Paulie, you go over a lot, I hope you do not mind if I hack up your post a bit?
The idea of an infallible Pope in any way, shape, or form - No man ever is or will be infallible on this present earth other than Christ.
Infallible does not mean sinless, it means free from error, and our view of the Papacy does not mean that every utterance is free from error, but only very specific cases, in the history of the Catholic Church, there have only been a handful of things counted as infallible, the Ecumenical Councils and a few authoritative statements by Popes.
you said that no one but Christ is infallible, lets use define it really quickly "protected by God from error"
so if no man has ever been infallible, then Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (and all the other people who wrote the Bible) may have written things that are wrong?
I do not think this, but I am not the one saying that infallibility is impossible.
the basic idea is the same, God protects His Church. the idea is that God would not let the Gospel writer say something untrue, and as a Catholic, I do not believe God would allow the Church to teach error.
Absolution by the priest - This one really seems unnecessary to me. There's nothing wrong with the priest telling someone they've been forgiven as long as the person understands that it's by Christ's atoning work for them that they've been forgiven and not the authority of the priest. But this leads me to my next issue...
James 5:15-16
14Is anyone among you sick?
Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.
If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
it is not "oh your sins are forgiven no matter what"
it is, do this, and if you have sinned you will be forgiven.
John 20:23
If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven
that last part in John 20:23 seems odd, if confession to a priest was not part of the Christian religion, then why would Jesus add the part about not forgiving?
View of Scripture - This would be my biggest point of contention. I disagree with the inclusion of extra books in the canon, and I strongly disagree with the idea that it is not closed. I also disagree with any notion that any person or even the church itself would stand on par with the authority of Scripture. All churches and denominations must submit themselves to the authority of the Bible, and any that do not are no longer Christian. Reason, tradition, and experience are authorities to us as well, but those are subject to the authority of the Bible. Sacred Tradition? No. Sacred Tradition is neither infallible nor God-breathed. This is a hill I'm willing to die on. It's also for this reason that I would never recommend attending a Catholic church to anyone. I don't mean to sound harsh, I just view this issue with a great deal of seriousness.
oh so much to deal with here
like there are a million things I have to say and I am not sure where to start
why do you view these books as "extra" books?
you have to have a standard to judge from before you say if something has extra or not enough.
that is a serious problem I see with Sola Scripture, the books of the Bible do not contain within themselves a list of what books are to be counted as Cannon.
if Sola Scripture says that all doctrines are to be found directly in the Bible, then either the cannon of scripture is not important or you are using an authority other then the Bible for doctrine
not even all the books of the Old Testament are quoted in the New Testament.
and what right do we have to say that a letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians is on the same level as the book of Genesis?
most people have heard of the Gnostic Gospels like the Gospel of Thomas, how can we say that is NOT scripture?
I have no problem with this, I believe in a Church that God has given authority to. That is protected from teaching error, so when they say "these books are all scripture" I just say ok
as for the "extra" books that Catholics use, I believe that they are part of the Bible just like all the other books of Scripture. Why do you say they are not?
and I am not insulted that you do not recommend people attend Catholic services, we do not agree on things, why would you recommend people go to a place that you think has wrong teachings? Just seems logical.
View of works - This is the last one I'll mention, but it's very loose because I'm not sure of the RCC's official standing on this issue (so I'm open to being educated on this). I have simply heard here and there that many Catholics believe that it is not by Christ's atoning sacrifice alone, but by our works as well that we are saved. I did actually have a face-to-face conversation with a guy once over this issue, and he was staunchly convinced that we are saved by our works.
Of course, this isn't too far off from many evangelical churches who implicitly teach the same thing in the sense that because they don't communicate the gospel clearly, they believe that God's view of them (and for some even their salvation) changes based on how well they behave. That's how I really grew up thinking if I'm honest.
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhg
lots of Catholics really suck
we do NOT earn our salvation, we can not earn our way into heaven
the Catholic Church does not teach that but so many Catholics were poorly taught that they do not really make this distinction.
ok... uhg sorry.... I know you are being honest but it just really makes me sad that so many Catholics really mess this up.
ok, lets me pepper you with some more Bible verses
John 14:15
If you love me, keep my commands.
the parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:31-46 has Jesus focusing on the actions done by people.
St. Paul several times gives a list of people (idolaters, fornicators, ect) who will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
not everyone who runs wins the crown 1 Corinthians 9:25
you do not earn your way into heaven, it is all about His grace
but we have to accept His grace, and choosing sin is a rejection of God
kind of like Adam and Eve, they did not earn the garden of Eden, they did not work for it. but in choosing sin, they rejected that free gift that was given by God.
another thing, we can not resist sin on our own, so if we do resist temptation, it is all because of the grace of God
so there is no room for pride in the economy of Salvation
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So there you have it. I'm not here to beat you guys up, and I'm totally open and willing to be educated where I have wrongly reflected your beliefs.[/QUOTE]
you were being honest and open, I appreciate it
I am so sorry if I came across as too combative in my responses