Catholic Beliefs (Part 1)

The purpose of these posts is to clarify and reach understanding among fellow Christians to some of the issues between non-Catholics and Catholics in regards to Catholic doctrine.
We believe that tradition can blind faith if tradition is not backed by sound logic and TRUTH. Without a foundation in God's Word, error will occur, and the meaning of Christianity will be convuluded and mis-interpreted.

We will be combating some of the other outrageous attacks on Christianity (like the lies and deceit of the Da Vinci Code and others) but have come to the conclusion through much studying and research that some of the denominations of Christianity have gone astray in some of their traditions and conclusions.

This series is not intended to offend, insult, or attack anyone...but is a place to put facts as we as Christians see them and engage in a healthy debate on Christian Truth!
May the Holy Spirit guide us all and allow us to learn something new!

Part 1: The Issuse of Mary and "Perpetual" Virginity

Our question:
Why do Catholics feel a need to defend a theory about Mary's perpetual virginity that seem to serve no other purpose other than to exalt her above the fact that she was a human woman and human mother to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

The Catholic Catechism states:

Mary - "ever-virgin"

499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it." And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin".

500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls "the other Mary".
They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.

501 Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's love."

THE BIBLE STATES:

Matthew 27:61
And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.

Matthew 28:1
In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Luke 24:10
It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.

AND

Matthew 13:55

Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?


We feel that this statement should be removed immediately from the Catholic Catechism.

Mary was NOT perpetually a virgin because she gave birth to other sons!
The catechism states that there is a THIRD MARY, Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, and some OTHER Mary who is the mother of James. If we check early translations, we see the words, "the other Mary" translating correctly and remaining consistent. We also find that the words in Matthew 13:55 remain the same.

Our point: What is the point of making Mary an "ever virgin"? Is it crucial to faith that there must be a third Mary in order to prove the Catholic theory of Mary's perpetual virignity correct? How is this beneficial in growing in faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ?
BUT WE UNDERSTAND HOW THIS COULD BE A PROBLEM IF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS TRYING TO MAKE MARY INTO SOMETHING MORE THAN WHO SHE IS--- A HUMAN WOMAN & A HUMAN MOTHER!

Mary was a VERY blessed woman to have received the Holy Spirit and give birth to our Messiah. I cannot underestimate the respect I have for that fact... BUT I WILL NOT add to this pseudo-Catholic religion of worshipping Mary! She was a human and died a human death.

You do not need Mary to talk to Christ and this is blasphemous to Our Lord Jesus Christ to pray to His DEAD MOTHER, instead of coming directly to Him!

Matthew 13:55
"Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?"

So, the only other argument before admitting that this doctrine IS WRONG and COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE TO BUILDING FAITH IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST...is that it is a translation error. Well, every translation I have including the Greek and Latin translations state the same names as in Matthew 13:55 out of the English King James Version.

Here is some new information on the argument....

In 2002 a unique archaeological find was announced: a limestone ossuary (bone box) that may have held the remains of James the “brother” of Jesus.

The box dates to first century Palestine and is inscribed in Jesus’ native language, Aramaic, with the words “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”
New attention was drawn to the ossuary by a book titled The Brother of Jesus, by Hershel Shanks and Ben Witherington. Shanks is the editor of Biblical Archaeology Review; Witherington is a New Testament professor. To publicize it, the two wrote a tie-in piece in USA Today's weekend magazine, in which Witherington (the primary author) asserted:
It is possible the inscription on the ossuary--"James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"--provides us with a challenge in regard to some basic Christian assumptions about James.

The Roman Catholic tradition is that Jesus' brothers and sisters actually were cousins; Orthodox Christians believe they were Joseph's children by a previous marriage. The inscription conflicts with both of those Christian traditions, in fact, for there certainly was an Aramaic word for "cousin" that could have been used in this inscription but was not.

If Jesus was the son of only Mary, and James was the son of only Joseph, then Jesus and James would not literally have been brothers, as this inscription states. --"In the Name of the Brother," USA Weekend, April 13, 2003

Witherington's statement proved highly controversial. Though his characterization of Catholic teaching is not without problem, his assertion that there is an Aramaic word for cousin was egregious.
The Source of the ControversyThe New Testament is explicit that Mary was a virgin at the time she conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Christian tradition--later infallibly affirmed by the Church--acknowledges that she remained a virgin afterwards. The great majority of Christians acknowledges this. Only the Protestant community dissents.

Fundamental fact: This is a "theory" that Mary remained a perpetual virgin!

Catholic theological reasoning really spun out of control on this one!

