Who is God

[Bill Maenza]

Johnny - I think you are misinformed about the Catholic faith. Most people who hate he faith hate the misconceptions of the Catholic faith. Not intended to offend, but I do not believe that you know enough about the faith that you should have so much disdain for it.

Hey Ryan :-)
Long time no talk.

[Bob Paradis]

billmaenza said:

In Greek the word used for Peter is Petros (masculine noun)
Petra is feminine
Petros mean "small stone" while Petra means "massive rock".
Some claim therefore that the "massive rock" upon which Christ willbuild His church must not refer to Peter the small stone but rather to Peters profession of faith or to Jesus. However, Jesus spoke Aramaic, which leaves no room for the Greek Petro/Petra distinction. In Aramaic, the word for rock is kepha. What Christ said was "You are Kepha (Rock) and upon this kepha (rock) I will build my church. In Aramaic, the identification of Peter as the rock is clear.

Why does the Greek usetwo different words for Peter and the rock? Because the Greek word for rock is feminine. It would not have been appropriate to give a man a feminine name. So the translator gave petra a masculine ending and rendered it Petroa. Since petros was a prexisting word meaning small stone, some of the original word-play was lost. But, no early Church Father, including those who spoke greek as their native tongue ever saw a distinction between Peter and the rock. They teach that Peter is the rock on which Christ built His Church.

Thanks for that Bill.

[Brittany Bordelon]

bobparadis said:

"And I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock(Peter, meaning rock in Greek) I will build my Church. Brittany, it says what it says. You are twisting and adding words that aren't there.

"I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."........Yes Brittany, the keys represent authority, the authority of Peter. AUTHORITY AND PRIVILEGE are 2 entirely different words that have nothing to do with each other. Peter has authority, we don't.

Bob,

I read your response to my post early this morning and was so shocked that I decided it would be better not to respond immediately. I dwelled on the things you said and let your words sink in. I have been trying to think of a proper response all day. I don't want to come off the wrong way. My sole reason for posting what I did was to simply add to the ongoing discussion. I believe your response to my thoughts was completely disrespectful.

My post did not point any fingers to any individual. I specifically used the phrase "I believe," as many of us have in the past when we are getting ready to discuss something which is dear to us. I wasn't trying to convert anyone, persuade anyone, or threaten anyone to think the way I do. I was just posting my thoughts on the issue.

Your calling me out and telling me that I was "twisting scripture and adding words that aren't there" was, in my opinion, inappropriate. Did I manipulate scripture to help my case? No. Did I add words to scripture? No. I was just discussing my view on the topic. Your response has definitely discouraged me from voicing my opinion. I am afraid that when we point fingers and start calling names we are discouraging other people from furthering the discussion.

I truly am interested to hear other people's views and beliefs. How else can we learn about other religions and cultures if we continually silence them?

I agree with nearly everything you have posted in the past, Bob, and I truly enjoy hearing what you have to say. I think it is wonderful that you are vocal about your beliefs. I wish there were many others on the board that would feel comfortable discussing their views.

Ultimately, our opinion about whether or not Peter is "the rock" is not what is essential to our salvation. All I care for you to know is that I love Jesus and am grateful for His sacrifice.

[Bob Paradis]

OK Brittany. The twisting and distorting did not come from you. My disrespect is aimed, ultimately at Satan, the father of all lies. That is where the distortions enter the picture. My intolerance for the twisting and distorting have nothing to do with you.

I will be more careful in the future to be fair with you. I sincerely apologize to you for misspeaking. You are one of the nicest people on this board, and one of the prettiest also. I feel bad for hurting you.

God bless,

Bob

[BigDaddyJoe™]

god is satan!

[Bill Maenza]

Try all you want Joe - you will never match the volume of my man Ryan's posts! 3,011 and counting to your lame 1,870!

Ryan is kicking your butt! LOL

[Bob Paradis]

bigdaddyjoe said:

god is satan!

Sometimes you go too far, Joe.

