I was raised a catholic, than spent my teens and twenties believing in a creator/divine power.
In my late 20’s, prayer to an unknown god lead me to scripture passages from the strangest ways. After spending some time in the Bible, I found that lots of teaching from the church was in direct contradiction with the word of god.
I’m not one to preach, but putting men between us and god is not what he wants for us. He calls us to call no one father but me. He calls us to have a personal relationship with him.
For Catholics taking issue with Francis, may be good time to open the Bible and get the story unadultered.
Just like I wouldn’t advise anyone to take the message of the constitution from their polisci professor, I wouldn’t advise anyone to take the message of god from the Catholic Church.
All in love, nothing here intended to be offensive or demeaning, although that is how my family takes my opinion on this.
Hi, thank you for sharing your life experience. I do like to troll, but these are sincere questions for you based upon your post above. I don’t have a lot of opportunity to ask real thinking Catholics questions that seems a i local to me. When you have three minutes, I’d love to get your take on in some things I’ve seen that don’t make sense to me.
Do you believe the church alone can forgive sins through confession?
Do you believe a man/ priest can actually make bread and wine into blood and flesh or do you think it’s symbolic?
Do you believe in purgatory?
Do you believe Mary was a virgin her whole life, or just prior to Jesus’ birth?
Do you believe dead people can intercede with god on our behalf? (Praying to saints?)
Do you believe the church alone can forgive sins through confession?
Only God has the power to forgive sins. Jesus lended the authority to act on his behalf to the apostles, and told them that any sins they forgive are forgiven and any sins they retain are retained. Priests were given the authority, through Christ, to forgive sins. It's biblical.
Do you believe a man/ priest can actually make bread and wine into blood and flesh or do you think it’s symbolic?
Only through God is this mystery possible. We do not believe that the priest alone transfigures the host into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of jesus. But only through the will of God does it happen. Do you not believe that God has the power to allow that to happen if he wanted to?
Do you believe in purgatory?
Yes. Coincidentally, the books that martin luther and the protestants removed from the old testament actually contain the strongest evidence for purgatory. Funny how that works.
Do you believe Mary was a virgin her whole life, or just prior to Jesus’ birth?
Mary is the new arc of the covenant. The arc of the covenant was only permitted to hold the ten commandments and other select items. Therefore, Mary was made as the pure and only vessel for Christ. If mary had other children, why would Christ tell John to care for her while he was on the cross? Jesus was her only child and her care was given to John when jesus died. Again, it's biblical.
Do you believe dead people can intercede with god on our behalf? (Praying to saints?)
There is a difference between worship prayer and prayer for intercession. When we pray to the saints it is no different than asking your friend or grandmother to pray to God on your behalf. Wouldn't you want the most holy men and women of all time to also be praying to God to help with you struggles? The bible says that the prayer of a righteous man is indeed more powerful.
I was raised a catholic, than spent my teens and twenties believing in a creator/divine power.
In my late 20’s, prayer to an unknown god lead me to scripture passages from the strangest ways. After spending some time in the Bible, I found that lots of teaching from the church was in direct contradiction with the word of god. I’m not one to preach, but putting men between us and god is not what he wants for us. He calls us to call no one father but me. He calls us to have a personal relationship with him.
For Catholics taking issue with Francis, may be good time to open the Bible and get the story unadultered.
Just like I wouldn’t advise anyone to take the message of the constitution from their polisci professor, I wouldn’t advise anyone to take the message of god from the Catholic Church.
All in love, nothing here intended to be offensive or demeaning, although that is how my family takes my opinion on this.
Hi, thank you for sharing your life experience. I do like to troll, but these are sincere questions for you based upon your post above. I don’t have a lot of opportunity to ask real thinking Catholics questions that seems a i local to me. When you have three minutes, I’d love to get your take on in some things I’ve seen that don’t make sense to me.
Do you believe the church alone can forgive sins through confession?
Do you believe a man/ priest can actually make bread and wine into blood and flesh or do you think it’s symbolic?
Do you believe in purgatory?
Do you believe Mary was a virgin her whole life, or just prior to Jesus’ birth?
Do you believe dead people can intercede with god on our behalf? (Praying to saints?)
Do you believe the church alone can forgive sins through confession? Only God has the power to forgive sins. Jesus lended the authority to act on his behalf to the apostles, and told them that any sins they forgive are forgiven and any sins they retain are retained. Priests were given the authority, through Christ, to forgive sins. It's biblical.
Do you believe a man/ priest can actually make bread and wine into blood and flesh or do you think it’s symbolic? Only through God is this mystery possible. We do not believe that the priest alone transfigures the host into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of jesus. But only through the will of God does it happen. Do you not believe that God has the power to allow that to happen if he wanted to?
Do you believe in purgatory? Yes. Coincidentally, the books that martin luther and the protestants removed from the old testament actually contain the strongest evidence for purgatory. Funny how that works.
Do you believe Mary was a virgin her whole life, or just prior to Jesus’ birth? Mary is the new arc of the covenant. The arc of the covenant was only permitted to hold the ten commandments and other select items. Therefore, Mary was made as the pure and only vessel for Christ. If mary had other children, why would Christ tell John to care for her while he was on the cross? Jesus was her only child and her care was given to John when jesus died. Again, it's biblical.
Do you believe dead people can intercede with god on our behalf? (Praying to saints?) There is a difference between worship prayer and prayer for intercession. When we pray to the saints it is no different than asking your friend or grandmother to pray to God on your behalf. Wouldn't you want the most holy men and women of all time to also be praying to God to help with you struggles? The bible says that the prayer of a righteous man is indeed more powerful.