving the church because I don't like their teaching on sexual matters, IOW I wanted to go out and sin sexually, by FRoman Catholics both on this forum and by FReepmail. And the language and vitriol spewed at me was, well, I would say unbelievable, but in light of my real life experience with Roman Catholics, it was more par for the course. It was, shall I say, the antithesis of Christlike.

Like I said, I guess it is a sort of a panacea for those who cannot tolerate the thought that genuine Christians can disagree with their assertions that the Roman Catholic church is the "one, true church" or that the Holy Spirit could lead diligent truth seekers OUT of it.

What they fail to acknowledge is that many people who do leave and join other-than-RC churches actually lead MORE holy and Christ-like lives than they did as Roman Catholics. The whole motivation to do so changes from a fear of hell into gratitude for God's grace and mercy that saves us through faith and not on how many works of righteousness we do or sins we don't do.

As this thread title admits, even some leaders within the Catholic church have sexual impurity and unconfessed sin and they STAY, so that tells me their unfounded accusations against you and others is nothing more than diversion and rationalization. We answer to God, not them.