Hey guys! I have not been here in a while.

so as an anglican, i see catholics "venerating" saints, but it looks no different to their "adoration". it makes non-catholics think that catholics have completely forgotten about jesus, like he's the scary uncle nobody wants to talk to but everyone acts nice to him at thanksgiving so they can be in the will when he dies.

dictionary: "a person acknowledged as holy or virtuous and regarded in Christian faith as being in heaven after death". i cant find any biblical references to criteria for being a saint, but there's a separator in colossians: "To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.", so apparently not all 'faithful brothers (and sisters) in Christ' are saints then, ey..... weird

Anyone else think christianity is more of a relationship with God then a religion?

Yes

thats what it is meant to be according to jesus

he talked about god like he was his father... which he was but was also an unheard of position

that's why catholics confuse me.... so much of their energy is spent in activities that glorify their church as an establishment, rather than glorifying jesus because of their relationship with him

i revere my father, but i don't praise the establishment that facilitates that relationship

i mean my human father, my biological father

Catholicism is post-messianic Judaism, Judaism was pre-messianic Catholicism. The Church is the living body of Christ that He established on earth. If you want to know why we build our church is so grand, it is because we believe in giving our best to God. But it is also for our own benefit because surrounding your external body with beautiful images of God, it facilitates meditation on Him.

looks like idolatry to me 😛

It is not without its fault however because it is also made up of sinful humans, but The Holy Spirit guys it anyway.

do you think that Catholics worship pictures and statues?

no, but they're the only christian denomination to not talk about jesus and God, only saints and their church establishment

Why hate something that supposedly doesn't exist?

catholic witness never involves god

 I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
He descended into hell;
on the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the communion of Saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.


Amen.

Apostles creed?

creed != witness

You may have a misconception of what Catholicism is because there are so many people who call themselves catholic,, but don’t practice or even know their faith

that is a possibility i will concede

I’m just here to inform, not to win.

i (begrudgingly) envy the catholics in that they have an institution they can identify with and that others recognise. when i tell people i'm an anglican, if they're not from australia they look at me funny, like i said i was some random googoogaagaa religion

@Jenjen But why the legalism in the catholic church?

There is a traditional Anglicanism that is very close to the traditional sect of the catholic faith. There are even a few bishops in the Anglican Church that can grace their line back to Peter

Can you explain what you mean by legalism?

Look up Traditional Latin Mass.

"if you sin, you go to hell. let's focus on the hell part, rather than redemption"

The 7 sacraments @Jenjen

which are unbiblical by the way.

that's why so many people turn to faith groups like Hillsong, because they get to hear about jesus, and get to learn how to have a personal relationship with him, without the onerous ritualistic stuff

I'd be careful about hillsong.

ie. "come as you are"

Hillsong is bad

Carl Lentz cheated on his wife

yikes!

i'm not a fan of prosperity gospel, and then there's the whole cheating thing

Yeah Hillsong associates with false teachers.

what makes them false?

I said they "associate".