Sunday, October 31, 2004
Endless Love
Do you know what today is? Some would say Halloween. For me, though, today is a very important day. Today is the one year anniversary of MoMo and RooBearPoo- that's right, one year's worth of days filled with happiness and love for each other. They love each other so much. They're so hot right now. MoMo may lead others to believe that he's not in love, but believe you me, I know better. I see through all that complacency. Congrats you two love birds! When are you getting married?
Friday, October 01, 2004
Why I am not picketing… Intro
Dear Protestant friends,
Thoughts were stirred within me due to the interdenominational dating / being "brought to perfection as one" conversation. The following four posts are the significant reasons for me choosing to be Catholic. I hope that they inspire you to thoroughly consider why you worship the way you do. Feel free to comment. I would love to discuss your ideas.
Part 1- Since the Beginning
Part 2- The Eucharist
Part 3- Infallible Doctrine
Part 4- More than Scripture
From the Catechism:
"...Many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements. Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to Catholic unity."
Thoughts were stirred within me due to the interdenominational dating / being "brought to perfection as one" conversation. The following four posts are the significant reasons for me choosing to be Catholic. I hope that they inspire you to thoroughly consider why you worship the way you do. Feel free to comment. I would love to discuss your ideas.
Part 1- Since the Beginning
Part 2- The Eucharist
Part 3- Infallible Doctrine
Part 4- More than Scripture
From the Catechism:
"...Many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements. Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to Catholic unity."
Why I am not picketing… Part 4
More than Scripture...
Why do I believe in a church with genuine authority? First, I believe His Church should reflect the same authority Jesus had on Earth. Second, I cannot accept the claim that Scripture is the only authority to discern everything that needs to be known for salvation. The problem is that this definition can be applied to any text, such as C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. Couldn’t this book have everything necessary for salvation? Sure, the Bible is the Word of God and it may lead someone to salvation and provide necessary insight, but I cannot believe it to be the sole teaching authority. Why?
First, the early Christians did not have this teaching. They relied upon the authority of Scriptural writings AND the authority of traditions as they were being taught. At one of the first councils, it’s obvious that Peter didn’t think, “Let’s look back to the book of Acts and see what we should do in this situation.” He instead authoritatively taught and that teaching was taken to be the truth. Where can this teaching authority still be seen? Second, the Bible does not make this claim for itself. If Scripture does not say “the Word of God is the sole authority” then isn’t this a teaching brought from outside of Scripture? If this is the case, isn’t this teaching “un-biblical?” I don’t have a problem believing teachings outside of scripture, but I can’t believe that Scripture is a sole authority when it can’t even be found in the Bible. The basis of bible-based churches is self-refuting.
If I believe that God inspired men to write the Bible, and I believe that God inspired men to decide the Bible, why can’t I believe that He inspires men to give us infallible answers to fallible questions so we aren’t left here on earth walking in the dark without practical answers to practical questions? This goes back to the point before; to not believe that there is a church that can provide answers to questions, infallibly, is to believe that Jesus lied when he said “I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not overcome it.” Confusion is not from God, but answers are. Do not despair by saying that “No one knows the truth. No one will ever know the truth” because that’s not the case. Praise Be to God that there is a church that has answers that I can trust.
Why do I believe in a church with genuine authority? First, I believe His Church should reflect the same authority Jesus had on Earth. Second, I cannot accept the claim that Scripture is the only authority to discern everything that needs to be known for salvation. The problem is that this definition can be applied to any text, such as C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. Couldn’t this book have everything necessary for salvation? Sure, the Bible is the Word of God and it may lead someone to salvation and provide necessary insight, but I cannot believe it to be the sole teaching authority. Why?
