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Considering Catholicism

Knee V

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I attended a PCA (3 different ones due to moving while in the military) for about 5 years. I am now a Catholic. Individual doctrines (purgatory, eucharist, etc) were not the issue for me. The MAIN issue for me was one of authority. Where did my pastor get the authority to do what he does and to teach and interprete the way he does? For some people the concept of apostolic succession really isn't an issue. As for me, I couldn't ignore it. If Christ ordained his apostles to carry on His mission on earth with the Holy Spirit guiding them, after telling them that "the gates of Hell will not prevail against" the church, who are we to say that Christ's words have failed? That is only a very cursery explanation of my decision, but that's the basic jist of it.
 
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michael servetus

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contra

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I used to get emails with these arguments trying to convert me. I would get the same stuff from the Romans and from the Eastern Orthodox.

None could say why, if their arguments were so good, they could not convince the all the other groups--Romish, Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Nestorian, etc. that professed the same premises.

The people of each of these groups bow down to some human authority that claims the same things: unity, ancient tradition, appointment by Christ, apostolic succession, ceremonies, funny hats, etc.
 
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cygnusx1

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I am reading a very good book on this subject at present , I have perhaps a dozen books on RC ism , but this is the best I have read yet .......... It is particularly interesting when you discover even 5 point Calvinist J.Packer signed this phony unity pledge ......... Unity over what exactly ???
That is the main question of this book ....

1565073142.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
 
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OrthodoxServant86

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The people of each of these groups bow down to some human authority that claims the same things: unity, ancient tradition, appointment by Christ, apostolic succession, ceremonies, funny hats, etc.
Yes, because Calvin's funny hat and tradition is the true means of interpreting the source of Christian authority :doh:

Not seeking to debate but unwilling to let low blows go unchecked,

-Justin

Now listening to: You never give me your money
 
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tigersnare

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OrthodoxServant86 said:
Yes, because Calvin's funny hat and tradition is the true means of interpreting the source of Christian authority :doh:

Not seeking to debate but unwilling to let low blows go unchecked,

-Justin

Now listening to: You never give me your money

You obviously have no idea what Calvin wrote, please don't post out of ignorance. I find it instresting that you state "not seeking to debate", yet you will take a cheap shot at this board.

Of course you don't want to debate...that would be breaking a rule.. *rolls eyes*
 
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OrthodoxServant86

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You obviously have no idea what Calvin wrote, please don't post out of ignorance. I find it instresting that you state "not seeking to debate", yet you will take a cheap shot at this board.

Of course you don't want to debate...that would be breaking a rule.. *rolls eyes*
Please do not presume to know what I have and have not read, such presumptions can be quite dangerous, especially if we are not speaking in the same terminology. I am indeed not seeking to debate for reasons of the rules, and I am not taking a cheap shot, I am simply letting it be known that big brother is watching and doesn't appreciate cheap shots such as the one I was addressing being taken.

You only give me your funny little hats.
LOL :D . Good one.

In love and peace to all,

-Justin

p.s. if anything I ever say is seen as rude, sarcastic or sardonic, please do tell me and forgive me. Thank you :wave:
 
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tigersnare

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OrthodoxServant86 said:
Please do not presume to know what I have and have not read, such presumptions can be quite dangerous, especially if we are not speaking in the same terminology.
"Quite dangerous", this is almost as funny as making a threat online, the words just don't carry much weight when we realize we are typing in a little box to people we will probaby never see. But perhaps I took your comment to mean something other than what it did in fact mean.

Have you read Calvin? If so, what have you read?

OrthodoxServant86 said:
I am indeed not seeking to debate for reasons of the rules, and I am not taking a cheap shot, I am simply letting it be known that big brother is watching and doesn't appreciate cheap shots such as the one I was addressing being taken.
Ok, so you just addressed a cheap shot, it just happened too look very simliar to the cheap shot you were addressing, to me.
 
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AndOne

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knee-v said:
I attended a PCA (3 different ones due to moving while in the military) for about 5 years. I am now a Catholic. Individual doctrines (purgatory, eucharist, etc) were not the issue for me. The MAIN issue for me was one of authority. Where did my pastor get the authority to do what he does and to teach and interprete the way he does? For some people the concept of apostolic succession really isn't an issue. As for me, I couldn't ignore it. If Christ ordained his apostles to carry on His mission on earth with the Holy Spirit guiding them, after telling them that "the gates of Hell will not prevail against" the church, who are we to say that Christ's words have failed? That is only a very cursery explanation of my decision, but that's the basic jist of it.
Christ may have ordained his apostles to carry on His mission - but that ordination did not included perfection. The pope is held in highest regard and considered perfect - I disagree and it is not scriptural. Authority based on incorrect doctrine does not constitue apostolic succession. Sorry.

Mary is placed on equal footing with Jesus - incorrect.

Praying to the saints is an incorrect practice and idolitary.

These are just a few individual practices of the Catholic Church that should indeed concern you.
 
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tigersnare

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Behe's Boy said:
Christ may have ordained his apostles to carry on His mission - but that ordination did not included perfection. The pope is held in highest regard and considered perfect - I disagree and it is not scriptural. Authority based on incorrect doctrine does not constitue apostolic succession. Sorry.

Mary is placed on equal footing with Jesus - incorrect.

Praying to the saints is an incorrect practice and idolitary.

These are just a few individual practices of the Catholic Church that should indeed concern you.

