Yes, welcome to the forums. I too am a relatively new member (just here one week). Trust me, you'll get plenty of reason to talk about your faith!
Baptists came back into the one Church :eek: Wooo hooo! :D
None of the examples you provided were proclamations by the church, but rather members of the church (albeit well-respected members).
Why wasn't the canon finalized earlier? Well, if I've learned anything from my 30 years in the Church its that speed is not a huge concern. :) I do know that...
There is a difference between what the Church teaches and what individuals teach. You will find before any formalization of doctrine in the church various individuals (some of whom are rather well-respected members of the church) who disagree with the doctrine. This is exactly the purpose of...
Most things that become overtly 'declared' by the church are declared out of a new need to do so. It wasn't that it took the church 400 years to decide on a canon, its that there was not a need until the end of the 4th century. The most recent doctrine declared is not a new article of faith...
Is that what you need to know something? I never had coffee in Russia, but I know it exists.
I personally like many of the Thomistic proofs of God, but that's not exactly what I meant by my statement.
The emphasis of my statement is that faith is not opposed to reason, and vice versa. It is...
You have called me out for wrong assuming what you believe in the past - I certainly don't want to do that again. Again, forgive me for drawing this out. Of course, you don't have to answer these questions...I am asking out of curiosity. Of course, there is a point to all of them, but it...
What - you don't listen to Bill Cosby as heavenly word? :D
Forgive me for taking this a step further then...if GOD were to speak, and you could VERIFY that it was God (and not a Bill Cosby voice over), and he sent a GROUP of men, not just one man, with the promise that this group of men would...
Now don't make the mistake of trying to guess what I am thinking about you - I never said that you are not listening.
Now how about the hypothetical I posed?
So if God sends you someone who is closer to Him, has learned how to better listen to the Holy Spirit, shouldn't you listen - even if what this person is teaching you may not initially sound correct?
Allow, for a moment, a hypothetical situation. You have been told by God that he will send to...
So the next question would be this: do you think God would ever use another human to teach you something?
Am I willing to humble myself to learning? I sure hope so. :)
So you leave open the possibility of gaining further understanding of God's revelation if the Spirit were to work through another man who was sent to teach you?
That doesn't answer the question so much (although it seems implied that you are saying that you are not).
Let me ask what should be a clarifying question: do you believe that you have the fullest understanding of God's revelation among men on this earth?
I don't know how much more clear I can be.
Tradition did not create scripture. Scripture was written by God at the hands of men.
When confusion spread about what books were inspired scripture, Tradition affirmed which books were inspired.
Maybe someone else who sees how I am not being...
Scuba Pete,
Like I said, I have no problem discussing these things in a new thread. There is no reason to hijack this thread onto a topic that its not intended for. The issue of tradition, as well as the history of the Catholic Church, is not a topic you are going to be able to address in a...
For someone who got very upset at being labeled a protestant, you seem to have no problem throwing out all sorts of outlandish accusations.
The scriptures do indeed support the idea of tradition and oral teachings. That would be suited for another conversation as it is a rather large topic...
I would actually agree with Bruce on this. To put reason 'vs' faith is starting in the wrong place.
First, I think it is clear that we figure out what faith is. Some have said that faith is 'believing when there is lack of sufficient reason', or (summarizing) believing when evidence is not...
Eeegads...I have trouble not picturing him smiling.
Does God have a sense of humor (or humour depending on what side of the pond your reside)? I think so.
As a bit of an aside, I heard a rather humorous quote a week ago: an attribute of a good religion is one that can make fun of itself.