Dear Irma,
I totally disagree with you. Your example is good. But you can not
use it to explain everything you want.
If the church and the authorities of the church are completely correct
and according to the Bible and God, then the church would never have to
repent about anything that it has committed in the past. But the
Catholic church has a big history correcting its past mistakes.
I do not find anything wrong in listening to other interpretations of
the bible. Every church tries to dissuade its members from listening to
other ("non-official") interpretations of the Bible. This attitude comes
more from a fear of loosing people than from a sincere wish to help
people. If other religions have taken this attitude, you and I would not
have been Christians now.
Given that catholic churches interpretations of the bible is not
infallible, the church can not dissuade its members from listening to
the other interpretations of the Bible. A mother tries to correct a
child because the mother knows completely about the consequence of what
the child is about to commit. But if the mother over-do its role, she
will surely come in the way of development of that child which is very
harmful. If every mother in the history has done the same, there would
not have been much development in the world.
People should have the freedom to listen to other interpretations of
the bible. At the most church can explain where the other
interpretations differ from the "official teachings" of the church and
why they think their interpretation of the Bible is correct.
The role of the Church is only as a facilitator not as an autocrat.
Your Brother-in-Christ
Anil Thomas
(Bangalore, India)
Disclaimer: Opinion expressed in this mail is my personal opinion and is
not in anyway related to the official stand or otherwise of any
organization/company I belong to.
-----Original Message-----
From: Irma Raymond [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 11 February 2004 10:52
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [parablenet] Will you go to the Benny Hinn Crusade?
Will you go to the Benny Hinn Crusade?
Lakhs of Christians are expected to attend Benny Hinn's 'Festival of
Blessings'
Crusade in Mumbai this weekend.
On the other hand the elders, of our Catholic Church have warned us
against
attending the event.
The question in many hearts is: Why this ban? Why is the Church
controlling our
freedom to choose? Its not like we are going into another religion.
Benny Hinn
does preach in the name of Jesus, doesnt he?
Yes. It is true that Benny Hinn preaches in the name of Jesus. And Jesus
himself said, whoever is not against me is for me.
This brings us back to the same question. Why is our Church saying NO?
The main reason: There are so many controversies about Benny Hinns
teachings/preachings. If we go into the depths of it we will get lost.
So then
what shall we do? Blindly believe what our Church tells us?
Lets make this simple. Most of us have children. Those who arent
married, or
dont have kids as yet, still have some experience about what Im about
to
share.
Often we hear our Mothers tell us, No dont do that. You will get
hurt.
Example: I kept telling my one-year-old Zaneta not to come near
anything
thats too hot or she may burn herself. Yet she did not understand. So
one day
I let her touch a hot cup of tea and experience what hot is. Since
then all I
have to tell her is its hot! And now she understands. But if she
would want
to come and experience how hot a burning flame is, obviously I would
have to
put my foot down and say NO thats not for you. Because I know how
harmful
it can be for her.
Similarly the Church is like our Mother. Thats why she is called,
Mother
Church. At times the Church has to be strict with us and say, NO.
thats bad
for you. It could harm you. Many of us dont understand. But if we
really
trust our Mother then we should believe what she tells us, even if weve
never
experienced it ourselves.
And like in every home there are rebellious children who go against the
warnings of their parents, we too will have rebellious children in the
Church,
who will still go for the crusade. So what do we do? Like we do for
everyone
else. We pray for them.
Will you join me in praying for our little rebels?
Much love n prayers,
Irma
Irma Raymond
Mid Day Multimedia Ltd
Mumbai, India
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
What is impossible for man is Possible for God!
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