Who or What is Antichrist?

[Mungo]

--and you kind of have a cliche to overcome here, that being "Catholics are encouraged to not read their Bibles."

I know some Protestants think that but it is not true. But then many things that Protestants think about Catholics are not true.

And just about everything that heretoeternity thinks about Catholics is not true.

 

[bbyrd009]

I know some Protestants think that but it is not true. But then many things that Protestants think about Catholics are not true.

And just about everything that heretoeternity thinks about Catholics is not true.

well, imo they might also be, but they certainly don't tell the whole story, and attacking/condemning another seeker = disqualification imo. Catholicism is as good a model as any other model men invent to grope for God, seems to me.

As to the first line, this is good to hear, but it is nonetheless a cliche, even if as i have said Catholics seem to me to be just like everyone else, people, iow, ranged along a bell curve. More charitable than Protestants, i guess, as a rule. I gotta tell you, even if the Catholic model is not my thing, i can actually even understand the argument for discouraging people from reading the Bible, lol, if all one can do is see the passages that support their preconceived notions, and can't find the counter-passage that presents a more holistic view. And there is, always, a counter-passage.

If a man will not work, neither let him eat.
Don't work for food.

 

[bbyrd009]

discussion might begin, someday, when we can consider all the relevant verses together, imo. And admit that we do not know squat. But we are still mostly adhering to "women" pastors espousing Rapture again, so i guess that will be after a near-extinction or something, then maybe the remnant will get wise, lol.

 

[Mungo]

discussion might begin, someday, when we can consider all the relevant verses together, imo. And admit that we do not know squat. But we are still mostly adhering to "women" pastors espousing Rapture again, so i guess that will be after a near-extinction or something, then maybe the remnant will get wise, lol.

Could you translate that into English please.

 

[Born_Again]

discussion might begin, someday, when we can consider all the relevant verses together, imo. And admit that we do not know squat. But we are still mostly adhering to "women" pastors espousing Rapture again, so i guess that will be after a near-extinction or something, then maybe the remnant will get wise, lol.

Could you translate that into English please.

Yes, please do.... I agree with Mungo. I have no idea what that has to do with the price of tea in China.

 

[bbyrd009]

we come as ignorants to other people trusting that they can decipher the Book for us, and we get their pov, which we overvalue because we are ignorant, and reading the Book for oneself is hard. We all seek a king to fight our battles for us, 1Sam8, which speaks to this reality. So then, we are indoctrinated with

If a man will not work, neither let him eat,

and this becomes "true" for us, and we get a really strong work ethic, so that we can become good little consumers and pay taxes and feel superior and etc, and then we never assimilate

27Don't work for food...

because of course the guy who showed us the first one prolly doesn't even know that second one is in there, either, and so he remains justified in signing his Contract for Jesus, that adds up to 666, and you become his best defender, even when he advocates drone bombing weddings on the other side of the planet in your name, in the end. Bless 'im.

The point being, if one really seeks to understand Scripture, find both sides of the argument, and recognize the blind leading the blind, all of those who will hear "I never knew you."

Stop imagining that you know something, in direct contradiction to Scripture that assures us that we do not.

Know where you are going when you die? Snarf.
Know how to identify (and "commend") other believers? Whack-osis.

etc. no offense meant here, ok, please just reflect upon these as possibilities. Your pastor, who signed a financial Contract for Jesus, might very well be manifesting Christ way better than me; that is not the standard. But it is a symptom, and it does set up a conflict of interests.

 

[epostle1]

we come as ignorants to other people trusting that they can decipher the Book for us, and we get their pov, which we overvalue because we are ignorant, and reading the Book for oneself is hard. We all seek a king to fight our battles for us, 1Sam8, which speaks to this reality. So then, we are indoctrinated with

If a man will not work, neither let him eat,

and this becomes "true" for us, and we get a really strong work ethic, so that we can become good little consumers and pay taxes and feel superior and etc, and then we never assimilate

27Don't work for food...

because of course the guy who showed us the first one prolly doesn't even know that second one is in there, either, and so he remains justified in signing his Contract for Jesus, that adds up to 666, and you become his best defender, even when he advocates drone bombing weddings on the other side of the planet in your name, in the end. Bless 'im.

The point being, if one really seeks to understand Scripture, find both sides of the argument, and recognize the blind leading the blind, all of those who will hear "I never knew you."

Stop imagining that you know something, in direct contradiction to Scripture that assures us that we do not.