I'm sure this isn't going to sit well, someone will be in here to "correct" your misunderstandings of the Catholic faith shortly I bet.
 
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OrthodoxServant86

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"Quite dangerous", this is almost as funny as making a threat online, the words just don't carry much weight when we realize we are typing in a little box to people we will probaby never see. But perhaps I took your comment to mean something other than what it did in fact mean.
No, this wasn't a threat, merely an advisory for conversational etiquette's sake; we can't just go around making presumptions and accusations without substantial evidence, otherwise we gnaw away at the core of civility and cause it to collapse.

Have you read Calvin? If so, what have you read?
I have indeed read much of Jean Calvin's writings, namely his "Institution de la Religion Chretienne" (yes, in French, since it was in my school's library in this language).

Ok, so you just addressed a cheap shot, it just happened too look very simliar to the cheap shot you were addressing, to me.
You are absolutely correct; I apologize for having stated my grievance in such a rude and sarcastic manner. I hope you will forgive me.

In love and peace,

-Justin
 
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ukok

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tigersnare said:
I'm sure this isn't going to sit well, someone will be in here to "correct" your misunderstandings of the Catholic faith shortly I bet.
:)

You are correct, such misunderstandings do not sit well with Catholic's, but rather than correct them here, may i offer the suggestion that the poster of the following comment come over to OBOB if he wishes to have an accurate understanding of what Catholic's really believe :)

Behe's Boy: Christ may have ordained his apostles to carry on His mission - but that ordination did not included perfection. The pope is held in highest regard and considered perfect - I disagree and it is not scriptural. Authority based on incorrect doctrine does not constitue apostolic succession. Sorry.

Mary is placed on equal footing with Jesus - incorrect.

Praying to the saints is an incorrect practice and idolitary.

These are just a few individual practices of the Catholic Church that should indeed concern you.


God Bless

:crossrc:
 
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hannabl

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Mary is placed on equal footing with Jesus - incorrect.

Praying to the saints is an incorrect practice and idolitary.

These are just a few individual practices of the Catholic Church that should indeed concern you.
Catholics do NOT regard Mary as equal to Jesus. Mary was a mere human, Jesus is GOD. We do however respect her as the mother of Jesus.

We are NOT praying TO saints. We peay that they may pray for us. We ask them for their prayers, just like any Christian could ask a friend to pray for them.

Please, if discussing the Catholic part of the Church, do not use old misunderstandings as arguments. If you ask any catholic they would agree that we neither regard Mary as God, nor pray to saints.



Well, someone just asked for corrections;)

But, in general I like the advice to look up OBOB instead.


 
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tigersnare said:
I'm sure this isn't going to sit well, someone will be in here to "correct" your misunderstandings of the Catholic faith shortly I bet.

No reason too. You already pointed out that he has an incorrect interpretation of what Catholics believe. Maybe he will check around to see what is really believed. Those are pretty common misconceptions though.

I was also a Calvinist (PCA) prior to becoming Catholic. I'm going through RCIA classes now and should be fully part of the Church at Easter.
 
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Alchemist

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Hi Behe's Boy,

This will be my only post as I am neither a Calvinist, nor Roman Catholic. However, I must address some of the points you have made about Catholicism.

Behe's Boy said:
Christ may have ordained his apostles to carry on His mission - but that ordination did not included perfection.
The Church (that is, the pre-schism Catholic Christian Church) did not teach that any person is perfect, but that as a whole, the Church's doctrines must be correct. I do believe that if this was not the case, then the 'gates of Hades' surely have prevailed against the Church - after all, the Church remained strong for around 1000 years.

Behe's Boy said:
The pope is held in highest regard and considered perfect - I disagree and it is not scriptural.
In Roman Catholicism, the pope is not seen as perfect, but a special role is given to him as 'spokesperson' if you like for the Church. Eastern Orthodox do not agree with papal infallibility as defined by the Roman Catholic Church, as they believe it is unscriptural and against Church tradition.

Behe's Boy said:
Authority based on incorrect doctrine does not constitue apostolic succession. Sorry.
This is an interesting one. From a purely objective standpoint, the RCC does have apostolic succesion from Peter, whether or not its doctrine is correct or not. From the Orthodox perspective, after the Great Schism, the see of Rome effectively left the Church, so their apostolic succession is not valid. This would in some ways agree with your point, though the Roman Catholic Church believes that the Church is divided, and that it is still part of the 'Church'.

Behe's Boy said:
Mary is placed on equal footing with Jesus - incorrect.
This is not true. Mary, in Roman Catholic doctrine, was free from sin (like Jesus), but she was not divine (as Jesus was). This comes mainly from the Roman Catholic doctrines of the nature of sin, i.e. that we all share the guilt of Adam's sin. This is contrary to the doctrines of the eastern Church, which teaches that we are not guilty of Adam's 'Original Sin', although because of Original Sin, we are suspectible to sin due to the sinful world around us.

Behe's Boy said:
Praying to the saints is an incorrect practice and idolitary.
I am probably not the best one to explain this for you, but intercession does not equal worship. Catholics ask the saints to intercede in their prayer to God, in other words, to pray for them. This, in essence, is no different than asking anyone who is alive to pray for you. What would be idolatry is praying to the saints as though they were God, which is heresy, un-Biblical, and not Roman Catholic doctrine.

Hope this clears things up. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me :).

Peace,
Alchemist
 
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