By the way, you're fat! ;D

[Robert Bishop]

Paul was responsible for bringing the gospel to the gentiles first which is everyone other than jews.I think peter was the one who led after the death of christ and was speaking the day of pentacost when the holy spirit came down.The man who started the catholic church was roman who they say wasnt even a moral man.The church outside of Israel began with Paul and that was before they used the names prodestant or catholic.If i where to pray to mary or the saints id need to repent before i died for comiting the sin of idolotry. I would never call a man holy father because one is holy god.I would never pay money for a sin because that lowers the price that christ payed.The price was payed in full at the cross.REV 18 some say is a prophecy against america which i hope it isnt but the most comon answer i hear is that it is directed toward the catholic church.When it says come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sin its telling those catholics who live acording to his word and not the teachings of the church like praying to mary and saints to seperate themselves from those things.Im just telling the diferent things ive heard

[Bob Paradis]

robertbishop said:

Paul was responsible for bringing the gospel to the gentiles first which is everyone other than jews.I think peter was the one who led after the death of christ and was speaking the day of pentacost when the holy spirit came down.The man who started the catholic church was roman who they say wasnt even a moral man.The church outside of Israel began with Paul and that was before they used the names prodestant or catholic.If i where to pray to mary or the saints id need to repent before i died for comiting the sin of idolotry. I would never call a man holy father because one is holy god.I would never pay money for a sin because that lowers the price that christ payed.The price was payed in full at the cross.REV 18 some say is a prophecy against america which i hope it isnt but the most comon answer i hear is that it is directed toward the catholic church.When it says come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sin its telling those catholics who live acording to his word and not the teachings of the church like praying to mary and saints to seperate themselves from those things.Im just telling the diferent things ive heard

Robert, you seem like such a nice man. I cannot believe such rubbish is coming from you. I know that I've explained it to you very well, but you don't listen. Jesus chose Mary to be his mother. It is OK to ask her to intercede for you. Jesus loves her. He won't get mad if you ask her favors. She in turn leads you to Jesus in a way that only She can. NO ONE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BELIEVES THAT SHE IS GOD!!!!!!!!! For idolatry to happen, you have to pray to her as if she were God. Satan has your mind so twisted, I don't know where to begin. For now, I'm going to leave it alone. You don't have the humble disposition to receive the grace of understanding right now. And by the way, Peter and the rest of the apostles were the first leaders of the church. The Roman you refer to is Saint Paul. He was a Roman Citizen. And if Saint Paul were not a moral man, then I must say that that you can't possible be a moral man if you are compared to Saint Paul. Peter and Paul both lived in Rome for a while, but Peter was never a citizen. I wish you well, Robert, but you are repeating seriously evil anti-Catholic rhetoric fabricated in Hell. Maybe it's time to read and study before repeating the rubbish you hear. God bless,

Bob

[Bill Maenza]

Honor thy mother and thy father.
Jesus HONORED his mother. Why is it so hard to understand that if Jesus HONORED His mother that we should HONOR her as well?

[Robert Bishop]

The roman i am talking about is not PAUL and i believe his name was constantine

[John Parton]

John Parton wrote:

I haven't weighed in on this subject, but recently observed a post the says "Peter has authority ,we don't. First I would like to say that Peter was most definitely not the Rock the church was built on Jesus was. "for they did all eat of that same spiritual meat, and drank from that same spiritual Rock, and that Rock was Christ". The word of Peter in 1st Peter. "You also are living stones."When we become joint heirs with Christ those things which are His are given to us in different ways. It is our responsbility to lay hold of those spiritual gifts for the benefit of the church and to show the love of God to the world. Now I was raised in the Catholic church, and have great knowledge of their ways. As far as Mary she was a blessed woman above all women. But to pray to her or to any saint is just unscriptural. Jesus said we should pray to the Father in His Name. Mary blessed woman that she was was not the mother of God, sorry Keep in mind her and the saints gone on before are at rest, they earned it. Jesus on the other hand according to scripture is every at the right hand of the Father speaking on our behalf according to the will of God.
The apostles creed we recited every Sunday said true man from true man. Jesus was and had to be born and to die as true man for the price to be paid. If you don't understand that search the scriptures. Joe I'm sure you are a very nice fellow, but be careful who you want to be your god. Satan is not very friendly, and has a history of making poor decisions. I speak from experience. As far as who God is, it is my opinion that is something every person should take a look at. I will say this the Bible doesn't call Him Father without reason, and I have an amazing life being His servant I have tried it both ways, and only one way really works out !

[Ernie]

bobparadis said:

Jesus chose Mary to be his mother. It is OK to ask her to intercede for you. Jesus loves her. He won't get mad if you ask her favors. She in turn leads you to Jesus in a way that only She can. NO ONE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BELIEVES THAT SHE IS GOD!!!!!!!!! For idolatry to happen, you have to pray to her as if she were God.

"For there is but one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." I Tim 2:5 We are also instructed to pray to the Father in the name of the Son and to call no one Father but our Father in Heaven. I don't remember the exact verses. This is referring to "Father" in a spiritual sense. We can call our "dad" father but to call a priest "father" violates that teaching because a priest is guiding in a spiritual, not parental, sense.

