Ask a Catholic

[danielpalos]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Better contraceptives at lower cost!

 

[Meriweather]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Better contraceptives at lower cost!

You are speaking about the value of contraceptives. Meanwhile, the Church teaches the value of life, how life is our greatest gift and as such should be revered.

As a society (and as a Church) we must understand these are two different topics.

 

[Oz and the Orchestra]

Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the Catholic faith?

Yes! I was born into and brought up in the Catholic faith and only went to Catholic schools before college so how come I ended up a Marxist?

 

[Meriweather]

Yes! I was born into and brought up in the Catholic faith and only went to Catholic schools before college so how come I ended up a Marxist?

You ended up a Marxist because you favor communism over capitalism. For some reason you believe people who have must be forced, by big government, into giving what they worked for to others.

Perhaps you never had a good example in the Catholic faith of people voluntarily giving to, and helping, the poor and those in need. Or maybe you saw what was given was never enough?

What is your understanding of why you believe communism is better than capitalism?

 

[danielpalos]

You are speaking about the value of contraceptives. Meanwhile, the Church teaches the value of life, how life is our greatest gift and as such should be revered.

As a society (and as a Church) we must understand these are two different topics.

To help reduce any perceived need for aborting a potential, fellow human being. Right-wingers seem to merely practice the abomination of hypocrisy in border threads.

 

[Meriweather]

To help reduce any perceived need for aborting a potential, fellow human being. Right-wingers seem to merely practice the abomination of hypocrisy in border threads.

The problem with any emotional topic such as abortion is not hypocrisy from either side, it is the failure from both to adhere to the specific issue. Let's take divorce for example, especially 'no fault divorce'. Someone starts a thread on why people should stay married. It is almost immediately taken off the topic of encouraging people to remain married over divorcing by all the what ifs: What if someone is being physically abused, then emotionally abused, or just isn't happy. Should someone have to be unhappy until one spouse dies.

In the US, approximately half of all marriages end in divorce. What are the positive factors in remaining married? Why should we push favoring marriage vows over divorce? And....What are the chances that such a discussion would almost immediately turn into all the reasons for favoring current divorce mores? Same with any emotional topic, really. Try starting a thread on reasons why people should favor life over abortion. Want to bet almost immediately someone brings up pregnancy caused by rape or incest?

People feel one exception scores a win over the entire issue. And all before reasons for choosing life ever get a scant toe-hold.

 

[danielpalos]

The problem with any emotional topic such as abortion is not hypocrisy from either side, it is the failure from both to adhere to the specific issue. Let's take divorce for example, especially 'no fault divorce'. Someone starts a thread on why people should stay married. It is almost immediately taken off the topic of encouraging people to remain married over divorcing by all the what ifs: What if someone is being physically abused, then emotionally abused, or just isn't happy. Should someone have to be unhappy until one spouse dies.

In the US, approximately half of all marriages end in divorce. What are the positive factors in remaining married? Why should we push favoring marriage vows over divorce? And....What are the chances that such a discussion would almost immediately turn into all the reasons for favoring current divorce mores? Same with any emotional topic, really. Try starting a thread on reasons why people should favor life over abortion. Want to bet almost immediately someone brings up pregnancy caused by rape or incest?

People feel one exception scores a win over the entire issue. And all before reasons for choosing life ever get a scant toe-hold.

Are there no exceptions to any rules?

 

[Meriweather]

Are there no exceptions to any rules?

Because there are exceptions, everyone believes they and their reason fits into the exceptions category. The exception for physical abuse grows to include emotional abuse which grows to include "but I'm just not happy any more".

When everyone feels they (or their reason) should be included in the exception category, exceptions are no longer in play. We see clearly how this came about in divorce and abortions. The list of "exceptions" became all inclusive.

 

[james bond]

Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the Catholic faith?

I went to a private Catholic parochial elementary school. I think the stations of the cross were the most painful. My question is do you think the Catholics still need "seven" sacraments? Have they changed over the years? If so, what are they now?

 

[Meriweather]

I went to a private Catholic parochial elementary school. I think the stations of the cross were the most painful. My question is do you think the Catholics still need "seven" sacraments? Have they changed over the years? If so, what are they now?

The seven sacraments, passed on by the Apostles, are founded on the life of Christ and his teachings.