First, the early Christians did not have this teaching. They relied upon the authority of Scriptural writings AND the authority of traditions as they were being taught. At one of the first councils, it’s obvious that Peter didn’t think, “Let’s look back to the book of Acts and see what we should do in this situation.” He instead authoritatively taught and that teaching was taken to be the truth. Where can this teaching authority still be seen? Second, the Bible does not make this claim for itself. If Scripture does not say “the Word of God is the sole authority” then isn’t this a teaching brought from outside of Scripture? If this is the case, isn’t this teaching “un-biblical?” I don’t have a problem believing teachings outside of scripture, but I can’t believe that Scripture is a sole authority when it can’t even be found in the Bible. The basis of bible-based churches is self-refuting.
If I believe that God inspired men to write the Bible, and I believe that God inspired men to decide the Bible, why can’t I believe that He inspires men to give us infallible answers to fallible questions so we aren’t left here on earth walking in the dark without practical answers to practical questions? This goes back to the point before; to not believe that there is a church that can provide answers to questions, infallibly, is to believe that Jesus lied when he said “I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not overcome it.” Confusion is not from God, but answers are. Do not despair by saying that “No one knows the truth. No one will ever know the truth” because that’s not the case. Praise Be to God that there is a church that has answers that I can trust.
Why I am not picketing… Part 3
Infallible Doctrine...
If the church wasn’t corrupt when it discerned the Bible, then was all of its other teaching at that time still “in tact” as well? If not, maybe the Bible was also one of those corrupt teachings. How can we know for sure that the Bible is infallibly the Word of God? How can we be sure about any teachings?
Some Christians seem to be more agnostic than Christian by saying "No one knows the truth. No one will ever know the truth." I suppose that this comes from the Protestant’s inability to guarantee that their teaching is correct. How sad it is to not have that confidence in one’s church. Why did this confidence in a church’s teachings disappear? Did absolute confidence ever exist? I think that it did, and I think that it still does today. Somehow, the church of old infallibly defined the canon and, after that, lost its ability to answer faith questions infallibly. Why? I guess because it became corrupt along the line. My question is “When?” and “How?” did this happen.
I wholeheartedly disagree that "No one knows the truth. No one will ever know the truth." The Catholic Church is the only Christian church (that I know of) that has the confidence to say, "Yes, our teaching with regards to faith and morals is infallible. You can count on it!" For a church to claim that it has infallible doctrine sets off a red flag for me- either it’s true: their doctrine is infallible or it’s false: they are simply insane. My first impression is “What an awesome gift! The church that Jesus started provides undecided Christians with some answers: INFALLIBLY!” Ask the church anything, and she’ll give you a straight answer. If it’s in regards to faith or morals, then you can count on that teaching being truth. I truly enjoy having that trust in my church. I can actually take off my detective hat and listen; a freedom that allows me to take the teachings for more than a grain of salt.
But how is it possible to have infallible doctrine? If I infallibly believe that some fallible fishermen wrote infallible words on paper in an infallible book, then it’s not too hard for me to believe that a COUNCIL of some fallible theologians can write infallible doctrine. If you’re saying to yourself, infallible doctrine can’t be decided by fallible men, then ask yourself what in your life do you believe is infallible. If it’s the Bible, then how did that become infallible? By a council of fallible men infallibly deciding upon an infallible book that contained infallible writing from fallible fishermen. See, you may already believe in a church that can come together to form infallible decisions, you just don’t know it.
If the church wasn’t corrupt when it discerned the Bible, then was all of its other teaching at that time still “in tact” as well? If not, maybe the Bible was also one of those corrupt teachings. How can we know for sure that the Bible is infallibly the Word of God? How can we be sure about any teachings?
Some Christians seem to be more agnostic than Christian by saying "No one knows the truth. No one will ever know the truth." I suppose that this comes from the Protestant’s inability to guarantee that their teaching is correct. How sad it is to not have that confidence in one’s church. Why did this confidence in a church’s teachings disappear? Did absolute confidence ever exist? I think that it did, and I think that it still does today. Somehow, the church of old infallibly defined the canon and, after that, lost its ability to answer faith questions infallibly. Why? I guess because it became corrupt along the line. My question is “When?” and “How?” did this happen.
