I am the way the truth and the life

[josey]

Thank you so much.

I have never heard of a Catholic Christian as opposed to a Roman Catholic.

[Victoria]

The Roman Catholic Church, with the magisterium, has been spending the last 2000 years trying to ~bind~, ~limit~ and ~define~ God... easily seen when you see how they work, how the church functions, leaning on their Own understandings, rather than on the Spirit of Truth... mostly, to my mind, because they try to force Her into the guise of a He... and She doesn't Hear them, when they ask thier questions with the intent of addressing them the way ~they~ want to, rather than God (Father, Son and Daughter) wants them to... Out of the same sort of Pride that we're warned against...

Is it really any wonder why there are so many, and growing numbers of, lgbt folks? While the RCC continues to say they're "against God" and are ~Afraid~ of them?

Where does fear come from?

How can you bind, define, or control the infinite?

Catholic means Universal, All Encompassing... ~Everything~

Roman Catholic means rules and laws that never existed, except where angels fear to tread... that go against almost Everything Jesus ~Told~ us to do.

Ephesians 12 , Douay-Rheims
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.

More good reading ;-)

http://www.lifetv.org/Web_HTML/html/...and_Powers.htm
By using the phrase “principalities and powers,” Paul is telling us that there is a hierarchical structure to the kingdom of darkness; where fallen angels, evil spirits, and demons are ranked one above the other according to their power and authority.

[BrianB]

This topic reminded me of an argument my mom and grandmother used to have. Mom would say that Jewish people had to believe in Jesus as their messiah to be saved. She quoted the John 14:6 passsage with the traditional fundamentalist interpretation. Grandma countered that since Jesus was fully God and fully man that Jewish people believed already in their messiah. They didn't need to say "I believe in Jesus as my saviour" to reach heaven. Mom and grandma spent many hours debating issues like that. Grandma wasn't so black and white in her views as mom.
I wasn't really trying to make a point just recalling a memory to share. FWIW

[josey]

Thanks Victoria. Now that is one scripture that I don't ever recall reading.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by josey

Thanks Victoria. Now that is one scripture that I don't ever recall reading.

Which one? >.<
I don't always include quotes when some of the things I have to say are based on scripture ~lol~

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by BrianB

Grandma countered that since Jesus was fully God and fully man that Jewish people believed already in their messiah.

I ~Love~ that point... That's always when I have the most trouble discussing things... People get so set in seeing things ~only one way~, so Black and White... Partially, I think, because they worry about "being lukewarm" (from revelations)... I can be Cold, indifferent to peoples feelings, if they tread on mine, just to distance myself from them... but I can be Hot, as in Passionate about what I speak of, when I show how different passages can have different meanings, depending on the context, the person reading it, the ~vocabulary~ of the person reading it, and the softness or hardness of their hearts, etc...

The other thing I notice often, is that the louder and more fiercely people cling to a specific view, especially a view that ~hurts~, or ~hurts someone else~... the less likely they seem to want to let go of it... I had to see that in myself, first, before I could even start to let go... Sometimes I wonder if we're all just addicted to suffering =/

Broadening ones understandings, does not a lukewarm person make... although it's made a few lukewarm cups of tea for me, forgetting it on the counter if I'm in the middle of reading something... but then, I don't like hot tea all that much anyways ;-)

[BruceChris]

Awesome. You can become a Priest, or possibly even a Bishop.

And hierarchies are necessary in politics, but the worst possible thing you can have in a church.

Hot tea when one is busy. That's what God made microwaves for.

Josie: Google - Womenpriests

BruceChris

[Magn11]

Jesus is the only way... and I expect to find many Jews, Muslims, and pagans in His eternal kingdom. Not having an evangelical background, I just don't see the necessity of seeing dialectic or either/or in Christs words. People are what they do, unless we embody Christ in our lives, we aren't saved. Inasmuch as we embody what Jesus Christ is, we are saved. This is beyond what label we put on ourselves or other people, and has everything to do with how we choose to live.

[BishopIoan]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Thank GOD! I'm not the only one.

I have always experienced sureness that what Jesus meant by "I" was not the individual body but the cosmic consciousness, the God consciousness that he was born to embody and exemplify.

Hi, Zerbie, long time no see! I think you are right in this. Christ is more of a cosmic figure to me as well. I number him amongst the gods and goddesses and so when doing the Grail Mass, he is mentioned along with all the others. All gods and goddesses for me are manifestations of the One. His message is so much more cosmic and universal than a message to just a specific people in a specific time. His teachings contain wisdom that all can benefit from.

[antiochian]

Well, there have been a number of posts in this thread, spaced out over a couple of years, about whether Jesus is the only way, and about hell.

I am becoming partial to the Universalist notion that a loving deity would damn no one forever, an infinite punishment for finite "sins."

As a UU and a Pagan, I reject the notion of eternal hell, as well as the trinity, and Christ's divinity. I can understand how some would see Jesus as a source of great wisdom, but to say that he's the greatest source, the complete source, no... Besides being extremely presumptuous and arrogoant, that's basically saying that God quit speaking to human beings after 33 A.D., or whenever Jesus died. I believe there continue to be prophets to this day, and that all of us are potential prophets.