Hi James,In my view, neither the Catholics nor Protestants have the right answer. The Catholics rely on their ecclesiastical hierarchy, official catechisms and church tradition to provide guidance. A significant percentage of Catholics don’t even own a copy of the Bible. Whereas, the Protestants believe that every solitary word in their particularly favored authorized version is the indisputable truth (including every doctrine emanating from the Dallas Theological Seminary or their favorite pastor/televangelist). However, what does the beloved Apostle John state?
1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Thanks for your responses.
As regards your scripture quote above I think it’s important to look at the context of this.
John is writing to Christians who he has already catechised, taught them everything, taught them the truth. They do not need to be taught any more. However they are in danger of being led astray by false teachers. We need to start at verse 20
But you have the anointing that comes from the holy one, and you all have knowledge. [because John has taught them] I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do [again because John has taught them], and because every lie is alien to the truth. (vs 20,21)
Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you [what they have already been taught by John]. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. (vs 25)
Then we come to verse 27:
As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you [because they have already been taught]. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him. (vs 27)
This is equivalent to the promise Jesus made to the apostles in Jn 14:26
The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you. (Jn 14:26).
John is saying that the Holy Spirit would bring to mind all the true teaching they had already received. That presupposes that they had already received true teaching. But you have to get that true teaching first. You cannot generate it from your own resources. You cannot reach the truth by starting from scratch, but only by receiving it from those who have already been taught it and can pass it on. Then when you are presented with false teaching the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the truth that you have already been taught.
This where Martin Luther and the other reformers went wrong. They thought they could reject the teaching authority of the Church and start from scratch with just the Bible. And that is why Protestantism has fractured into thousands of denominations with many opposing doctrines.
True we are not renowned for it but Catholics do have prayer meetings with Bible study. Last year I did a 24 week Bible Study course run by a local prayer group. But the Mass and prayer meetings are different types of gatherings for different purposes.Alright, you’ve demonstrated that there ARE some scripture references in Catholic services but they aren’t renowned for having regular Bible studies like Protestant believers.
I know it sounds utterly ridiculous and I also know the housing market is rough these days but that’s what a number of Catholics do to sell their property:
http://www.ehow.com/...eph-statue.html
http://www.st-joseph...m/st_joseph.htm
http://www.catholics...tmas/stjoe.html to buy your very own St. Joseph Home Selling Kit
http://www.snopes.co...ck/stjoseph.asp
Here’s the specific instructions:
* Bury the statue in the yard, the exact location varies, most common is in the front of the house. Favorable spots are either close to the "For Sale" sign or close to the road.
(THIS PART BELOW IS PARTICULARLY HILARIOUS!)
* Bury the statue upsidedown, facing the house.
Actually, (according to Snopes.com) different realtors quote different placements of the statue:* Pray to Saint Joseph when you are burying him and keep praying until the house is sold.
- Upside down, near the 'For Sale' sign in the front yard. (An upside down St. Joseph is said to work extra hard to get out of the ground and onto someone's mantel.)
- Right side up.
- In the rear yard, possibly in a flower bed.
- Lying on its back and pointing towards the house "like an arrow."
- Three feet from the rear of the house.
- Facing the house.
- Facing away from the house. (One who tried this reported the house across the street sold, and it hadn't even been up for sale.)
- Exactly 12 inches deep.
* But the most important part is to have faith all the time, in Yourself, in Your Sale and in Saint Joseph.
* After your house is sold you should to take him with you to your new home and put him in a place of honor.
Totally ridiculous, but then Estate Agents (Realtors in USA) will do anything to sell houses. I think the comment in the snopes article is about right “Folklore purports to have the remedy”. You won’t find any Catholic document supporting this silly practice.
I wouldn’t be too zealous to excommunicate Sedevacantists. There’s a friend of mine who’s one and swears “They are the REAL Catholics!” and the rest of the RCC is errant. It appears that the Protestants don’t have the corner on the market of sectarianism.
They have excommunicated themselves. Since they do not recognise the Pope, and therefore not in communion with him, they are not part of the Catholic Church whatever they might say.
By all means, Mungo. I’m enjoying the dialog and find the discussion rather refreshing.
Ok, here is another one:
50. Crucifix & scapulas worn as charms or fashion statements. The Scapular was invented by Simon Stock, an English monk, in the year 1287 A.D., It is a piece of brown cloth, with the picture of the Virgin and supposed to contain supernatural virtue to protect from all dangers those who wear it on naked skin. This is fetishism.
That Simon Stock invented the scapula is a pious tradition not a historical fact. And according to the Catholic Encyclopaedia he died in 1265, some 22 years before your claim that he invented the scapula.
If anyone is using a scapula as a lucky charm, with the beliefs you give above, then they are wrong. However we need to distinguish between what the Catholic Church officially teaches and sanctions, and what some ignorant and stupid Catholics do.
The most popular scapula is the brown scapula of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (the one associated with Simon Stock).
I found this on Carmelnet.org (quotes in red):
The Scapular finds its roots in the tradition of the Order [that's the Carmelites], which has seen in it a sign of Mary’s motherly protection. It has therefore, a centuries old spiritual meaning approved by Church.
It stands for a commitment to follow Jesus, like Mary, the perfect model of all the disciples of Christ. This commitment finds its origin in baptism by which we become children of God.
It leads us into the community of Carmel, a community of religious men and women, which has existed in the Church for over eight centuries.
It reminds us of the example of the saints of Carmel, with whom we establish a close bond as brothers and sisters to one another.
It is an expression of our belief that we will meet God in eternal life, aided by the intercession and prayers of Mary.
This is important:
The Carmelite Scapular is not:
a magical charm to protect you
an automatic guarantee of salvation
an excuse for not living up to the demands of the Christian life
It is a sign:
which has been approved by the Church for over seven centuries;
which stands for the decision to
- follow Jesus like Mary:
- be open to God and to his will
- be guided by faith, hope, and love
- to pray at all times
- to discover God present in all that happens around us.
(Note that the site tells is that this is The only official text regarding the Brown Scapular written by a joint commission of OCD’s (Discalced Carmelite Order) and OCarm’s (Carmelite Order) in 1999.)
I should perhaps say more about how scapulas came to be but that would make the post very long. Let me know if you want some background on this.