I wholeheartedly disagree that "No one knows the truth. No one will ever know the truth." The Catholic Church is the only Christian church (that I know of) that has the confidence to say, "Yes, our teaching with regards to faith and morals is infallible. You can count on it!" For a church to claim that it has infallible doctrine sets off a red flag for me- either it’s true: their doctrine is infallible or it’s false: they are simply insane. My first impression is “What an awesome gift! The church that Jesus started provides undecided Christians with some answers: INFALLIBLY!” Ask the church anything, and she’ll give you a straight answer. If it’s in regards to faith or morals, then you can count on that teaching being truth. I truly enjoy having that trust in my church. I can actually take off my detective hat and listen; a freedom that allows me to take the teachings for more than a grain of salt.
But how is it possible to have infallible doctrine? If I infallibly believe that some fallible fishermen wrote infallible words on paper in an infallible book, then it’s not too hard for me to believe that a COUNCIL of some fallible theologians can write infallible doctrine. If you’re saying to yourself, infallible doctrine can’t be decided by fallible men, then ask yourself what in your life do you believe is infallible. If it’s the Bible, then how did that become infallible? By a council of fallible men infallibly deciding upon an infallible book that contained infallible writing from fallible fishermen. See, you may already believe in a church that can come together to form infallible decisions, you just don’t know it.
Why I am not picketing… Part 2
The Eucharist...
Amid this world-wide unity, there seems to be a theme among protestant churches to start all over, to reinvent the wheel, because the wheel didn’t work the first time; somehow at sometime the church became corrupt. With that mindset, I believe that there’s a danger to forget everything that has happened up to now and just jump right back to “the beginning.” What has happened up until now? Mainly, the continuation of the Jewish heritage of the Passover meal through the Mass.
The greatest fulfillment of the Catholic Church is her belief of communion- that bread and wine are forever transformed into the actual body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ. To whom I mention this belief, most respond “It’s not a big difference.” Excuse me? Let me present you with two doors: behind one is Jesus himself waiting to give you a big hug and the other is a cardboard cutout of Him. Which would you choose, or is it not that big of a difference? Maybe you now understand the belief of Catholics that the bread and wine are transformed into the ACTUAL body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ. Think we’re crazy? If so, then I now know that you really understand the significance of the Eucharist!
There are many explanations as to why this is believed, but three brief explanations: 1) The Jews ate the sacrificed lamb at the Seder meal, not a cardboard cutout of the lamb. 2) It’s always been taught that way. Don’t believe me? Read St. Justin Martyr’s First Apology (155AD) “For we do not receive these things as common bread nor common drink; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior having been incarnate by God’s logos took both flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food eucharistized through the word of prayer that is from Him, from which our blood and flesh are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who became incarnate.” Luther himself believed in Real Presence. 3) Read all the many proven miracles of the Eucharist, some of which include the Blessed Sacrament turning into physical flesh and physical blood. I invite you to believe this beautiful gift Jesus has given us. (John 6:66)
Amid this world-wide unity, there seems to be a theme among protestant churches to start all over, to reinvent the wheel, because the wheel didn’t work the first time; somehow at sometime the church became corrupt. With that mindset, I believe that there’s a danger to forget everything that has happened up to now and just jump right back to “the beginning.” What has happened up until now? Mainly, the continuation of the Jewish heritage of the Passover meal through the Mass.
The greatest fulfillment of the Catholic Church is her belief of communion- that bread and wine are forever transformed into the actual body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ. To whom I mention this belief, most respond “It’s not a big difference.” Excuse me? Let me present you with two doors: behind one is Jesus himself waiting to give you a big hug and the other is a cardboard cutout of Him. Which would you choose, or is it not that big of a difference? Maybe you now understand the belief of Catholics that the bread and wine are transformed into the ACTUAL body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ. Think we’re crazy? If so, then I now know that you really understand the significance of the Eucharist!
