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Recent content by Maple

  1. M

    How far can you go and still call yourself a Catholic?

    We have our Doctrine spelled out for us in the Catecist but, what if you personally question parts of it? What if my spritual exploration begins to conflict with the Doctrine? Do I have to disavow my self from being a Catholic? Lately I have been contemplating the nature of God and His...
  2. M

    HELP---Looking for an analogy for purgatory....

    I posted this on a general religous form so I have had to think it over. The analogy for purgatory is; it is like a cable on a resuce helicopter. Please read the rest on salvation analogy. Salvation in the Catholic Church is like a rescue helicopter that can only reach you in one place...
  3. M

    Help!

    The function of an atheist is to drive you nuts. They are not looking for productive discourse. Tell them to prove it. Look at their source and question the source. A lot of these sources are anti-Catholic in nature. Remember, the atheist is the one making the claim. If he was...
  4. M

    How to become a good apologist?

    I am a novice too, but the little success I've had has come from trying to understand the other person's position. There is nothing wrong with excusing yourself from debate to research the other person's position. Sometimes their perspectives our so different from our own that productive...
  5. M

    PETA's at it again!

    Did you ever get the impression that most liberal groups try this stuff with the Catholic Church because by our very doctrine we are peaceful. If PETA believes in it's cause so much, let's see them try the "Ayatolla Cow" over in Saudi Arabia. Ever since the fatwa against Simond Rushdi, no...
  6. M

    Pleease help this atheist "greves"

    As I mentioned before I have been posting on the religous forum at Syracue.com. I have been going back and forth with the pagans and the atheists (the Protestants have been pretty nice to me). The atheists on that forum use the same (almost identical) technique. I don't even know if you can...
  7. M

    Orthodox, Succession and Heresy

    I have never seen any of your posts before but this is pretty impressive, good work. I'll admitt I only read half of it but one thing that got mentioned was that anybody who claims to be Christian (not you exact words) is in communion with the Churchm albiet, imperfect communion. Is that...
  8. M

    Jesus and Paul - April 5th

    I am, compared to most folks on this forum, a novice Catholic, so I didn't pick up on some of the slights you guys picked up. However, some of the positves I picked on: Peter Jennings commented on how amazing it was that Christianity survived and spread. He didn't use the term miraclulos...
  9. M

    Grace and grace...

    I am a bit confused on the notion of "grace". I thought that "grace" was a state of being in communion with God. That when we receive God's grace we have reached that point of communion. In discussions with Protestants, I read the term grace as a force being applied to us by God. This...
  10. M

    Doing battle with neo-pagans

    I don't know if I am allowed to post the site but it is located under syracuse.com, look under forums and it lists a religous fourm. At any one time you will have pagans, atheists, fundies, and agnostics jumping on you from different directions. It is the pagan crowd that is the worst. I am...
  11. M

    Doing battle with neo-pagans

    Wow, you get onto a religous forum and it is amazing what is out there. I have run into some people that call themselves "Asatrus", which is the reincarnation of an old pagan religon that exsisted in Northern Europe before Chrisitanity. Talk about anti-Catholic, anti-Christian benders. One...
  12. M

    Sola Tradidi?

    "So then, if I become a catholic, then I'll have total faith?" Be careful how you use the term "faith" because it can be used as a verb or a noun. I would say you have it backward, kind of. If you read the Catachism, and its refernces to the Sacred Scripture and decide you believe (ie...
  13. M

    Extra books in the Catholic bible...grrrrrr

    I feel like a babe in the woods. I went to the referenced on-going thread that deals with the Deleted Books of the original Catholic Bible. My head started hurting but it was a good hurt. Being a person who considers the political aspects of things I would say this regarding the canonized...
  14. M

    Encyclicals and Councils

    OK, I've been coming up to snuff regarding Sacred Tradition and think I am getting a handle on it. My understanding is that Encyclicals and Councils set Dogma because they clear up mysteries and sharpen our understanding of the Sacred Scriptures. So my question. Has an Encyclical or...
  15. M

    Salvation?

    Thanks for posting the web page. I saved it off line to keep as a reference.