We wonder why people sell images of the Virgin Mary on toasted bread on E-Bay?
It is becasue of these "doctrines" that totally distract Catholics from biblical Truth!

We have no problem with James being the HALF brother of Jesus, James being a cousin of Jesus, or His full-blooded brother...but we do have a problem with making Mary into something more than she was and creating controversy that serves no purpose but to DISTRACT from the Truth told by OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!
Not the truth Mary told because there IS NO TRUTH THAT MARY TOLD.
Give her credit where credit is due and STOP THERE.

The purpose of making Mary into a perpetual virgin and placing "stations" in the church to pray to Mary is absurd. We believe in the UN-CONTROVERSIAL biblical verse of several translations that MAKE TOTAL SENSE about Jesus having brothers by his mother Mary, and that she was a virgin at His birth and still lived a perfectly fine life as a blessed HUMAN mother giving birth to human children AFTER giving birth to our Lord Jesus Christ who was 100% MAN and 100% GOD.

Stop giving these Nimrod's like Dan Brown an easy reason to attack Christianity!

Our question:
Why do Catholics feel a need to defend a theory about Mary's perpetual virginity that seem to serve no other purpose other than to exhalt her above the fact that she was a human woman and human mother of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

Technorati: roman catholic church

The TRUTH about Islam (Part 2)

Question: How does the follower of Islam get into heaven?
Do believers of Islam find this answer clearly in the Qur'an?

My answer:

The Qur'an states :
Sura 3:185
"Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception."

You get to the GARDEN (not heaven) by your....what? Good works that you lived by through Islamic traditions and morals which will make you worthy of being admitted back to the Garden of Eden?
Wait a minute!
We all DIE....so follow Islam and what? Where are you going? Heaven? There is NOTHING in the Qur'an that gives any glimpse of hope and instructions to get to heaven!
Wouldn't this be a warning to you? Why believe in something that ends with your physincal death? Please prove me wrong!!!

Jesus Christ was either just a "prophet" or He was really the Messiah
Jesus the Christ makes clear and bold statements about how to get to heaven.....

Matthew 16: 15-17 .
15He (Jesus) said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16. Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.
17. Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you, But My Father who is in heaven.”

John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

One more statement....
At this Islamic website, a writer makes an argument for how "logical" the Koran is and sheds light on how some Islamic followers think they will get into heaven...

He states:
"Koran is logical. It says:
1. Unbelievers are those who do not accept Islam, particularly Jews and Christians.
2. Because unbelievers do not accept Islam, Allah hates them and does not guide them.
3. Because Allah does not guide them, unbelievers become evil-doers - they commit additional sins besides rejecting Islam.
4. Muslims will see the sins of unbelievers plainly, both in non-Muslim society and in dealings with non-Muslims.
5. Therefore, Muslims must fight unbelievers both to limit sin and give unbelievers a chance to go to heaven by becoming Muslims. (Of course, whether you do go to heaven - and get the 70 "black-eyed virgins" - depends on whether your good deeds outweigh your bad or whether you die in jihad.)"

My comment:
And what reward does Paradise bring to the jihad martyr? He is promised a palace of pearls in which are 70 mansions; inside each mansion are 70 houses and in each house a bed on which are 70 sheets and on each sheet a beautiful virgin. He is assured that he will have the appetite and strength of 100 men for food and sex.
This is the fantastic dream that is fed to Muslim boys from their childhoods.

Satan promised Jesus things similar to these and more, when he tempted Jesus in the desert.

To a Christian and any other true son or daughter of the true God, these things the Muslim hopes for are loathsome. I am not on this earth to "try my best" to get into heaven...I am here to find TRUTH!
Through much research and blessing...I HAVE found that hard studying of the Holy Bible brings FAITHING and everything Jesus has revealed to this world is TRUTH!
Jesus is the only way to heaven....heck, the problem I have with Islam is at least give people a religion besides instructing the followers to make a futile attempt to MURDER their way in!

I look forward to any and all comments... remember that the topic of this post is
"How does a follower of Islam get into heaven"

koran
muslim
quran

JESUS CHRIST: Son of God / Son of Man

Jesus: Son of God / Son of Man

Matthew 16:13-14

13. When Jesus came into the region of Ceaserea Philippi, He asked His disciples saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

14. So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.


Today, there is still controversy over who Jesus is as there was over 2,000 years ago when
He came to us in a tent of flesh.

In this paper, we will end the misunderstanding and prove who Jesus of Nazareth really is!

Let us reflect on some of the various ideas that people have about Jesus the Christ:

People say that...


1) Jesus was all man

2) Jesus was a "good" man and teacher

3) Jesus was a prophet

4) Jesus was the greatest con-artist ever

5) Jesus was not a literal person, but instead an illustration of truth and an “expression” of God’s love.