There are many explanations as to why this is believed, but three brief explanations: 1) The Jews ate the sacrificed lamb at the Seder meal, not a cardboard cutout of the lamb. 2) It’s always been taught that way. Don’t believe me? Read St. Justin Martyr’s First Apology (155AD) “For we do not receive these things as common bread nor common drink; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior having been incarnate by God’s logos took both flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food eucharistized through the word of prayer that is from Him, from which our blood and flesh are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who became incarnate.” Luther himself believed in Real Presence. 3) Read all the many proven miracles of the Eucharist, some of which include the Blessed Sacrament turning into physical flesh and physical blood. I invite you to believe this beautiful gift Jesus has given us. (John 6:66)
Why I am not picketing… Part 1
Since the Beginning...
I hear people, some Catholic and most protestant, say that denomination does not matter. I've thought about this for a while and determined that I agree- denominations don't matter. I was reading an article by Ann Landers from 1996 who challenged everyone to discover when their denomination began and by whom. The challenge wasn't too difficult as she listed the information for the reader, but, nonetheless, it provoked me to think. Bottom line, when someone says that denominations are created by man, he or she is correct.
I was once asked what denomination I was. “I’m a non-denominational Christian- I’m still in the original Church.” I responded. “Which church?” “The one that’s been around since the beginning.” Am I wrong in claiming that? It’s a fact- historical continuity exists from Pentecost to now.
How far back does your church remember? I know that all churches have some history to it, maybe a small group of people began meeting and saw a need for a church in the area, so one was built. I remember when my church was still in a warehouse celebrating the Eucharist with fans blowing every direction to keep it cool. Okay, now think farther back. What was your church doing during World War II? Think back farther: what was going on in your church during the American civil war? Dare I ask even further?
The Catholic Church knows where it was throughout history, from today back to the upper room at Pentecost. The church has madesome a lot of mistakes but that’s the beauty of it: remaining together for 2000 years amid all those wrong actions proves to me how God will take care of His church and remain by her side. How else could we still be together but by God’s providence and grace?
This unified, universal church has spread across the world to many languages and cultures. It includes the rich and the poor, learned and illiterate. All are included in the Body of Christ. I was in Puerto Rico celebrating the sacrifice in Spanish despite my inability to speak Spanish. How was I able to celebrate with this language barrier? All Catholic Churches share the same liturgy and each day read the same verses from scripture. World-wide unity: that’s what I expect from Jesus’ church.
I hear people, some Catholic and most protestant, say that denomination does not matter. I've thought about this for a while and determined that I agree- denominations don't matter. I was reading an article by Ann Landers from 1996 who challenged everyone to discover when their denomination began and by whom. The challenge wasn't too difficult as she listed the information for the reader, but, nonetheless, it provoked me to think. Bottom line, when someone says that denominations are created by man, he or she is correct.
I was once asked what denomination I was. “I’m a non-denominational Christian- I’m still in the original Church.” I responded. “Which church?” “The one that’s been around since the beginning.” Am I wrong in claiming that? It’s a fact- historical continuity exists from Pentecost to now.
How far back does your church remember? I know that all churches have some history to it, maybe a small group of people began meeting and saw a need for a church in the area, so one was built. I remember when my church was still in a warehouse celebrating the Eucharist with fans blowing every direction to keep it cool. Okay, now think farther back. What was your church doing during World War II? Think back farther: what was going on in your church during the American civil war? Dare I ask even further?
The Catholic Church knows where it was throughout history, from today back to the upper room at Pentecost. The church has made
This unified, universal church has spread across the world to many languages and cultures. It includes the rich and the poor, learned and illiterate. All are included in the Body of Christ. I was in Puerto Rico celebrating the sacrifice in Spanish despite my inability to speak Spanish. How was I able to celebrate with this language barrier? All Catholic Churches share the same liturgy and each day read the same verses from scripture. World-wide unity: that’s what I expect from Jesus’ church.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)