Catholicism vs Christianity

[Anne2]

22 minutes ago, Sower said:

Listening to this discussion I hear much talk about respecting other peoples denominations/beliefs and not be offensive.

I have many loyal Roman Catholic friends/relatives, who do not read scripture, and believe as long as someone goes to church they will be OK.

Anyone here with enough chutzpah to tell me what you would do in this situation?
Would you try to share with them what the word says about salvation in case they do not know, and chance offending them and their beliefs? Should I tell them what God says about some of their church traditions that the bible forbids?  Or should I in love just be agreeable and simply wish them well, and stay in good grace?
What would you really do if they were your aunt or cousins, friends?
Thank you for any input.

 

Why do you think There was even an apostolic council? They sent a letter to the churches for Dogma! A decree from the apostles. Sola scriptura Has never been biblical. That only became poular with the printing press and Luther. I never thought I would find myself saying this but it is a fact. The seat of Moses was such a thing. Nothing "sectarian" came from that seat. The high priest was chief justice in that council. Therefore anything the judges brought to that court for decision had to be approved by the high priest. Read Deuteronomy 17.

That is why Jesus said to listen to them as from that seat. But not to do as they do. John the baptist and Jesus warned of their leven, myths, wives tales etc. As a sect they practiced differently than what was "LAW". If they could not agree it was not law  and remained a disputable matter. Oral law as the Rabbis claim was given to them is specious. There was no need for an oral law, as they claim. The high priest on his breasrplate of decision had the Urim and Thumim to consult God directly. The priesthood was the teaching authority in Israel, a shadow of the holy spirit in attendance. The Rabbis usurped that authority when the temple was destroyed. Urim and thummim lost? God took care of that.

Joh 11:51  And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

Edited May 23, 2022 by Anne2

[ayin jade]

16 minutes ago, Sower said:

Listening to this discussion I hear much talk about respecting other peoples denominations/beliefs and not be offensive.

I have many loyal Roman Catholic friends/relatives, who do not read scripture, and believe as long as someone goes to church they will be OK.

Anyone here with enough chutzpah to tell me what you would do in this situation?
Would you try to share with them what the word says about salvation in case they do not know, and chance offending them and their beliefs? Should I tell them what God says about some of their church traditions that the bible forbids?  Or should I in love just be agreeable and simply wish them well, and stay in good grace?
What would you really do if they were your aunt or cousins, friends?
Thank you for any input.

 

Start with praying for them, and getting others to pray for them. Prayer is crucial. Then share what the bible says, what the gospel message is. 

Telling them insulting things does not get folks to listen. The old saying, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar applies. 

Also remember the apostle Paul said 

1 Corinthians 13
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

[Anne2]

7 minutes ago, ayin jade said:

Start with praying for them, and getting others to pray for them. Prayer is crucial. Then share what the bible says, what the gospel message is. 

Telling them insulting things does not get folks to listen. The old saying, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar applies. 

Also remember the apostle Paul said 

1 Corinthians 13
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

Maybe we could also say some prayers for ourselves as well. That we might begin to heal our own divisions of what scripture says  so we can begin to tell them?

[Your closest friendnt]

57 minutes ago, Sower said:

Listening to this discussion I hear much talk about respecting other peoples denominations/beliefs and not be offensive.

I have many loyal Roman Catholic friends/relatives, who do not read scripture, and believe as long as someone goes to church they will be OK.

Anyone here with enough chutzpah to tell me what you would do in this situation?
Would you try to share with them what the word says about salvation in case they do not know, and chance offending them and their beliefs? Should I tell them what God says about some of their church traditions that the bible forbids?  Or should I in love just be agreeable and simply wish them well, and stay in good grace?
What would you really do if they were your aunt or cousins, friends?
Thank you for any input.

 

I am not very please with the way you have describe them, and they way you think about them. 

In paragraph two, the first allegation is that they do not read scripture, and the second is that they believe that as long as someone goes to church he will be OK. 

I am sure that you know that someone is Justified in the eyes Jesus Christ because he believes that Jesus Christ died for the forgiveness of their sins...the scripture says with the heart man believes unto righteousness, or when anyone believes that Jesus Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins, his sins are forgiven...he is in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that can happen without someone reading the scriptures and outside any church...

They do not have to be disciples and teachers of the Gospel to be in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  They only need to believe, by faith alone...

This how God wanted it to be, and he has no regrets about it.

(The one who complain about that is the Devil, and for obvious reasons).