1. Jesus was baptized and commanded baptism.
2. Jesus announced the forgiveness of sins
3. Jesus instituted The Last Supper
4. Jesus gathered the Twelve (a special priesthood) around him
5. Jesus taught that marriage was between a man and a woman and a lifetime commitment.
6. Jesus healed the sick and the dying.
7. Jesus announced the advent of the Holy Spirit into our lives.

Jesus' life does not change over the years. He did what he did, said what he said. Which part of Jesus' life and teachings deserves elimination, even after two thousand years?

 

[james bond]

The seven sacraments, passed on by the Apostles, are founded on the life of Christ and his teachings.

1. Jesus was baptized and commanded baptism.
2. Jesus announced the forgiveness of sins
3. Jesus instituted The Last Supper
4. Jesus gathered the Twelve (a special priesthood) around him
5. Jesus taught that marriage was between a man and a woman and a lifetime commitment.
6. Jesus healed the sick and the dying.
7. Jesus announced the advent of the Holy Spirit into our lives.

Jesus' life does not change over the years. He did what he did, said what he said. Which part of Jesus' life and teachings deserves elimination, even after two thousand years?

I haven't studied Catholicism since elementary school. I'm Christian since 2012, so fairly new to Christianity. I think baptism, communion, having the Holy Spirit in your life, having Jesus in your heart (remembrance for what he did) and worshiping God is what's required, i.e. we don't have seven sacraments. I never became Catholic because I couldn't attend church every week and it was a venial sin. I think Catholic kids end up with a lot of rules and regulations and are some of the worse kids early on. Sure, eventually they and myself have learned.

I think Catholicism is the most strict while other Christian religions do not seem to have the same Jesus' rules.

ETA: What is the significance of twelve apostles in #4?

 

[Meriweather]

I haven't studied Catholicism since elementary school. I'm Christian since 2012, so fairly new to Christianity. I think baptism, communion, having the Holy Spirit in your life, having Jesus in your heart (remembrance for what he did) and worshiping God is what's required, i.e. we don't have seven sacraments. I never became Catholic because I couldn't attend church every week and it was a venial sin. I think Catholic kids end up with a lot of rules and regulations and are some of the worse kids early on. Sure, eventually they and myself have learned.

I think Catholicism is the most strict while other Christian religions do not seem to have the same Jesus' rules.

ETA: What is the significance of twelve apostles in #4?

It is only a venial sin if you could have attended Sunday Mass but decided not to. Children are not expected to get themselves to Mass, so no sin there. What rules and regulations so you mean?

The Sacrament of Holy Orders (becoming a Catholic priest) follows the way of Jesus selecting the Twelve for special service to God and man.

 

[james bond]

It is only a venial sin if you could have attended Sunday Mass but decided not to. Children are not expected to get themselves to Mass, so no sin there. What rules and regulations so you mean?

The Sacrament of Holy Orders (becoming a Catholic priest) follows the way of Jesus selecting the Twelve for special service to God and man.

I didn't know that back then. I thought it was a venial sin for missing a mass. Remember one sister saying that.

It was taught to me as my catechism. Obviously, it wasn't this extensive. Here it is online (scroll down) -- Catechism of the Catholic Church

 

[seaofnails]

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Many people do not realize or understand the significance of the many conflicts, disagreements, inconsistencies and contradictions between Bible translations.

For example - in 1Ti 5:19, the Catholic Bible contradicts the Protestant Bible

The Catholic Bible - 1Ti 5:19 Against a “ priest “ receive not an accusation……………..
The Protestant - 1Ti 5:19 Against an “ elder “ receive not an accusation……………… .

And here are all of the other Catholic translated verses.
Act 14:23 They ordained them PRIESTS in every church
Act 15:2 Paul should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and PRIEST
Tit 1:5 ordain PRIESTS in every city
Jas 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the PRIESTS
1Ti 5:17 Let the PRIESTS that rule well be esteemed worthy of double honour

But this is not the Greek word for PRIESTS. How could two bible organizations claiming to accurately translate the Holy Spirit Inspired Word Of God be translating contradictions into the same exact language ? In the New Testament, there is an extremely major and critical difference between an Elder and a Priest.

Roman Catholic faith system demands that it does not rely upon scriptures alone as they proclaim in the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ~ SECOND EDITION # 78 -

The living transmission, of the message of God accomplished by the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition. and # 95 - It is clear ...... Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the other.