Know where you are going when you die? Snarf.
Know how to identify (and "commend") other believers? Whack-osis.

etc. no offense meant here, ok, please just reflect upon these as possibilities. Your pastor, who signed a financial Contract for Jesus, might very well be manifesting Christ way better than me; that is not the standard. But it is a symptom, and it does set up a conflict of interests.

So there is no objective truth, it's all relative, when it agrees with your subjective opinion.

 

[bbyrd009]

So there is no objective truth, it's all relative, when it agrees with your subjective opinion.

correct. And this describes anyone, and also describes how we assimilate truth, every one of us, for ourselves, whether this is admitted to or not; as evidenced by the fact that everyone believes slightly differently. Of course there are Objective Truths also, God is Good, God is Love, Christ is the Ruler of a Kingdom not of this world, etc, don't get me wrong, but these are all bigger than we are, and we each assimilate them differently, and notice that an Atheist or whatever would argue with me even about these, because they are not objective to him.

So, my assertion is that your "objective truth" is really just a way to impose a law on others, when you insist that i must believe it also; not when you come to believe it.
If you will, name some Objective Truth that you believe, and we will see though, if you like. I mean from the Book, of course.

 

[bbyrd009]

How can you hope to succeed, from a Book that assures us "he who says he knows does not yet know as he ought to know?"

i tell you that you may succeed in your own mind; but to your own condemnation. Because you are necessarily going to have to exclude and condemn by the exercise.

We buy the notion that there is some practical objective truth even as we recognize that every situation calls for its own solution because people who are respected--and who have been commended, among ourselves--suggest that there is, and that you must believe this truth to be considered "saved" by them, and to be "commended" by them.

 

[epostle1]

correct. And this describes anyone, and also describes how we assimilate truth, every one of us, for ourselves, whether this is admitted to or not; as evidenced by the fact that everyone believes slightly differently. Of course there are Objective Truths also, God is Good, God is Love, Christ is the Ruler of a Kingdom not of this world, etc, don't get me wrong, but these are all bigger than we are, and we each assimilate them differently, and notice that an Atheist or whatever would argue with me even about these, because they are not objective to him.

So, my assertion is that your "objective truth" is really just a way to impose a law on others, when you insist that i must believe it also; not when you come to believe it.
If you will, name some Objective Truth that you believe, and we will see though, if you like. I mean from the Book, of course.

Incorrect. So there is no objective truth, it's all relative, when it agrees with your subjective opinion. Describes theological chaos of 10's of thousands of self appointed authorities, and you are just one of them.
"my assertion is that your "objective truth" is really just a way to impose a law on others" is typical anti-Catholic ignorance.

Truth is as natural to our minds as oxygen is to our lungs and food is to our digestive system. It is a great mistake to regard the teaching of truth as an imposition. The Church does not, nor can she, “impose” truth.
Rather, she endeavors to propose truths to those who are disposed to receive them. The Vatican’s Declaration of Religious Liberty states that, “The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it wins over the mind with gentleness and power.
The Church as Guardian of the Truth and Teacher of the Word provides food for hungry minds. She does not impose the truth; no more than do Christians impose food on hungry bodies when they practice this corporeal act of mercy.

 

[bbyrd009]

22“Listen to them,” the LORD told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” 

15Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.


So then "Chaos" is what is predicted or perceived, and what do we find conflated with Chaos now, but Anarchy? They are even coequal in our dictionaries now. So that you can say "incorrect," although i'm not really sure what you mean by this, wadr.

correct.
And this describes anyone, and also describes how we assimilate truth, every one of us, for ourselves, whether this is admitted to or not;
as evidenced by the fact that everyone believes slightly differently.
Of course there are Objective Truths also, God is Good, God is Love, Christ is the Ruler of a Kingdom not of this world, etc, don't get me wrong,
but these are all bigger than we are, and we each assimilate them differently,
and notice that an Atheist or whatever would argue with me even about these, because they are not objective to him.

What part is incorrect?

 

[epostle1]

What is "wadr"?

 

[bbyrd009]

What is "wadr"?

ya, no; what part is incorrect?

 

[epostle1]

Now now now, i know you are all busting to here my opinions of the Antichrist. I believe the Anti-Christ is not specifically anyone, but is anyone who is against Christ, is not saved and does not carry the mark of the Lamb. And we do not know who is the false prophet, the beasts of the sea and the land, the great harlot, people can keep guessing when will these people rise, and when will Jesus comes back, but no one knows the time or day when these figures will rise, and when Jesus will come back, there has been a lot of guesses but they are all wrong, ya know people thought Hitler was the end and he was the 1 Anti-Christ, well they were wrong. Now the false prophet, great harlot, the beasts of the sea and the land may be human, they may not be human, and it's certainly not Pope St Francis.

