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So from what I can gather, the information was disseminated via Diversity Chronicle, which is a satirical news site, like The Onion. So it's not a hoax, but rather, satire.
So I left the Catholic church about 4 years ago and am happily going to a nondenominational church now.
After leaving I realized how many things they believe and follow, etc. that are just, well, Catholic, and if they want to believe and follow that, great.
So I went to a Catholic funeral today, for a man I used to sing in the choir with. One of the women I sang with sits next to me and starts talking to me and tells me I should "come back home to the Catholic church." She said, "do you miss holy communion?" I'm like, uhhhh.... no?
She goes on to explain that the Catholic church is the only one who believes that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. OK....yeah, key word there. BELIEVE. That's what YOU BELIEVE. Doesn't make it fact. Maybe it is fact. So what is she trying to tell me? That if I don't return, Jesus is not truly present in my heart??
Well sorry sister but that's a bunch of hooey, at least that's what I BELIEVE. I am perfectly happy where I am, and have learned more about God's Word in 4 years than I did in 40, going to Catholic church. What does that tell you??
Also, I noticed the priest said that after they gave the rite of anointing to the man who was sick, he was forgiven of his sins. BECAUSE HE GOT THAT ANOINTING FROM THE PRIEST.
OK, well at my church, we're just forgiven period. No confessionals, no priests, no rites, we're just forgiven. At least that's what I BELIEVE. And after all, that's really what it comes down to -- what we believe about God, and that is between us and God, and no one else.....
Are you sure you were a Catholic? I have never seen a catholic that does not consider him or herself Catholic?
Are you sure you were a Catholic? I have never seen a catholic that does not consider him or herself Catholic?
I smell fish!
Well, there are plenty of people out there like myself who was once a member of the Catholic church, left, and no longer consider themselves Catholic. It is possible. People move between Christian denominations every day. Whatever works for you is what's best for YOU!
Yes, I WAS Catholic and identified as Catholic, and like many Catholics, thought it was the ONE AND ONLY, MOST AWESOME, AUTHENTIC church. But, now I see/believe differently.
I feel so "free" now. But hey, I'm not saying I can't be wrong. Maybe I'll get up to the pearly gates, and God will say, "You should've stayed Catholic...." Who knows??
So I left the Catholic church about 4 years ago and am happily going to a nondenominational church now.
While I realize the term "nondenominational" is thrown about without thought all the time, precisely what is it supposed to mean?
That the church you attend isn't quite sure what it believes?
That whatever it believes, it is quite sure that it doesn't share the same beliefs as another church -- and above all, the only person who can have any authority is the current local leader?
It certainly doesn't seem to reflect the scriptural idea of the Church as a single, unified body, does it?
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After leaving I realized how many things they believe and follow, etc. that are just, well, Catholic,
In other words, the whole time you were a Catholic, you were largely clueless about what the Catholic Church actually believed and taught. That is common, but a thoughtful and intelligent person should be embarassed to admit it.
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She said, "do you miss holy communion?" I'm like, uhhhh.... no?
Jesus Christ told us "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me." (John 6:54-57) Yet you say you don't miss having the opportunity to consume the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
That is sad. Is it because you do not want to abide in Jesus, and have him abide in you? Or is it because you really don't want eternal life? If it isn't those reasons, precisely why, then, when Jesus says that unless you eat his flesh and drink his blood you will have no life in you, you still don't want to do that?
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She goes on to explain that the Catholic church is the only one who believes that Jesus is present in the Eucharist.
That is not quite correct. The Orthodox have the same belief regarding the Eucharist, while Lutherans have a similar belief in that Jesus is really present, although they believe that the elements also stay bread and wine.
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OK....yeah, key word there. BELIEVE. That's what YOU BELIEVE. Doesn't make it fact.
What -- do you think that facts depend on whether you personally believe them or not? If you don't believe that gold is heavier than lead, does that change its weight somehow? Facts are facts, regardless of an individual's belief or unbelief in them.
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Maybe it is fact.
Considering that if it is true, it is absolutely earth-shaking, then it should matter a great deal to you one way or the other. Your nonchalant "Maybe", in effect says "so what? Maybe it is merely a hunk or bread, or maybe it is really and truly Jesus Christ himself available to me in a miraculous and intimate way that can give me overwhelming grace, but why should I care either way?" Such an attitude would be either astonishingly thoughtless and shallow, or indicates a complete self-absorption and hardness of heart.
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So what is she trying to tell me? That if I don't return, Jesus is not truly present in my heart??
She is telling you that Jesus Christ commanded that you eat his body and drink his blood, that his body and blood are available to you in the Catholic Church, and no piece of mere Wonder Bread and cup of grape juice are an adequate substitute for that. And no, when you go through the motions of your "this is in fact not Jesus, but just some kind of fundamentally meaningless symbol" routine at your local church's communion service -- assuming they even have one, because you later tell us you have no "rites" -- you are NOT receiving Jesus Christ himself, truly present under the forms of bread and wine.
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Well sorry sister but that's a bunch of hooey, at least that's what I BELIEVE.
In other words, you believe Jesus Christ was a liar, the apostles were liars, and all Christians for 1500 years got Christianity wrong -- and that your own personal authority and modern opinion is worth more than the faith handed down from the time of the apostles.
How nice for you; it must make you feel very, very important to place your own opinion on such a pedastal.
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and have learned more about God's Word in 4 years than I did in 40, going to Catholic church. What does that tell you??
