by minimus 180 Replies latest jw friends
I've read literature against Catholicism and I agree that some of their beliefs are non biblical and/or opposed to the Bible.
My understanding of transsubstantiation is that Catholics view it as the actual drinking and eating of Christ.
Priests and nuns look "spooky" to me. The Pope looks weird to me too, especially the present one.
Just like the Pope, "The Slave" is always right, even when both are obviously not.
I was raised as a Catholic so I don't find anything odd about it. All things considered, I prefer it to the JWs which seems more like an Amway meeting.
W
Hi,
My understanding is that the Catholics believe thus
On the core beliefs, I agree. They have a few oddities but who has perfect theology?
Some Catholics exercise the gifts of the Spirit which is awesome. A friend from my church was in a Catholic church like that.
That said, I have been in one or two Catholic churches with my "practicing" Catholic in-laws and none of them are born again, they are just following the "traditions of men" :(
All the best,
Stephen
Minimus,
I've read literature against Catholicism and I agree that some of their beliefs are non biblical and/or opposed to the Bible.
What beliefs of the Catholic Church 'oppose' the Bible. Given that the Bible (NT) was given to us by the Church?
My understanding of transsubstantiation is that Catholics view it as the actual drinking and eating of Christ.
It becomes to us the body and blood of Christ. It is a Divine mystery ... and has been a Christian belief since the first Christians. Jesus said you must eat my flesh and drink my blood ... and he did not use symbolic language ... symbolism is a convenient Watchtower legalistic escape clause to resist the truth of Jesus teaching. The Jews who heard this walked away from Jesus, thinking he was speaking literally ... since Judaism relies greatly on symbolism and allegory, Jesus would have had to make it clear he was speaking literally in order to offend the Jews.
Priests and nuns look "spooky" to me. The Pope looks weird to me too, especially the present one.
Catholic and Orthodox tradition has preserved even the very dress and style from early Rom and Greece, when St. Peter and Paul founded the Roman Church, and St. Andrew counded the Church in what is now Constantinople. Both halves of the Church have acted to preserve everything for future Christian generations. Some of the WT drama clothing is taken from the same era ... and when I was at District Conventions, I would hearken back to Orthodoxy because of the costumes the JWs used were so strikingly. It is not meant to be "spooky" but to retain everything possible and change nothing, as they felt an obligation to pass on the faith in every aspect, and totally preserved.
Just like the Pope, "The Slave" is always right, even when both are obviously not.
The Pope makes mistakes and is not always right - and no self-respecting Catholic would ever say otherwise ... he is not 'infallible' as this is an abused notion by non-Catholics. The Pope can only be 'infallible' on matters of faith and morals that the Church has always taught, or was part of tradition. The Pope has only invoked 'infallibility' on two teachings in the history of the Church ... both dealing with the Blessed Virgin Mary. There is no comparison to the wicked GB overlords and the good Pope who does not rule, but merely exhorts.
Amazing, I was a born-in JW. I left the Dubs in my 20's and wandered aimlessly for a few years through secularism/atheism. Eventually, I decided to check out religion and finally joined the Episcopal Church. I learned a lot there and my questions grew. I met my husband and we began attending the Lutheran Church together, although my membership remained in the Episcopal Church. We married in the Lutheran Church. My Lutheran pastor helped me learn a whole lot more about Christianity and I became obsessed with finding the Church that Jesus started. I grew tired of denominationalism. I finally discovered that the Church Jesus left behind is the Catholic Church so I went through RCIA six years ago and here I am.
Personally, I love it. It's nothing like I thought it would be. Almost everything I thought the Church taught was wrong. And it's actually very easy and liberating for me, after being a Dub. Life is much, much more fulfilling and rewarding as a Catholic than as a Dub. At least for me it is.
My husband came into the Church two years after I did. He was never a Dub.
My "screen name," StAnn, is actually the name of my parish. My real name is Serena.
Chalam, my priest is one of those charismatic Catholic priests. We also have a charismatic prayer group that meets weekly for intercessory prayer.
St. Ann
These were given to me by a friend who I've known most of my life. He is a practicing Catholic
and has been all his life. These are recent instructions to the faithful. I have nothing to add.
They speak for themselves.
Cellist
Amazing, did you go through RCIA or just go to confession to return to the Church?
St. Ann
born in the RCC
left at 18
never felt anything close
to the mind control of the b0rg....
Cellist, thank you for posting those. They are very accurate and clear.
As Catholics, we believe that the Lord has all kinds of things that he wants to give us and that, to get everything he wants to give, we have to be in the Catholic Church. The other Christian denominations do have good in them and Jesus is present in them, but they do not have all of the gifts from God. I've been told that my Lutheran Church, for instance, offered about 80% of it. If you want it all, you have to be Catholic. However, we do respect people of other denominations but we don't take communion with them.
When I first converted to Catholicism, my husband was still Lutheran. We attended my Catholic parish on Saturday evening for Mass and then we attended his Lutheran parish on Sunday morning and on Wednesday evenings. We were a dual-service couple. There were a lot of dual-service couples, something you would never see in the Dubs or in a Fundamentalist marriage.
In the Lutheran church, there were only two sacraments, baptism and the eucharist. In Catholicism, there are seven sacraments.
I actually was quite surprised when my husband told me he was going to convert to Catholicism. It has been good for us, though.
BTW, after communion, my favorite sacrament is confession. It's actually quite refreshing. Even if you KNOW that God has forgiven your sins, it is still reassuring to hear the priest who is standing in the place of Jesus say, "I absolve you from your sins." Sometimes you just have to hear the words.
St. Ann
Minimus, if you're actually expressing curiosity about Catholicism, PM me. I'd be happy to tell you anything you want to know.
As it is, I'm feeling poorly and I'm going to bed.
Goodnight, all.
I love you people.
St. Ann