It's probably gonna be someone with much more power, and they are gonna operate in the powers of witchcraft, they may be great magicians, wizards and witches in disguise, who will be able to do greater than what the witchdoctors, mediums, psychics can currently do on this earth. Now yes i said they may not be human, they could come in the form of a false messiah, Satan and his fallen angels could enter this world in human form, it's not impossible and as i mentioned before they could have supernatural powers from Satan with the ability to deceive every corner of the earth.

Yes, i said Satan and his demons could literally enter this world in human form, and they will look nothing like it.

Relativism and the Antichrist

When Pope Benedict warned about “the Dictatorship of Relativism,” he meant it. Literally.

This was hammered home not long ago when I was speaking to a group of students about the issue of same sex marriage. I prefaced the discussion with a description of relativism saying that this non-philosophy was now the mainstream, default setting in our society. “The way you can tell that relativism is mainstream,” I said, “is that there is no such thing as rational debate. In the absence of objective truth, there can be no debate, for a debate is dependent on the assumption that there is something to debate. A debate can only take place if there is such a thing as truth to be debated, and without that basic assumption, one person’s opinion on a matter must be as valid as the next person’s. In the absence of objective truth, the only way to make a decision is utilitarianism or sentimentality.”
read more here

 

[bbyrd009]

ya, no; what part is incorrect?

ya, that's what i thought you meant.

So the way that ends up translating, whether you like it or not, is there is only objective truth, and you are it's arbiter, in the end. Only you can't demonstrate that from Scripture, or common sense, because truth is a moving target, and you do not get to define truth, and neither do those who have signed Contracts for Jesus. This is "see and not see," see, when you think it is ok to make accusations and then ignore any clarifying when asked, and ask some trite question that google could answer easier? and then pontificate using some dead church guy as an authority rather than Scripture? But you aren't kissing any rings, right.

 

[epostle1]

Love for the truth was a favorite theme of St. Pope John Paul the Great. “Let us seek the truth about Christ and about his Church!...Let us love the Truth, proclaim the Truth! O Christ, show us the Truth! Be the only Truth for us!”
– Agenda for the Third Millennium Pope John Paul II

The Holy Father’s enthusiasm for the truth however is not shared by the secular world. In fact, its citizens, in general, harbor a distinct fear of the truth. This fear may be analyzed on three different levels:

1) that the truth would impose unwanted moral responsibilities on them;
2) that any association with the truth would occasion an air of pretentiousness;
3) that any claim to the truth might expose them to being wrong.

They prefer freedom from moral responsibility, absence of any “holier than thou” attitude and exemption from the possible embarrassment of being in error. Their fears, however, take them from the very light and meaning they long for, and plunge them into a dark void were they are trapped by a misery of their own making. Their flight from the truth is also an entrance into a world of gloom.
These three fears are ill fated, as well as ill founded. First of all, truth is our only avenue to real freedom. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32

Ignorance may at times be blissful, but it is never illuminating. St. Augustine once remarked that he had met many people who had been deceived, but never met anyone who wanted to be deceived. We have a natural hunger for the truth of things. No one ever asks for the wrong time. It is always the “right” time and the truth about things we want to learn. Untruth is not helpful, but truth is like a beacon that shows us the way. This is why the Pope titled his great encyclical on the freeing function of truth as Veritas Splendor (Truth’s Splendor).

When we are lost we want to learn the truth about our situation so that we can be liberated from our confusion. The truth makes us free; untruth binds us to bewilderment. The truth about ourselves awakens us to our moral responsibilities, but we need this awakening in order to become whom we truly are, to advance toward our destiny, to build a meaningful life.

We should welcome the truth that illuminates our moral responsibilities with the same enthusiasm that a person who is lost in the woods and welcomes a compass and a map.

Secondly, the fear that any discovery of truth would make us pretentious is also counterproductive. Truth is not of our own making. Even Christ proclaimed that the truth He illuminated did not spring from Him alone. “My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me” (John 17:6)

Truth is not subjective. It represents the objective order of things. The person who comes to know something of the truth, then should experience humility, not vanity, for he discovers something that is not his.

Christ was emphatic in his denunciation of the Pharisees who claimed to know something of the truth but behaved with a pretentious snobbery. Truth is not he cause of Pharisaism, vanity is.

