Why?

[Stefcui]

Hi Aspen,

I do not have "the damning contempt" you fear. I am so open with you because you are a Christian man with a depth of maturity; you are capable of hearing such things and understanding without sulking. You have a good heart; but your error lies (in my opinion) in blindly supporting a belief whether it has truth or not. Your basis is that a “true church” would have a spiritual legacy and heritage that can be seen. The Catholics are a true church (in my opinion). They are the epitome of a true church in need of repentance, as seen in revelation. The problem with Catholics is that they are so smug because of their longevity that they do not examine themselves and find repentance. The same can be said of others too, but we are talking about Catholics.

God Bless
Steve

P.S. I was not abused, but someone in my family was. I understand their "damning contempt" because the crime gets pushed under the carpet. When it is pointed out; instead of repentance, Catholics run and hide, or get overly defensive. I do not respect this behaviour as being an appropriate Christian response to our sin.

 

[aspen]

Hi Aspen,

I do not have "the damning contempt" you fear. I am so open with you because you are a Christian man with a depth of maturity; you are capable of hearing such things and understanding without sulking. You have a good heart; but your error lies (in my opinion) in blindly supporting a belief whether it has truth or not. Your basis is that a “true church” would have a spiritual legacy and heritage that can be seen. The Catholics are a true church (in my opinion). They are the epitome of a true church in need of repentance, as seen in revelation. The problem with Catholics is that they are so smug because of their longevity that they do not examine themselves and find repentance. The same can be said of others too, but we are talking about Catholics.

God Bless
Steve

P.S. I was not abused, but someone in my family was. I understand their "damning contempt" because the crime gets pushed under the carpet. When it is pointed out; instead of repentance, Catholics run and hide, or get overly defensive. I do not respect this behaviour as being an appropriate Christian response to our sin.

Well, I am sorry that your family member experienced the sin of a priest in the RC, who was supposed to be a trusting servant of God and indeed, proved himself to be a wolf. I am also sorry that the RC covered up the sins of their priests, which only magnified the sins of the church.

Honestly, I do not believe I have sulked, blindly supported any belief, acted smugly, or lacked ability or displayed any evidence of living my life in an unexamined fashion. Nor have I accused you of anything close to what is on your list.

The fact is I have spent years studying Church history and practicing contemplative prayer. I freely chose to join the RC, knowing it was far from perfect. I have never put blinders on about the sins of my church, or tried to defend it when the sin manifested.

I think you may be placing some stereotypes of Catholics at my doorstep.

blessings

 

[Stefcui]

Yes, I am guilty as charged.

Bless you brother
Steve

 

[jiggyfly]

P.S. I was not abused, but someone in my family was. I understand their "damning contempt" because the crime gets pushed under the carpet. When it is pointed out; instead of repentance, Catholics run and hide, or get overly defensive. I do not respect this behaviour as being an appropriate Christian response to our sin.

In light of such, one must recognize that such a priest could not possibly be representative of God or His calling but merely a carnal call to a man-made system, a system of clergy and laity.

 

[Stefcui]

In light of such, one must recognize that such a priest could not possibly be representative of God or His calling but merely a carnal call to a man-made system, a system of clergy and laity.

Hi Jiggyfly,

I recognise what you are saying; whereas many of the aggrieved do not. The problem is... it becomes an institutional sin, not just a sin by an individual priest, when the institution assists in covering such things up. It becomes our problem, too, as we talk about repentance and love as Christians and these crimes are hidden within our own churches… there is no repentance and love there; so our message becomes extremely hypocritical. Hearers of the word only, not doers... This also has a huge impact on the laity; because they all know that many of the priests conceal double lives as active sinners. What reason do people have to repent when their leaders laugh in the face of repentance?

My other insight is the application of the message of Jeremiah… when it says to ‘go and tell people of their sins’…; it is talking about those who are believes, not unbelievers. It is a message of repentance to the church (prophetically). “If we see our brother sinning, go to him…” I was not saying that Aspen is sinning, because I did not accuse him of anything. We were talking about the need of the Catholic institution to truly repent, in which I fear our brother took it too personal. Prophets like Paul, Jeremiah and Ezekiel must have experienced intense rejection, as their message was so confronting to almost everyone. No wonder God made their face harder than Adamant.

Bless you brother.
Steve

 

[jiggyfly]

Hi Jiggyfly,

I recognise what you are saying; whereas many of the aggrieved do not. The problem is... it becomes an institutional sin, not just a sin by an individual priest, when the institution assists in covering such things up. It becomes our problem, too, as we talk about repentance and love as Christians and these crimes are hidden within our own churches… there is no repentance and love there; so our message becomes extremely hypocritical. Hearers of the word only, not doers... This also has a huge impact on the laity; because they all know that many of the priests conceal double lives as active sinners. What reason do people have to repent when their leaders laugh in the face of repentance?

My other insight is the application of the message of Jeremiah… when it says to ‘go and tell people of their sins’…; it is talking about those who are believes, not unbelievers. It is a message of repentance to the church (prophetically). “If we see our brother sinning, go to him…” I was not saying that Aspen is sinning, because I did not accuse him of anything. We were talking about the need of the Catholic institution to truly repent, in which I fear our brother took it too personal. Prophets like Paul, Jeremiah and Ezekiel must have experienced intense rejection, as their message was so confronting to almost everyone. No wonder God made their face harder than Adamant.

Bless you brother.
Steve

Agreed, God is the most misrepresented of all.

 

[pegasus1982]

First I want to make clear that don't want to teach nothing. I feel have no authority to do it. I am just going to state my opinion.

I believe that God loves us, i believe that God is just. I don't believe that everyone will enter heaven, because what we do, evil or good, matters, so we will be judged.

But i don't believe that God created a world where the only way to salvation is the adherence to a particular branch of christianity and a specific interpretation of the bible, and where you can born amongst people that don't follow this interpretation. Or a world where people that in their lives never even heard the teaching of Jesus (like for example those that lived in china centuries before the missionaries arrived there), will go to Hell for his.

So on this subject i just say: i don't know . I don't know which christians will go to Hell and why.I don't know if only christians can go to Heaven. i don't even know if Hell is real. I don't know.

If i am terribly wrong, i pray that God forgives me.

 

[TruthSeeker2012]

Why did God create nonChristians if, supposedly, He knew that they would go to hell for all eternity?

Firstly, Bible says God created people for HIS PLEASURE.

Secondly, God created Satan and other fallen Angels and nonChristians because God respects FREE WILL, He did not want robots worshipping for all eternity, so He created everyone and some will freely decided to worship and love God for all eternity.

Thirdly, who told you there is an eternal hell? The Bible doesn't teach about that in the original languages, go here for proof:

http://www.biblejesu...l-hellfire.html

God bless.