It tells me that you paid no attention whatsoever to what was going on around you. In addition to repeatedly being encouraged to read the Scriptures on your own, for 40 years you had the Gospels, the epistles, the psalms, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Old Testament READ TO YOU (because apparently you couldn't be bothered to do your own reading then.) And yet, you claim never to have learned much. Now, with Pastor Joe Bob, or whoever it is, precisely how much scripture is proclaimed to the congregation during the service? Is it a great deal? Or does Pastor Joe Bob just give you snippets of proof texts, and then spend most of the time talking about HIS own ideas? For my part, I think one learns a great deal more about God's word by hearing the full Passion read all the way through on both Palm Sunday and Good Friday then by having some nondenominational pastor spend the same amount of time prattling on with his own words.
And what is the point of such activities, anyway? It isn't worship.
A sacrifice is worship.
Psalms and praise are worship.
A sermon is not worship -- and when the focus of the service is on the sermon, something has gone very wrong.
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Also, I noticed the priest said that after they gave the rite of anointing to the man who was sick, he was forgiven of his sins. BECAUSE HE GOT THAT ANOINTING FROM THE PRIEST.
Quite true. This is a power explicitly given to the Church by Jesus Christ himself:
"Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." " (John 20:21-23)
The specific rite of the anointing of the sick by a priest (or "presbyter"), and the effect it has, is explicitly described in that same Bible you now claim to know so much about:
"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. " (James 5:14-16)
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OK, well at my church, we're just forgiven period. No confessionals, no priests, no rites, we're just forgiven. At least that's what I BELIEVE.
And what, precisely, is this "belief" of yours based on? After all, considering the above, it doesn't seem to be based on the Bible. Indeed, you seem to be saying that what the Bible teaches in this regard (and James 5 is pretty explicit) is wrong.
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And after all, that's really what it comes down to -- what we believe about God, and that is between us and God, and no one else.....
No. What it comes down to is objective truth. If there is such a thing as objective truth, then it is our obligation to find out what that truth is. We are quite capable of believing all sorts of absolute rubbish, and the fact that those beliefs are our own, and are quite sincere, does not diminish the fact that they are nonetheless rubbish. Your goal should be not just to have any old belief, and be happy because it is your own little hobbyhorse of an idea; your goal should be to find out what is true, whether that truth accords with what you previously believed, and whether or not it makes you feel warm, fuzzy, or comfortable.
This is a lie; not only is there no such statement by Christ anywhere in scripture, but in James 5:16 we are expressly commanded "Therefore confessyour sins to one another."
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This past month, the Pope said, "Adam, and Eve are a fairy tail."
This is another lie (and a badly misspelled one, too. You really don't know the difference between the words "tail" and "tale"????). The Pope made no such statement. On the other hand, there was a satirical site that invented a humorous bit of fiction -- but one would have to be an utter ignoramus not to know the difference. Of course, considering that spelling mistake, well, ....
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We had to eat fish of friday.
Another lie. On days of abstinence, one may not eat meat. It is left up to you to figure out a replacement, and it certainly does NOT have to be fish. Neither pasta with marinara sauce, nor rice and beans, nor eggplant (which are all common Friday meals) could be considered "fish".
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The reason? The fishermen in Italy said they did not earn enough to give money to the church...so the Catholic church, "All Catholics must eat fish on Fridays."
A fourth lie. The rules of fasting and abstinence are very ancient, and actually originated in the Greek-speaking part of the Christian world. The Greek Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox also have meatless days, and clearly they have no interest in benefitting "fishermen in Italy"
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The list, if written on 8X11 paper in point 12, would reach heaven.
The list of what? Of lies told about the Catholic Church by malicious and malevolent people who care nothing about the truth, but who just want to slander their neighbors? That's probably true --and a sad thing it is, too.
So I left the Catholic church about 4 years ago and am happily going to a nondenominational church now.
After leaving I realized how many things they believe and follow, etc. that are just, well, Catholic, and if they want to believe and follow that, great.
So I went to a Catholic funeral today, for a man I used to sing in the choir with. One of the women I sang with sits next to me and starts talking to me and tells me I should "come back home to the Catholic church." She said, "do you miss holy communion?" I'm like, uhhhh.... no?
She goes on to explain that the Catholic church is the only one who believes that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. OK....yeah, key word there. BELIEVE. That's what YOU BELIEVE. Doesn't make it fact. Maybe it is fact. So what is she trying to tell me? That if I don't return, Jesus is not truly present in my heart??
Well sorry sister but that's a bunch of hooey, at least that's what I BELIEVE. I am perfectly happy where I am, and have learned more about God's Word in 4 years than I did in 40, going to Catholic church. What does that tell you??
Also, I noticed the priest said that after they gave the rite of anointing to the man who was sick, he was forgiven of his sins. BECAUSE HE GOT THAT ANOINTING FROM THE PRIEST.
OK, well at my church, we're just forgiven period. No confessionals, no priests, no rites, we're just forgiven. At least that's what I BELIEVE. And after all, that's really what it comes down to -- what we believe about God, and that is between us and God, and no one else.....
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Originally Posted by JoanD'Arc
Good for you for standing up for your own beliefs.
I do have to tell you, though, that Catholics are Christians! That might be why some of the beliefs and practices seem famliar to you.
Maybe you mean Catholic vs. Protestant... who are also Christians.
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Originally Posted by lovesMountains
Word to the wise.... Catholics ARE Christians
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Originally Posted by aneye4detail
Did I say anything about them not being Christians? I don't think so.
I know Catholics are Christians and some Christians are Catholic and some are recovering Catholics, like myself.
Glad to help you all out.
aneye4detail, your title says Catholics vs Christians.
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