And both Christ and his Church are unrelenting in their advocacy of humility and in their condemnation of vanity. In fact, it may be far less tolerant of Pharisaism than the secular world. Consider, for example, the comment, “I hate anything fake,” made by Britney Spears, a veritable icon of artificiality and pretense. The secular world awards this kind of duplicity with celebrity.

Thirdly, there is the rather spineless fear that in perusing the truth, we might fall into the embarrassing predicament of being wrong. Again, there is nothing wrong that can reasonably justify this anxiety. We all make mistakes. Not to try something for fear of making a mistake is akin to a paralyzing neurosis that would discourage one from trying anything.

Some people avoid marriage because they fear divorce. Others avoid friendship because they fear rejection. The pursuit of truth presupposes a certain amount of courage. If nothing is ventured, as the maxim goes, nothing is gained.

The fact that truth is indispensable for a meaningful life does not mean that it is always agreeable. Mounting the bathroom scale can be a breathless ascent, because the anxious weight-watcher knows that this simple piece of machinery tells the truth.
But he disconcerting truth that one is overweight may be exactly what one needs if exercising and dieting are to follow. The freedom that health offers may need to be preceded by the disagreeable truth that one is too fat.

Truth is as natural to our minds as oxygen is to our lungs and food is to our digestive system. It is a great mistake to regard the teaching of truth as an imposition. The Church does not, nor can she, “impose” truth. Rather, she endeavors to propose truths to those who are disposed to receive them. The Vatican’s Declaration of Religious Liberty states that, “The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it wins over the mind with gentleness and power.

The Church as Guardian of the Truth and Teacher of the Word provides food for hungry minds. She does not impose the truth; no more than do Christians impose food on hungry bodies when they practice this corporeal act of mercy.

She guards it because it needs to be protected against the contamination of error. She teaches it because it is more nourishing than error. Moreover, the truth enables her to teach realistically about the truth of Christ, the truth of the Catholic Church, and the truth of man. Apostles are ministers of love, but they are also servants of the truth.

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Professor of Philosophy, St. Jerome’s College at U. of Waterloo,
Taken from The Bread of Life Magazine, July / Aug. Volume 26 Number 3, with minor editing by me.

 

[brakelite]

Love for the truth was a favorite theme of St. Pope John Paul the Great. “Let us seek the truth about Christ and about his Church!...Let us love the Truth, proclaim the Truth! O Christ, show us the Truth! Be the only Truth for us!”
– Agenda for the Third Millennium Pope John Paul II

The Holy Father’s enthusiasm for the truth however is not shared by the secular world. In fact, its citizens, in general, harbor a distinct fear of the truth. This fear may be analyzed on three different levels:
1) that the truth would impose unwanted moral responsibilities on them;
2) that any association with the truth would occasion an air of pretentiousness;
3) that any claim to the truth might expose them to being wrong.

They prefer freedom from moral responsibility, absence of any “holier than thou” attitude and exemption from the possible embarrassment of being in error. Their fears, however, take them from the very light and meaning they long for, and plunge them into a dark void were they are trapped by a misery of their own making. Their flight from the truth is also an entrance into a world of gloom.
These three fears are ill fated, as well as ill founded. First of all, truth is our only avenue to real freedom. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32

Ignorance may at times be blissful, but it is never illuminating. St. Augustine once remarked that he had met many people who had been deceived, but never met anyone who wanted to be deceived. We have a natural hunger for the truth of things. No one ever asks for the wrong time. It is always the “right” time and the truth about things we want to learn. Untruth is not helpful, but truth is like a beacon that shows us the way. This is why the Pope titled his great encyclical on the freeing function of truth as Veritas Splendor (Truth’s Splendor).

When we are lost we want to learn the truth about our situation so that we can be liberated from our confusion. The truth makes us free; untruth binds us to bewilderment. The truth about ourselves awakens us to our moral responsibilities, but we need this awakening in order to become whom we truly are, to advance toward our destiny, to build a meaningful life.

We should welcome the truth that illuminates our moral responsibilities with the same enthusiasm that a person who is lost in the woods and welcomes a compass and a map.

Secondly, the fear that any discovery of truth would make us pretentious is also counterproductive. Truth is not of our own making. Even Christ proclaimed that the truth He illuminated did not spring from Him alone. “My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me” (John 17:6)

Truth is not subjective. It represents the objective order of things. The person who comes to know something of the truth, then should experience humility, not vanity, for he discovers something that is not his.

