Toe in the waterBut

chevyontheriver said:

I took a look at 'One Bread One Body' and that looks good. Thanks for the other suggestions. I have read quite a bit of the Fathers, mostly the Greek ones, so Orthodoxy seems almost home. I'll look at the 'Traditional Theology' one as well. I know how to be polemical, but I'd rather not. It does not seem to advance the process of both sides coming to the same truth very well. And there is such an urgent need for us to all get to that same truth. So true with Catholics and Orthodox in particular.

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• Why is there so much evil in the world?
• If God is in control of the world (e.g. Ps 115:3; Matt 19:26; Eph 3:20), why does he allow ISIL, rape, murder, mass shootings in college class rooms, etc?
• How is it possible for the bloody death of Jesus 2000 years ago to deal with sin and evil?

chevyontheriver said:

I was a long term member of another forum which got a little too hostile for me to want to post there any longer. It became open season on believing Christians by some of the atheists and agnostics who were members there. So I have enjoyed a summer away from all of that. It was a great summer. Lots of time outdoors. But now it's autumn. Some of the other refugees from that forum have asked me about starting a new forum, but I'm not all that interested in reinventing such a thing, particularly if it already exists. Starting a forum is actually technically complex, not to mention the day to day of running such a thing. I am too faint of heart for that. So here I am, toe in the local water, to see what this forum is like. Just reading posts it seemed OK so I thought I would try a bit of interaction. If it goes well ....

I am a Catholic, a Christian that can say the Nicene Creed (and the Apostle's Creed and the Quicunque Vult) without mental reservation. I pray and read the Bible. I do like to discuss matters of the faith and am especially happy to see thoughtful expression of differences. The less thoughtful, the less interested. What's that overused old word? Dialogue? Yeah. If someone is interested in that, I can get interested. Something where both can grow, hopefully in the same direction. I am in no way perfect and can sometimes be snippy or snide or ... what's the word ... snarky. Oh but never here. I totally promise. At least for now.

I guess one thing I would like to hear about is ideas on educating Christian youth in our rapidly changing society. My father was a public school teacher and he insisted on my brother and I being educated outside of the public school system. I went to a private school and remained Catholic. He went to a Catholic school and now never darkens the door of a Catholic church. My children went to Catholic schools and both my wife and I were well pleased with the particular schools we sent them to. Both of them have strong faith. Now my daughter has her oldest in a Catholic preschool. I know a person who started a Christian school, also folks who home school, folks who teach in the public schools, folks whose children attended or attend public schools. I know of good public schools, a range of Catholic schools from superlative to deficient, and a bunch of charter and private schools of varying philosophies.

Oh, and having watched pope Francis navigate the minefields in Cuba and at the White House I have a new respect for him. His visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington right after the White House was rich beyond words. At the White House president Obama spoke glowingly to Francis about religious freedom. The Little Sisters seem to experience the weight of the administration a bit differently than Obama would have us believe. So Francis dropped in on them to encourage them. Bravo.

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chevyontheriver said:

I had a tiny bit of the old Baltimore Catechism as a youth before they replaced it with hip new mush. So I finished high school and entered college with a considerable deficit in theological knowledge. But I had some good God given instincts and God was busy in seeking me out. My godparents gave me a Bible in my senior year of high school and I ran into InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as a college freshman. That crew were a prayerful lot and did believe that there were good answers to penetrating questions. So I was able to ask the questions and between them and a really first class library at Washington University, I was able to dig up answers.

My children did go to a sound Catholic high school where the religion was taught astoundingly well. No half-baked mush. Solid Bible and Catholic theology and apologetics and hymnology and liturgy. They have both grown up faithful. But I have seen so many others of their ages have so much trouble after having gone to the public schools. People whose parents were good caring Christian folks. It has been painful to watch and interact with. Something is failing badly that these kids are clobbered by drugs, satanism, violence, nihilism, divorce and single parenting, all as a sad new cultural norm. I don't know how to make that better, nor to make it easier for the next generation starting in many cases from a worse base.

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chevyontheriver said:

I was a long term member of another forum which got a little too hostile for me to want to post there any longer. It became open season on believing Christians by some of the atheists and agnostics who were members there. So I have enjoyed a summer away from all of that. It was a great summer. Lots of time outdoors. But now it's autumn. Some of the other refugees from that forum have asked me about starting a new forum, but I'm not all that interested in reinventing such a thing, particularly if it already exists. Starting a forum is actually technically complex, not to mention the day to day of running such a thing. I am too faint of heart for that. So here I am, toe in the local water, to see what this forum is like. Just reading posts it seemed OK so I thought I would try a bit of interaction. If it goes well ....

I am a Catholic, a Christian that can say the Nicene Creed (and the Apostle's Creed and the Quicunque Vult) without mental reservation. I pray and read the Bible. I do like to discuss matters of the faith and am especially happy to see thoughtful expression of differences. The less thoughtful, the less interested. What's that overused old word? Dialogue? Yeah. If someone is interested in that, I can get interested. Something where both can grow, hopefully in the same direction. I am in no way perfect and can sometimes be snippy or snide or ... what's the word ... snarky. Oh but never here. I totally promise. At least for now.

I guess one thing I would like to hear about is ideas on educating Christian youth in our rapidly changing society. My father was a public school teacher and he insisted on my brother and I being educated outside of the public school system. I went to a private school and remained Catholic. He went to a Catholic school and now never darkens the door of a Catholic church. My children went to Catholic schools and both my wife and I were well pleased with the particular schools we sent them to. Both of them have strong faith. Now my daughter has her oldest in a Catholic preschool. I know a person who started a Christian school, also folks who home school, folks who teach in the public schools, folks whose children attended or attend public schools. I know of good public schools, a range of Catholic schools from superlative to deficient, and a bunch of charter and private schools of varying philosophies.

Oh, and having watched pope Francis navigate the minefields in Cuba and at the White House I have a new respect for him. His visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington right after the White House was rich beyond words. At the White House president Obama spoke glowingly to Francis about religious freedom. The Little Sisters seem to experience the weight of the administration a bit differently than Obama would have us believe. So Francis dropped in on them to encourage them. Bravo.

Click to expand...