Charlie Coleman <> wrote:
> At 06:39 AM 1/23/2007 -0300, Ricardo Aráoz wrote:
> ...
>> We Catholics have a great advantage in life. We can do whatever so
>> long as we go to church on sunday and confess. I think other
>> Christians were not granted the privilege ;c)
> ...
>
> Ah. This might be where I'm having problems making myself clear.
>
> Being Catholic does not mean you are a Christian. Mormons claim to be
> Christians, Christian Scientists claim to be Christian, and Jehovah's
> Witnesses claim to be Christian. I don't believe those religions
> teach true Christianity. There may well be Christians that are
> members of these religions, but the religion itself does not
> accurately reflect Christian beliefs in my opinion.
>
> I've said it before: the one group of people that has done the most
> good in advancing the message of the Gospel is Catholics; the one
> group that has done the most damage to the message of the Gospel is
> the Catholics.
>
> I haven't studied the early history of the Catholic Church very
> closely, but somewhere along the line it morphed into pretty much
> what Jesus condemned. The 'legalistic' concepts of Catholicism are
> exactly what Jesus faced and rejected while he was on Earth (at that
> time it was the Jewish 'legalism' which he tore apart). You may have
> been joking, but from what I've seen a lot of Catholics believe
> exactly what you said: "I'll be OK as long as I get to Church Sunday
> and confess." Nothing could be further from the truth. Relying on
> "works", especially "tally" type things (I can make up for 2 bad
> things by doing 3 good ones), is not what Jesus taught. Yet this is
> what Catholicism still puts forth (from what I've seen - but it's
> interesting to note that some Catholic Churches I've attended in the
> US in the past few years seem to actually be getting back to God's
> Grace as the source of salvation).
>
> The whole "works" thing is where I think Catholicsm has done the most
> damage to Christianity. By focusing so much on deeds as the means to
> salvation, Catholicsm pretty much makes Christianity sound like just
> any other religion. E.g. do x, then y, then z, give money, yada yada,
> and your soul will go to heaven. But that's the fallacy of all
> non-Christian religions. Most of them make it seem that the person
> can control their own salvation. If they work hard enough, if they
> fast long enough, if they remember to bow down the right number of
> times, etc. But Christianity is first and foremost about how man is
> totally helpless to change his relation with God. It took an act of
> God to provide the way for man's salvation. To accept that is
> ultimately humbling which is why so many have a hard time with it.
> Mankind has this "pride" aspect where we think we know it all, or can
> know it all, and that we can take care of it ourselves.
Did anyone feel the earth quake? Charlie and I agree.
It's the personal relationship with god that creates the Christian, and not
the ceremony of attending gatherings.
Stephen Russell
DBA / .Net Developer
Memphis TN 38115
901.246-0159
"A good way to judge people is by observing how they treat those who
can do them absolutely no good." ---Unknown
http://spaces.msn.com/members/srussell/
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