St. Patrick's Day

[theja]

Wishing God's rich blessings to S.Com readers on this memorial day.

Reminder how Christianity transformed a nation -- Ireland.

[PaulMc]

I sit with a glass of Special Edition Jameson's in my hand and wish you all Slàinte!

Looking forward to job interview in Göteborg next week .....

[Marmaduke]

I had a few Guinnesses with the guys at work- and we got a stupid hat too

Thought of you Paul...so I had another in your memory- just to be sure

[DruidSmith]

Cheers!

Tho all work and no play... No Jameson's or fine Irish stout here :-(

We had our big St. Pat's parade last weekend also...

I will have to make up for it this weekend.

[theja]

I guess folks here are aware that Patrick was a Briton.

[PaulMc]

Be careful who you call a Brit!!!

Patrick was actually a Welsh boyo - everybody should have one of his own, really

This second-class Celt supposedly took passage from Liverpool when he headed for the Hallowed Hills of Ireland .....

I wonder what theja's reaction to this will be...

[theja]

The true Church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23). It does not belong to any one group. So any worthy cause done in the name and for the cause of Christ is recognised.

The first Church consist only of the Jews (Acts 2:41). The first Roman converts are recorded in Acts 10. For a group to impose a name on the Church of Christ (RCC) and claim ownership is unbiblical.

So the true Church of Christ is not in the denominational label, but in being true to Christ and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit -- as Christ admonished the Churches in the book of Revelation (long before the name RCC was conceived).

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches" (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22).

[theja]

Every born-again believer is a saint (Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; etc).

[PaulMc]

"The word 'Catholic' means Universal" (source: OED et al.)

Until the heretic Henry VIII decided to invent divorce (due to problems fathering a legitimate son!) there was only ONE Church and the term 'Catholic' was only used in its original (and literal) sense.

I have attended Sunday services in various non-Catholic churches from time to time, and the term 'Catholic' is still used in the wording of the Creed - still, as far as I can tell, in its original sense

Ephesians 5:23 directly observes and proves the passages in Matthew 16:18..."The gates of hell shall not prevail against her (The Church)."

Jesus was a Jew, St Peter was a Jew, St Paul was a Jew and so on and so forth...And it has already been recorded in the Book of Acts that Gentiles were also converted and that included the Roman converts who were also part of the Church, headed by St Peter.
You cry "unbiblical" at anything and anyone who corrects you.
It's there in the Bible, theja.
Learn to read and not twist facts.

The Church is indeed not in the denominational category, which is why any other "church" outside of the RCC and the Orthodox sphere is considered Protestant and denominational.

And there is a big difference between a saint and a sinner like yourself.

Born again believer...pfftt!

[theja]

Paul, I'm aware of the word 'catholic'. My point is that no particular brand, including the RCC, owns the Church of Christ. One can only belong to the Church of Christ. And this is where I recognise all those whose hearts have been transformed by the love of Christ.

You must be born-again. DV is acting like a mini-pope and trying to dismiss the utterance of Jesus Christ. Proof that he's filled with his own opinions, not the Bible.

[lolly]

Originally posted by theja
Paul, I'm aware of the word 'catholic'. My point is that no particular brand, including the RCC, owns the Church of Christ. One can only belong to the Church of Christ. And this is where I recognise all those whose hearts have been transformed by the love of Christ.

You must be born-again. DV is acting like a mini-pope and trying to dismiss the utterance of Jesus Christ. Proof that he's filled with his own opinions, not the Bible.

That's why catholics have baptism.

and really there's no such thing as the RCC, I don't call myself a roman catholic - I am a catholic - the only people who talk about branding are christians like you Theja.

Stop fixating and just get on with believing.

Originally posted by theja
Paul, I'm aware of the word 'catholic'. My point is that no particular brand, including the RCC, owns the Church of Christ. One can only belong to the Church of Christ. And this is where I recognise all those whose hearts have been transformed by the love of Christ.

You must be born-again. DV is acting like a mini-pope and trying to dismiss the utterance of Jesus Christ. Proof that he's filled with his own opinions, not the Bible.

Theja, you're filled with unbiblical rubbish.
Since when have i dismissed Jesus Christ as my Saviour?
You know, for you being a professional liar, you really suck at it.

Lolly, you were right, the term RCC was coined by Deformists out of contemptuous rudeness towards the Church.
For us Catholics, being born again means Water Baptism.
To us, baptism is salvific, not just symbolic.

For people like theja baptism means dipping herself in the bathtub every evening, annointing her head with Clairol Herbal Essence, murmurs Latin prayers backwards to her "holy spirit" and considers herself spiritually cleansed afterwards. Then ties her towel around her head to form a turban and pretends she was back in ancient Israel, communicating with Elijah and Moses through her favourite bible, the KJV and then considers herself a modern day prophet.

The comedy...


[Edited by _DigitaLVampirE_ on 21st March 2004 at 16:57]

[Fear_nam_Beanntan]

Originally posted by theja
The true Church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23).

Indeed it is. Yet this only leads us to another question, namely, what is the body of Christ? Is it a visible communion, or an invisible?

Originally posted by theja
It does not belong to any one group. So any worthy cause done in the name and for the cause of Christ is recognised.

There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). The oneness of Christ's Church is repeatedly emphasized throughout Scripture. Your claim that this is an invisible, pan-denominational unity which encompasses people whose doctrinal differences are greater than those between St. Paul and the Galatian Judaizers, is a bit of a stretch. I would rather just take the Bible at face value. Jesus founded one insitutional Church.

We need look no further than the prophecy of Daniel to find the indentifying marks of this one Church:

... the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth ... the God of Jeaven will set up a kingdom that shall never by destroyed, and His kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people: and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms: and itself shall stand for ever. (Dan. 2:35, 44)

In these two verses, the prophet Daniel reveals to us all at once the visibility, universality, and immutability of the true Church. Visibility, because this kingdom fills "the whole earth" and is as "a great mountain" - who has ever heard of a mountain that was so great as to fill the entire earth and yet remain invisible? Universality, because this kingdom fills "the whole earth," and conquers over "all these kingdoms" of the earth. Immutability, because this kingdom "shall stand forever."

What more proof do we need that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of Christ? Has there ever been another Church that has filled the whole earth, that has been visible for all to see, that had its inception during the days of the Roman Empire (Daniel says this kindgom will be established "in the days of those kingdoms," the last of which was the Roman Empire in the first century), and that has remained upon the earth ever since that time?
http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/04Feb/feb25qds.htm

Originally posted by theja
The first Church consist only of the Jews (Acts 2:41). The first Roman converts are recorded in Acts 10. For a group to impose a name on the Church of Christ (RCC) and claim ownership is unbiblical.

The Catholic Church isn't composed entirely of Romans. I, for one, am a Byzantine.