In other words, the Bible cannot stand, cannot be valid and Scripture cannot exist / STAND cannot be legitimate without the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic teaches that - Jesus gathered the Twelve (a special priesthood) around him - Jesus gathered together, twelve special priests, But this is not what the scripture teaches

The Roman Church attempts to support this unscriptural claim by eliminating and removing / deleting the Greek word “ πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros = ELDER “ and then inserting the word “ ἱερεύς - hiereus / hee-er-yooce' PRIEST The Greek word πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros is not the definition meaning a priest, in fact the Roman Catholic Translation multiple times translates the word πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros as the word Priest. by deleting and removing the Greek word πρεσβύτερος - Presbuteros and changing it into the word Priest, and then changing all of the other instances referring to elders, with the same exact word - ELDER πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros - they change these words to say " the ancient ones " instead of elders.

But all of these verses are using the Greek word “ πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros = ELDER “ This word has absolutely nothing to do with the meaning of a PRIEST

In Fact - Paul goes on to explain what this word means
Heb 11:1-2 By faith, the ELDERS “ πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros = ELDERS “ obtained a good report.
Who is Paul saying are the ELDERS Abel Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac and Jacob, Sara herself was an ELDER “ πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros = ELDERS “ Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae; David, Samuel and the prophets: - were called ELDERS

The prostitute / harlot - Rahab the harlot - also was called an “ πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros = ELDER “

In fact, in the Manuscripts - there is not a single “ PRIEST “ anywhere in the entire Bible whom is called “ πρεσβύτερος - presbuteros = ELDER “ this is not a Biblical tradition, but simply the Roman Catholic Church removing and deleting a word and replacing it with completely different word that is not even related or associated to the other word.

How is it that that Roman Catholics pretend to have Scriptures for their faith and why would they deceive people to make the claim that Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the other. Catholics are attempting to convince people that they have manuscripts for their faith that also support the Magisterium of the Church - in declaring that that one of these alone cannot stand without the other.

But in Catholicism, Jesus’ life story is constantly changing over the years, Catholicism is changing the scriptures and also changing its very own Magisterium teaching, with every pope there are constant changes and modifications to the evolving Catholic religious System.

Which part of Jesus' life and teachings deserves elimination, even after two thousand years? And how can we then separate Sacred Scripture from the life of Jesus ?

This is everywhere in the entire Translation,

This is no different than the Catholic Church changing and deleting the Hebrew word “ pawlee yesh' “ This Hebrew word means = “ marvelous joining wife " “ pawlee yesh'

This is nothing to do with the Italian / Canaanite word = “ Concubine “

The Italian / Canaanite meaning of a concubine is basically a sex slave or a prostitute = a woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not legally married, - socially or sexually subservient; a mistress -

But the meaning and definition the Canaanite / Latin word concubine is nowhere found in the Bible - the Bible clearly describes additional wives to the men of God as “ marvelous joining wife " “ pawlee yesh' - this is the meaning of this word - the Hebrew definition.

three words - that make up and come together to create the word pawlee yesh' - which is the very word that we see as the Canaanite / Latin Concubine in the Catholic translations

1, pâwyesh - paw - yesh' = UNITE AND BE JOIN TOGETHER, MEET OR CONNECT TOGETHER CONNECT AND JOIN YOURSELVES TOGETHER

2, אִשָּׁה - esh- shaw' - meaning = A woman - a female or a wife, woman or a wife - And = אִישׁ - 'ı̂ysh / eesh - means = any individual person and also - male or a male person

3. and pawlee = “ פָּלָא “ means = wonderful, amazing, and marvelous and great.

Just look this Hebrew word up in the translation - it is the same for the last 2000 years. Only the Trinitarians have changed the meaning - not the Jews and not the Hebrew Bible
Click here
and pawlee yesh' - in Hebrew means " a wondrous connecting wife / woman" - not concubine

The Greek word for wife, is also " Gunay / Gunē - or Gumay and we even have – Greek and Hebrew historical linguistical reference Pawlee Guma - Poly gamy. - a great wife.

When we go through the Bible making little tiny edits to thousands of words and thousands of sentences we have a Translation of Scripture that is not in agreement with Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are not connected and not associated to one another - that neither of them are standing or in agreement with the other. Catholics are just inventing, changing and modifying Sacred Scripture and going into the manuscript deleting words, changing meanings and removing and replacing words to conform to Magisterium of the Church and Roman / Canaanite traditions.