Mary was a humble woman and every time she was praised in the Bible she told them to reserve their praise for the Lord. She knew she was not to be revered because that took glory away from Christ. To pray to her as the "mother of God" technically places her above God. We are also instructed not to make "vain repetition" because it becomes a mantra rather than the true opening of our hearts and pouring out our hearts to God.

We are to confess our sins to our Father in Heaven and ask forgiveness in Jesus' name. Only the blood of Jesus washes them away. Confessing to a mere mortal man on earth does nothing for you no matter which church he is a member of. Jesus alone was given the power to forgive sin. (Mark 2:10) Apostles were given power by Jesus to heal but that was to show the power of Christ to win souls. They always preached that forgiveness is only by the blood of Christ.

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Hebrews 9:27 Purgatory is a teaching with no biblical basis. I have no idea where it originated but the idea that there is a place you can go to "work off" your sins totally negates the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died "once for all" and said "It is finished." The teaching of a place called "purgatory" makes Jesus a liar and totally negates the death and resurrection of Christ thereby destroying the basis for every Christian religion. If you can "work off" your sins then why did Jesus die?

Either we try to follow the teachings of the Bible or we don't. It's not a buffet to pick and choose what we like. It's an "all or none" proposition. We aren't perfect and will fail regularly but to blatantly and willfully ignore parts based on tradition not based in the Bible is wrong.

I'm not judging anybody, I'm simply relating what the Bible says so don't jump me with that tired old whip. If you feel convicted it's by God's Word and not mine.

My .02. I'm expecting somebody to try to give me change. ;D

[Bob Paradis]

For the record, Ernie, the 3 pillars of the Roman Catholic Church are 1. Scripture, 2. 2000 years of tradition, 3. The Magisterial Authority of the Church. The Holy Spirit interprets scripture for us. We are showing on this board how a handful of people see a lot of different ways to interpret scripture. WE simply aren't qualified.

I give you credit for being a good writer and for having a greater than average intellect. But when I read how you interpret scripture, I am very much saddened. Again, we simply aren't qualified.

Ernie, there was one church alone for 1500 years. They had Mass, they went to confession, baptized babies, married people. It was the universal church, or Catholic Church. Along comes a disgruntled Catholic priest named Martin Luther who misinterprets Paul's justification writings, and starts his own church. A disobedient, haughty, disgruntled, Catholic priest starts the first Protestant Church. WHAT AUTHORITY DID HE HAVE TO START HIS OWN CHURCH? No one will answer this question. In 1532 was the beginning of the Protestant Churches. 1500 years of the Holy Spirit's interpretations of scripture down the tubes.

Now we have 25,000-35,000 Protestant denominations in this country alone. And Protestants believe all different stuff. You all believe what you want. You don't subject yourself to the authority of the ONE TRUE CHURCH. You sound like fish out of water when you talk about scripture. It literally brings me to tears at times. The Methodist Pastor on Main Street disagrees with the Methodist Pastor on Mine Road of the same town. Each congregation has it's own pope.

And yes Ernie, I know the Eastern Orthodox Christians split from Rome in 1054. But they still believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. They were absolutely part of the One True Catholic and Apostolic Church for over 1000 years. Pope John Paul II considered them the second lung of the universal church. My intellectual hang up is how anyone believes that a human outside Jesus can start a church. I know that you know about Joseph Smith. How about the 25,000 - 35,000 people like Joseph Smith who thought they were inspired to start a church. They weren't Jesus. And the earliest one, Martin Luther, was 1500 years too late. Just remember, if you are not Catholic, then someone like Joseph Smith decided that he was inspired, and started your church. Jimmy Swaggart perhaps? Where did he get that authority?

You strike me as a reasonable man, Ernie. I hope I didn't sound too harsh. Satan certainly has muddled things up with regards to religion. But Micah 6:8 goes something like this: Oh man, you have been told what is good, do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. (sometimes translated:do the right, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God) This is a good place for us to start. I hope we all can.

God bless,

Bob

[Bob Paradis]

John Parton,

I love to watch you arm wrestle...you are one of the greats.

But, Peter IS the rock upon which Jesus' Church was built. Jesus said so. Anything else is a twisting and distorting by the evil one. Jesus said what he said and didn't have a problem giving Peter that authority. I've heard it all...but Paul rebuked him... Peter and the current Pope are human. It was certainly OK for a person of Paul's stature to point out a flaw in Peter. Pope Benedict 16th is human also. He is surrounded by people like Paul. The current Pope currently goes to confession more than once per week. They are acutely aware of their faults, as minute as they may be. On matters of Dogma, that requires the College of Cardinals and the Pope seated in Peter's Chair. But that is rare.

God bless you and your family John,

Bob