6) Jesus was a man who became a god…reincarnated into a deity.

7) And still a lot of people think that Jesus is God’s son and Satan’s brother; co-equal with Satan, who is struggling to win a contest with Satan over who acquires our souls.

All of these ideas are false and anti-biblical!



Matthew 16: 15-17

15. He (Jesus) said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16. Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.

17. Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you, But My Father who is in heaven.”


Question:
Is Jesus the Son of God or the Son of Man?

Answer:
The Bible explicitly tells us that Jesus is BOTH the
Son of God and the Son of Man!

JESUS IS BOTH GOD AND MAN!

Not 50/50….Jesus is 100% God and 100% Man.


To fully understand this Truth, we will explain and answer the following four questions:

1) If Jesus is the Son of God, does that make him lesser than God?

2) What exactly does it mean to be the “Son of God?”

3) If Jesus is the Son of Man how can He be equal to God?

4) What does it mean to be the “Son of Man?”.......


CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS PAPER


jesus

1ST DAY ON A COMPUTER

1st day with computer...and I tried the AOL chat rooms...
I asked the question, if Enoch and Elijah are the 2 witnesses and are killed... does that make Mary the only person never to die?(Catholic)
7 ROOMS with so called Catholics in them... NO ANSWER.
I dont have to agree with their answers, but why NO ANSWER?
I wonder if the Jehovah Witnesses REALIZE that to be 1 of the 144K you have to be male and never have had sex and that only 12K will come from the USA (12K from each tribe).

TO THE JEWS: by what means will you get into heaven? How will your sins be reedeemed?(WITHOUT A TEMPLE I DONT THINK YOU HAVE SACRIFICED A LAMB TO COVER YOUR SINS FOR EACH YEAR OF YOUR LIFE.)

TO THE MUSLIMS: by what means will your sins be covered? Does ALLAH have a way? He must be a different god than mine...for my God has no need to try and re-create this world with the likes of virgins for heavenly times.

HERE'S A FABLE....JESUS walked into a town where a blind man was. He touched the man and he was healed. In the next city he spat and rubbed mud on his eyes and the man was healed.
In the 3rd city he had the man bathe and the man was healed. THUS started the 3 great religions of our time, church of TOUCH, church of SPIT & RUB, and the ever-so-great church of church of BATHE,----------WE MAKE VOID THE WORD OF GOD BY OUR TRADITIONS!!


religious traditions

CHRISTOPHOBIA - (Wake up!)

• I have read many blog posts sympathizing with Islam and their "religion"! They are attempting to pull the wool over the world's eyes! AWAKE! I BLOG FOR ALL OF THE PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS IN THIS WORLD...HOLD FAST MY BROTHERS and SISTERS AGAINST THIS EVIL PERCOLATING OUT OF ISLAM! And for the well informed but un-knowing bloggers out here...this is happening RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW!
  
  Check out the truth and AWAKE!
  
  "There is a growing worldwide war against Christianity. Last year, over 160,000 Christians were killed for their faith. Christians have been beaten, imprisoned and killed for the crime of being a Christian in Red China.
  In Sudan, Christians have been bombed, massacred and sold into slavery. In Indonesia, Muslim mobs have wiped out entire villages of Christians, burning down many hundreds of churches.
  Christians have been targeted and assassinated in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Missionaries in various parts of the world have been kidnapped, murdered and, in India, even burned alive by a mob of Hindu militants.
  
  VIOLENT PERSECUTION
  
  It is calculated that over 42 million Christians died at the hands of Anti-Christian governments, mostly Communist Regimes, in the 20 th Century alone.
  
  In Zimbabwe, just in 2005, hundreds of Christian churches were bulldozed or burned by army and police, prayer meetings were broken up, women beaten and hospitalized for praying for peace, pastors arrested for “subversive prayers” and churches raided by police. In Cuba, many House Churches have been attacked, with pastors arrested and imprisoned.
  
  However, it is not only in Communist and Muslim lands that Christians are facing persecution. Christians in Europe and North America are facing not only ridicule and hostility in the media, but increasingly they are being restricted, intimidated and harassed by legislation and judicial pronouncements.
  
  This trend towards silencing Christians is real. Christians are being labeled, ridiculed, blamed, and legislated against. There is an irrational fear and hatred of Christianity growing in all too many countries today.
  
  READ ARTICLE HERE: Christian Persecution
  
  FIND OUT MORE AND HELP THE CAUSE HERE: PERSECUTION.COM
  
  JOHN 15:18-19
  “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you.”
  
  islamophobia