Then the life of Jesus and his teachings are meaningless, and Catholics are only demonstrating how they personally believe and feel that it is proper to separate and remove Sacred Scripture from the life of Jesus. We end up with an alternative and distorted rendering of the life of Jesus and his message.

If Catholics are willing to completely transform and change the life of Jesus to alter the message of Jesus to present the wives of the Godly men of God into sex slaves, prostitutes and immoral Italian / Canaanite sexual deviants and shameful women - how is Magisterium representing the life of the savior ?

Pretending that the elders are called as Priests, this only another example of simply separating the Magisterium from Sacred Scripture and the life of Jesus.

Which scripture is important to you ?

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the Catholic faith?

Is it really necessary to believe in things like virgin birth, resurrection, and saints performing miracles in order to be considered Catholic?

 

[james bond]

Is it really necessary to believe in things like virgin birth, resurrection, and saints performing miracles in order to be considered Catholic?

Not just Catholic, but as Christians, we believe the resurrection in order to recognize and understand the power of God. It means you believe in Jesus as our savior as well as his father creating life. Only he who created life have the power to resurrect it. From there, humans sinned so God created a way for us to be saved. Are there other parts of the resurrection that I am missing? Do Catholics believe other miracles also happened before and after the resurrection?

Another difference may be the immaculate conception versus a virgin birth. Mary was a virgin when she gave normal human birth to Jesus and after, but she didn't remain a virgin as she gave birth to other children with Joseph. The virgin birth was a miracle. The immaculate conception is a Catholic attribute accorded to Mary such as she was sinless. That wasn't true as Mary had original sin and had committed other sins.

 

[Meriweather]

Another difference may be the immaculate conception versus a virgin birth. Mary was a virgin when she gave normal human birth to Jesus and after, but she didn't remain a virgin as she gave birth to other children with Joseph. The virgin birth was a miracle. The immaculate conception is a Catholic attribute accorded to Mary such as she was sinless. That wasn't true as Mary had original sin and had committed other sins.

Those who use only modern English translations of scripture as the word of God, naturally will reach these conclusions. Catholics are rooted in Apostolic tradition, which means going back to the Aramaic, Greek, and Latin languages. Words that the English translate as brother, may be more accurately translated as 'kin'. Kin, of course, can mean brother/sister--but it is not limited to that. Catholics accept this.

The story of the Immaculate Conception is a long a beautiful one. It starts with the Gospel telling us that Mary was highly favored; filled with grace. Can Original Sin enter when one is filled with grace? Non-Catholics do not credit Mary's later appearances, one to a young peasant girl, whom she introduced herself as the Immaculate Conception. Neither scripture nor tradition offers any description of "other sins", so I am unclear where you came up with that.

 

[Meriweather]

Is it really necessary to believe in things like virgin birth, resurrection, and saints performing miracles in order to be considered Catholic?

The resurrection and virgin birth, yes. Saints performing miracles, no, but it is interesting to note that Jesus said others would perform miracles greater than the ones he performed.

 

[james bond]

Neither scripture nor tradition offers any description of "other sins", so I am unclear where you came up with that.

We know she had original sin and was human. Thus, she committed other sins. Otherwise, why would she need God's grace (love, benevolence, mercy)?

 

[james bond]

Those who use only modern English translations of scripture as the word of God, naturally will reach these conclusions. Catholics are rooted in Apostolic tradition, which means going back to the Aramaic, Greek, and Latin languages. Words that the English translate as brother, may be more accurately translated as 'kin'. Kin, of course, can mean brother/sister--but it is not limited to that. Catholics accept this.

The story of the Immaculate Conception is a long a beautiful one. It starts with the Gospel telling us that Mary was highly favored; filled with grace. Can Original Sin enter when one is filled with grace? Non-Catholics do not credit Mary's later appearances, one to a young peasant girl, whom she introduced herself as the Immaculate Conception. Neither scripture nor tradition offers any description of "other sins", so I am unclear where you came up with that.

Can you give a brief explanation of the immaculate conception?

This is where we veer off in different religions/beliefs under Christianity. Mine is Methodist. We don't use the immaculate conception. Virgin birth, yes. Mary wasn't like Jesus. Jesus was the only sinless human because he was also part God. Mary was fully human. She needed God's mercy and to be saved by her son for her original sin and other sins.