Christ was emphatic in his denunciation of the Pharisees who claimed to know something of the truth but behaved with a pretentious snobbery. Truth is not he cause of Pharisaism, vanity is.

And both Christ and his Church are unrelenting in their advocacy of humility and in their condemnation of vanity. In fact, it may be far less tolerant of Pharisaism than the secular world. Consider, for example, the comment, “I hate anything fake,” made by Britney Spears, a veritable icon of artificiality and pretense. The secular world awards this kind of duplicity with celebrity.

Thirdly, there is the rather spineless fear that in perusing the truth, we might fall into the embarrassing predicament of being wrong. Again, there is nothing wrong that can reasonably justify this anxiety. We all make mistakes. Not to try something for fear of making a mistake is akin to a paralyzing neurosis that would discourage one from trying anything.

Some people avoid marriage because they fear divorce. Others avoid friendship because they fear rejection. The pursuit of truth presupposes a certain amount of courage. If nothing is ventured, as the maxim goes, nothing is gained.

The fact that truth is indispensable for a meaningful life does not mean that it is always agreeable. Mounting the bathroom scale can be a breathless ascent, because the anxious weight-watcher knows that this simple piece of machinery tells the truth.
But he disconcerting truth that one is overweight may be exactly what one needs if exercising and dieting are to follow. The freedom that health offers may need to be preceded by the disagreeable truth that one is too fat.

Truth is as natural to our minds as oxygen is to our lungs and food is to our digestive system. It is a great mistake to regard the teaching of truth as an imposition. The Church does not, nor can she, “impose” truth. Rather, she endeavors to propose truths to those who are disposed to receive them. The Vatican’s Declaration of Religious Liberty states that, “The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it wins over the mind with gentleness and power.

The Church as Guardian of the Truth and Teacher of the Word provides food for hungry minds. She does not impose the truth; no more than do Christians impose food on hungry bodies when they practice this corporeal act of mercy.

She guards it because it needs to be protected against the contamination of error. She teaches it because it is more nourishing than error. Moreover, the truth enables her to teach realistically about the truth of Christ, the truth of the Catholic Church, and the truth of man. Apostles are ministers of love, but they are also servants of the truth.

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Professor of Philosophy, St. Jerome’s College at U. of Waterloo,
Taken from The Bread of Life Magazine, July / Aug. Volume 26 Number 3, with minor editing by me.

Kepha has copy/pasted a couple of articles proclaiming a desirability for truth and fair and dignified discussion, things which I wholeheartedly agree with. Yet she has blocked members with whom she disagrees. Seems to me to be somewhat inconsistent, if not hypocritical.

 

[brakelite]

The warnings given regarding Antichrist, its teachings, practice, and demands, is a warning all must heed carefully, prayerfully, and with much solemnity, as they are salvational. Yet amazingly, the church is utterly confused over the identity and meaning of Antichrist, to the extent that in this thread alone, at least ten different versions of what this entity is and what it stands for is presented. Is such a state of affairs what God desires considering the fact that this entity is spoken of more and described in detail in scripture second only to Jesus Himself?

Are you aware that there was a time when only two viewpoints were debated and considered in the worldwide church? Are you aware that the reformers were very nearly unanimous in their considered and Bible inspired and taught view that the papal church itself was the Antichrist of scripture? Are you aware that the different prophetic hermenuetics, futurism and preterism, came into the church principally as a result of the Vatican/Jesuit inspired counter to these charges? Little wonder that the Catholic apologists are so careful in this thread to turn away any suggestions that perhaps the Protestants in this thread have it wrong. So long as the Protestant church continues on its current ill-conceived ideas to which the pioneers of their faith would stand aghast at, the Catholics are happy.

The reformers had very good and sound reasons why they taught what they did. Prophecy and eye-witness observation were the basis of their teachings. That modern Protestantism no longer teaches this is a direct result of the counter reformation.

 

[bbyrd009]

yes, i see very little difference in Catholicism and Protestantism that just recognizes a different branch of the worldly trinity, openly advocating for political positions from the pulpit.

As for antichrist, "appears as an angel of light" and "unseen one" should be all one needs for identification, although i can already hear the quibbling over definitions that will prolly ensue. Let the dead bury the dead imo.

