davina

The sinner's prayer, though not "scriptural" per say is not a doctrine. It is a tradition. Furthermore, I come from the S. Baptist tradition, and we do not believe that the sinner's prayer saves anyone. I have never heard any attribute salvific value to it. While it is quite recent, it does not violate any precept of either hte Old or New Testaments, and many people who have come to faith in Jesus, have prayed it from their hearts and invited Jesus to come and live in their hearts. Oh, I thought only Catholics go by Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. Now you are telling me you go by Tradition also?

Floatingaxe, we have an unbroken link from 2,000 years ago Peter being the first pope down to 265 popes later in unbroken succession. no one else can make that claim. I will post more tomorrow. Peace.

It is ok to make fun of my Catholic faith. They made fun of Jesus also. This reminds me of that. I have christ in my heart, knowing I am following His way, the truth of the church he started. I have peace in my heart.

First of all Ovedya, I have a right to be here just like anyone else. I am not trying to turn anything anywhere, but my history and theology of my Catholic faith should be known to others who want to know the truth, and the truth from someone who knows, not from some anti-Catholic sites, or fallen away Catholics because of their excuse about the priest scandal, which has nothing to do with the faith itself. It happens in every church, look at Ted Haggart, head of 30 million Evangelicals. It happens in Synagogues, yet only the Catholics are persecuted as Jesus said we would be. We are very powerful and people do not like that. Thank you Jesus for this gift. Remember what John Henry Newman said before he converted to Catholicism "TO BE DEEP IN HISTORY, IS TO CEASE TO BE PROTESTANT". And he WAS a Protestant before becoming a Catholic. www.guydoud.com. Remember him? He was an Evangelical pastor for 17 years, converted to the Catholic faith last Easter. He was very well known. Being on the 700 club etc...read his testimony. What about Scott Hahn?? Die hard Protestant, turned Catholic...people are coming home to Rome.

Floatingaxe, you are not worthy to even be in the same category as these beloved Saints. They were tortured, beheaded, crucified upside down (Saint Peter), crucified in the form of an x made of a cross, they followed God's commandments. They were Holy people...if you are talking about what St. Paul said, that we are all POTENTIAL Saints, not all Saints. Read the lives of the Saints if you want to learn anything. then come back and we'll talk. Peace.

Why, thank you Butero. I do not have to convince you, the Holy Spirit will guide you. Let's start with our beloved Saints. There are thousands of them, why are they called Saints? Because they were martyred for the faith. We'll start with your first question, the Saints: Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt 22:39). Those in Heaven love us more intensely than they could have loved us while on earth. They pray for us constantly (Rev. 5:8), and their prayers are powerful (Jas. 5:16). Our prayers to the Saints in heaven, asking for their prayers for us, and their intercession with the Father DO NOT undermine Christ's role as Mediator (1 Tim 2:5). In asking Saints in heaven to pray for us we follow Paul's instructions: "I URGE THAT SUPPLICATIONS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSIONS, AND THANKSGIVINGS BE MADE FOR EVERYONE", for "THIS IS GOOD AND PLEASING TO GOD OUR SAVIOR (1 Tim 2:1-4). Mary's prayers are especially effective on our behalf because of her relationship with her Son (John 2:1-11). God gave Mary a special role. He saved her from all sin (Luke 1:28, 47), made her uniguely Blessed among all women (Luke 1:42), and made her a model for all Christians (Luke 1:48). At the end of her life he took her, body and soul, into Heaven--an image of our own Resurrection at the end of the world (Rev. 12:1-2). Now I will answer about Confession to a Catholic priest: Sometimes on our journey toward the heavenly promised land we stumble and fall into sin. God is always ready to lift us up and restore us to grace-filled fellowship with him. He does this through the sacrament of Pennance (or confession). Jesus gave his apostles power and authority to reconcile us to the Father. They received Jesus's own power to forgive sins when he breathed on them and said "RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHAT SINS YOU FORGIVE ARE FORGIVEN THEM, AND WHOSE SINS YOU RETAIN ARE RETAINED". (John 20:22-23) Paul notes that "All this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation...so we are ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing through us" (2 Cor 5:18-20). Through confession to a priest, God's minister, we have our sins forgiven, and we receive grace to help us resist future temptations. Come to purgatory now: Protestants must understand purgatory is NOT a Catholic invention. The doctrine to Gregory explaining the graffiti in the Catacombs, where Christians during the persecutions of the first 3 centuries recorded prayers for the dead. In Acts of Paul, he refers to Christians of praying to the dead. Such prayers would only been offered only if Christians believed in purgatory, even if they did not use that name for it. The words Trinity and Incarnation aren't in Scripture either, yet these doctrines are clearly taught in it. Prayers are not needed for those in Heaven, and noone can help those in hell. This means there is a third condition, at least temporarily. The verse 2Macc. 12:43-45, so clearly illustrates the existence of purgatory that at the time of the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books out of Maccabees out of their Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine. I will get back to you on the other answers, I must rest.