(Just do not bring the Devil in the picture, because you are going to make everything ugly).

Edited May 23, 2022 by Your closest friendnt

[Marathoner]

2 hours ago, JohnD said:

Is Mary co-redemptrix with Christ (Isaiah 43:11)?

Is salvation by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-10)?

Here's my suggestion: why don't you ask a Roman Catholic? 

[Omegaman 3.0]

Just as another side note, if we are holding out on joining a local body of believers until we find one we can agree with on all points of doctrine, practice and style, we probably should start out own assembly, and be the only member. The problem with that, is no one helps us when we need it, we may not haave visibility of other who need us, and we certainly won't have the community of gathering together as we are instructed to do. 

I have only be a Christian for a tad over 4 decades, but I have been a serious one all that time. In that time, I did come across one church, that I could find no fault with (unless one considers having no formal worship times with professional quality music leaders, and not enough people to have a large budget for expansive ministries to be critical).

I had no theological disagreements there (rare for me, lol) and the fellowship was great, teaching was great, everyone participated (there were no "pew potatoes") and we all did works of service in the community. It was really a great experience. Driving over 2 hours from home to church each way (when the traffic was good) was an inconvenient though.

So, now I compromise, knowing that even though I do not agree with my pastors on some things theologically speaking, the teaching is generally very sound. I may not always like some projects they allocate funds to, on other things I am very on board. It is a mixed bag. There are no pervect churches, because there are not perfect people.

What I think is important, at least for me personally, is to look at a church, not for what it can do for me, but what I can do for others there.

We all have times, talent, and treasure. How do we use it? If I can hammer nails, use a paint roller, teach, watch over kids, vacuum carpets, organize, file, research, work in the clothing ministry or food panty, etc. then that is reason enough to be there. Most of us can do something, and if there are those who really cannot, then they are an oportunity for others to be a conduit for the love of Christ! 

[Omegaman 3.0]

1 hour ago, Sower said:

I have many loyal Roman Catholic friends/relatives, who do not read scripture, and believe as long as someone goes to church they will be OK.

Anyone here with enough chutzpah to tell me what you would do in this situation?
Would you try to share with them what the word says about salvation in case they do not know, and chance offending them and their beliefs? Should I tell them what God says about some of their church traditions that the bible forbids?  Or should I in love just be agreeable and simply wish them well, and stay in good grace?
What would you really do if they were your aunt or cousins, friends?
Thank you for any input.

Truth is truth, and meant to be shared, keeping it from people, might be comfortable, but it is not the best thing in my opinion. We can be honest, and if we have the time, we can be patient, what we do not need to do, is share truth and be a jerk about it!

Having said that, I would look to how Jesus and the apostles shared, and use that as my model.

[Marathoner]

6 minutes ago, Omegaman 3.0 said:

Truth is truth, and meant to be shared, keeping it from people, might be comfortable, but it is not the best thing in my opinion. We can be honest, and if we have the time, we can be patient, what we do not need to do, is share truth and be a jerk about it!

Having said that, I would look to how Jesus and the apostles shared, and use that as my model.

That's crucial, brother. There is sharing the truth in meekness with love, and there's being a jerk. Jerks accomplish nothing worthwhile except alienating their listener. If that is the goal, then the mission is a success more often than not.

These are the ones whom the Lord sends me to: those who have been burned one way or another by unwise Christians. My adopted mother was the first so I learned much about patient, enduring witness walking in self-control. Patience is the key.

Subjecting others to litmus tests is a poor example. Are we not to love our neighbor as ourselves? Our Lord and Savior never once said to love our neighbor "only if they pass your tests," or "only if you approve of what they're doing."

I've witnessed a great deal of that coming from church-goers, so there's a church I'll only visit once. I'm reminded of a men's meeting I attended many years ago. The men started talking about the need to "bomb Iran into the stone age." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Not everyone who carries a Bible pays attention to the Lord.

[Omegaman 3.0]

17 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

I've witnessed a great deal of that coming from church-goers, so there's a church I'll only visit once. I'm reminded of a men's meeting I attended many years ago. The men started talking about the need to "bomb Iran into the stone age." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Not everyone who carries a Bible pays attention to the Lord.

Yeah, Jesus came so people could escape Hell, and some Christians want to make sure they don't! Great witness, way to love people for whom Christ died, and who are sinners (like us) created in the image of God (like us)!

[B-B]

4 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Not everyone who carries a Bible pays attention to the Lord.

Indeed...