 

[bbyrd009]

Love for the truth was a favorite theme of St. Pope John Paul the Great. “Let us seek the truth about Christ and about his Church!...Let us love the Truth, proclaim the Truth! O Christ, show us the Truth! Be the only Truth for us!”
– Agenda for the Third Millennium Pope John Paul II

The Holy Father’s enthusiasm for the truth however is not shared by the secular world. In fact, its citizens, in general, harbor a distinct fear of the truth. This fear may be analyzed on three different levels:
1) that the truth would impose unwanted moral responsibilities on them;
2) that any association with the truth would occasion an air of pretentiousness;
3) that any claim to the truth might expose them to being wrong.

They prefer freedom from moral responsibility, absence of any “holier than thou” attitude and exemption from the possible embarrassment of being in error. Their fears, however, take them from the very light and meaning they long for, and plunge them into a dark void were they are trapped by a misery of their own making. Their flight from the truth is also an entrance into a world of gloom.
These three fears are ill fated, as well as ill founded. First of all, truth is our only avenue to real freedom. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32

Ignorance may at times be blissful, but it is never illuminating. St. Augustine once remarked that he had met many people who had been deceived, but never met anyone who wanted to be deceived. We have a natural hunger for the truth of things. No one ever asks for the wrong time. It is always the “right” time and the truth about things we want to learn. Untruth is not helpful, but truth is like a beacon that shows us the way. This is why the Pope titled his great encyclical on the freeing function of truth as Veritas Splendor (Truth’s Splendor).

When we are lost we want to learn the truth about our situation so that we can be liberated from our confusion. The truth makes us free; untruth binds us to bewilderment. The truth about ourselves awakens us to our moral responsibilities, but we need this awakening in order to become whom we truly are, to advance toward our destiny, to build a meaningful life.

We should welcome the truth that illuminates our moral responsibilities with the same enthusiasm that a person who is lost in the woods and welcomes a compass and a map.

Secondly, the fear that any discovery of truth would make us pretentious is also counterproductive. Truth is not of our own making. Even Christ proclaimed that the truth He illuminated did not spring from Him alone. “My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me” (John 17:6)

Truth is not subjective. It represents the objective order of things. The person who comes to know something of the truth, then should experience humility, not vanity, for he discovers something that is not his.

Christ was emphatic in his denunciation of the Pharisees who claimed to know something of the truth but behaved with a pretentious snobbery. Truth is not he cause of Pharisaism, vanity is.

And both Christ and his Church are unrelenting in their advocacy of humility and in their condemnation of vanity. In fact, it may be far less tolerant of Pharisaism than the secular world. Consider, for example, the comment, “I hate anything fake,” made by Britney Spears, a veritable icon of artificiality and pretense. The secular world awards this kind of duplicity with celebrity.

Thirdly, there is the rather spineless fear that in perusing the truth, we might fall into the embarrassing predicament of being wrong. Again, there is nothing wrong that can reasonably justify this anxiety. We all make mistakes. Not to try something for fear of making a mistake is akin to a paralyzing neurosis that would discourage one from trying anything.

Some people avoid marriage because they fear divorce. Others avoid friendship because they fear rejection. The pursuit of truth presupposes a certain amount of courage. If nothing is ventured, as the maxim goes, nothing is gained.

The fact that truth is indispensable for a meaningful life does not mean that it is always agreeable. Mounting the bathroom scale can be a breathless ascent, because the anxious weight-watcher knows that this simple piece of machinery tells the truth.
But he disconcerting truth that one is overweight may be exactly what one needs if exercising and dieting are to follow. The freedom that health offers may need to be preceded by the disagreeable truth that one is too fat.

Truth is as natural to our minds as oxygen is to our lungs and food is to our digestive system. It is a great mistake to regard the teaching of truth as an imposition. The Church does not, nor can she, “impose” truth. Rather, she endeavors to propose truths to those who are disposed to receive them. The Vatican’s Declaration of Religious Liberty states that, “The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it wins over the mind with gentleness and power.

The Church as Guardian of the Truth and Teacher of the Word provides food for hungry minds. She does not impose the truth; no more than do Christians impose food on hungry bodies when they practice this corporeal act of mercy.

She guards it because it needs to be protected against the contamination of error. She teaches it because it is more nourishing than error. Moreover, the truth enables her to teach realistically about the truth of Christ, the truth of the Catholic Church, and the truth of man. Apostles are ministers of love, but they are also servants of the truth.

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Professor of Philosophy, St. Jerome’s College at U. of Waterloo,
Taken from The Bread of Life Magazine, July / Aug. Volume 26 Number 3, with minor editing by me.

ya ok, if there is an apology in there somewhere, i forgive you. And since i'm pretty sure there isn't, i forgive you anyway, ok. Now good luck in your search for truth across the oceans etc.