Did you know that before Calvin became a Calvinist, he was Lutheran? Calvin fell under the writings of the New Testament translation by Eramus and the writings of Luther. Luther and Calvin contradicted themselves because they claimed to use the Bible only, then went on to write Creeds in ADDITION to the bible. None of the 5 points of Tulip, are taught in the Bible. The "sinners prayer" is NOT in the Bible and won't save you. It is a false doctrine that developed from Calvinism and was first practiced less than 50 years ago.

Actually, the Catholic church is the biggest institution with 1.5 Billion members and more are coming to this church than ever. This is one sixth the human race. The Muslims are right behind with 1 Billion people. The Catholic church is the most powerful in the world. 110 million in India alone. all the alternatives to Catholicism are showing themselves to be inadequate. The worn-out secularism that is everywhere around us and that no one any longer finds satisfying, the odd cults and movements that offer temporary community but no permanent home, even the other incomplete brands of Christianity. As our tired world becomes ever more desperate, people are turning to the one alternative they never really had considered. The Catholic church. they are coming upon truth in the last place they expected to find it. Why? They are not considering the claims of the church out of a desire to win public favor. Catholicism, at least nowadays, is never popular. Our fallen world rewards the clever, not the good. Altough people try to avoid the hard doctrinal and moral truths the Catholic church offers them (BECAUSE HARD TRUTHS DEMAND THAT LIVES BE CHANGED), they nevertheless are attracted to the church. When they listen to the pope and the bishops in union with him, they hear words with the ring of truth--even if they find that truth hard to live by. Only the Catholic church was founded by Jesus, and only it has been able to preserve ALL Christian truth without any error--and a great numbers of people are coming to see this.

Hello, I would like to answer the above quote of the person who is struggling with the osas issue. I would like you to hear me out. Some people promote an especially attractive idea: All true christians, regardless of how they live, have an absolute assurance of salvation, once they accept Jesus into their hearts as "their personal Lord and Savior". The problem is that this belief is contrary to the Bible and costant christian teaching. Keep in mind what Paul told Christians of his day: "If we have died with him (in baptism) (See Rom 6:3-4) We shall also live with him; if we perservere we shall also reign with him" (2 Tim. 2:11-12). If we do not persevere, we shall not reign with him. In other words, christians can forfeit heaven. The bible makes it clear that Christians have a moral assurance of salvation (God will be true to his word and will grant salvation to those who have faith in Christ and are obedient to him (1 John 3:19-24), but the bible does not teach that christians have a guarantee of heaven. There can be no absolute assurance of salvation. Writing to Christians, Paul said, "See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness to you, provided you remain in his kindness, otherwise YOU TOO WILL BE CUT OFF". (Rom. 11:22-23, Matt. 18:212-35, 1 Cor 15:1-2, 2 Pet 2:20-21). Note that Paul includes an important condition: "Provided you remain in his kindness." He is saying that christians can lose their salvation by throwing it away. He warns "WHOEVER THINKS HE IS STANDING SECURE SHOULD TAKE CARE NOT TO FALL". (1 Cor 10:11-12). If someone asks me if I have been saved I say "I am redeemed by the blood of christ, I trust in him alone for my salvation, and, as the Bible teaches, I am 'working out my salvation in fear and trembling' (Phil 2:12), knowing that it is God's gift of Grace that is working in me".