Mary, I really do not know what else to say to you. I have very thoughtfully responded to every one of your questions, repeatedly. You said you do not believe Jesus is God — hence, you are not a Christian. There is not really much more to it than that. We Christians say yes. Neither are hymnals, but we Christians use those too. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. It is God himself who, through his angel as intermediary, greets Mary. Our prayer dares to take up this greeting to Mary with the regard God had for the lowliness of his humble servant and to exult the joy he finds in her. Mary is full of grace because the Lord is with her.
The grace with which she is filled is the presence of him who is the source of all grace. We give ourselves over to her now, in the Today of our lives. May she welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing to lead us to her son, Jesus, in paradise.
During Mass service The Church worships and praise God. One of my favorite Praises is Glory:. Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to people of good will. You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; You take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. You are seated at the right hand of the father, have mercy on us. Heaven are Earth are full of your Glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
We try not to but others done rather give the simple gosspel of our Lord jesus and let the gosspel speak for itself. We can argue till were blue in the face and loss the opertunity to share Christ to others. You are both right apout Mary who gave birth o Christ, and the mother of Christ can,t split him in half to say was born of fleash of christ or to say was born of son of god.
Jesus came as a man to take all our sin all our shame and brought it to the cross and wased are sins away ,all that belive him confess Him will have everlasting live, We know mary was great to except this high privliage to be the mother of the son of God but was by nothing she did she said in Luke behold iam the servent of the Lord: let it be according to youre word. She saw her self as only a servant. Lets not seek her but rather seek Jesus who hold all truth all love all mercy and grace, takes faith to belive this not knoledge.
Im soory for my spelling my shortcomming. May you have a bleesed day. Most books of the New Testament make no claim to having been written by eyewitnesses. Certainly no where in any of the books is there a claim that the canon was assembled by an eyewitness, or even an idea of which books belong in the canon.
I would suggest you spend less time bashing Catholicism and more time reading your Bible. Protestants may ague that the Catholic church has lost its way from the apostles. But they are ignoring the words of Jesus in Matthew 16;19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Thank you Matthew and Nana for your reasoned and thoughtful responses in defense of the Faith. To those who keep saying Mary is a sinner like us — no. Many non-Catholic Christians have a misunderstanding of the Immaculate Conception.
The Blessed Mother was conceived without sin. That is a basic tenet of our faith. Peter used the keys Christ gave him to open the door to the Jews on the Day of Pentecost Acts 2 , to the Samaritans after the preaching of Philip Acts , and to the Gentiles after the Lord had sent him a vision and an appeal from Cornelius Acts Jesus gave Peter and the apostles authority over both the doctrine and practices of the first-century church.
Through the leading of the Holy Spirit, they would be given wisdom to know what to forbid and what to permit….
Look at history of Popes.. This showed that they believed Jesus to be more than man. Our Lord declared Peter to be blessed, as the teaching of God made him differ from his unbelieving countrymen.
Christ added that he had named him Peter, in allusion to his stability or firmness in professing the truth. The word translated rock, is not the same word as Peter, but is of a similar meaning. Nothing can be more wrong than to suppose that Christ meant the person of Peter was the rock. Without doubt Christ himself is the Rock, the tried foundation of the church; and woe to him that attempts to lay any other!
If Jesus be not the Christ, those that own him are not of the church, but deceivers and deceived. Our Lord next declared the authority with which Peter would be invested. He spoke in the name of his brethren, and this related to them as well as to him. In such matters their decision was right, and it was confirmed in heaven. None can forgive sins but God only.
And this binding and loosing, in the common language of the Jews, signified to forbid and to allow, or to teach what is lawful or unlawful. NOTE: this is to the catholic church primarily, but also to all churches. So, where do I begin? Wanna hear about Jesus? So how should we be? So give glory to GOD alone. This has been amply covered in the comments. Please read the full comment thread before posting. And yes I am aware of all the wrong and negative things that humans have done in the name of the Catholic Church but every religion has participated in murder and conquest in the name of their God.
So maybe…just maybe you might need to explore a Roman Catholic Church where Catholics are not so judgemental and want to put you down because of your thoughts. And I go to mass often.
If we want a unified church observe the Sabbath and Jewish laws like most of the saints and embrace the truths of New Age religions such as Scientology and Theosophy. Additionally Islam is also in Christ as Mohammed was the return of Judas. Eastern religions were influenced by Christ and are as Gnostic as Protestants are Catholic. Tim Farber here, I was hoping there would be some deep and serious discussion on this very important and timely topic. If you read my above post in responce to the article you would see that I have some very deep feelings about this topic that go back a number of decades.
I know this is over a year old but your above post hit the nail on the head. The traditions of the Holy Roman Catholic Church were destroyed with the sledgehammer blows that smashed the Tridentine altars. I realized this coming back into the church in I was expecting the beauty and holiness of the church that my grandmother had told me of. What I got was not beautiful or holy. It turns out that conservatives are criticized for wanting reverence and respect for the house of the lord.
I was expecting that our class would be taught by a priest or someone else with orders. I was depressed for so long. Instead of leaving I resolved to try and change it. I started by trying to become an acolyte the fact I said the correct title instead of altar server put the priest off and also started a schola to teach others Latin and plainchant.
This was not received well by the guitar players, pianist, clarinet players, and tambourine banger. Even though I am a classically trained vocalist two years with a university choir and had the written permission of two fathers- none of the five parishes in my community would allow us to chant at ANY mass.
I later found out that our Monsignor went to the Bishop about me with concern that I was becoming overzealous and possibly associated with the SSPX. Which by the way had a chapel just right down the road… miles away! I tried my hardest to be a good Catholic, but then I realized that a good Catholic just sits in the pew. A good Catholic empties his pockets and keeps his mouth shut. I spent too many nights in tearful prayer and too many masses shunned before I realized my error.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is the Catholic Church and gives our Lord God the respect and whole hearten admiration our savior deserves. Pius V forbade changing the mass. We were all warned so many times. There is no need to leave the Church to find reverence in liturgy.
Setting aside for a moment all those secular and religious clergy who do not use praise bands, there are whole fraternities of priests who make reverence in liturgy a point of their charism. Have you heard of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Have you heard of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius? Have you heard of the Institute of Christ the King?
Or the Institute of the Good Shepherd? The proper response to perceived apostasy is not to commit apostasy. Come on. There are faithful churches that offer the Tridentine mass. Eastern Orthodox Churches do not though the liturgy of John Chrysostom which they do offer is quite beautiful.
I agree with you about the liturgical abuses; however, there are other options besides going Orthodox. Seek out Tridentine masses. Sounds to me that you should work on your humility. I do agree that many people who consider themselves Catholic, are also Christian…no matter what group of people we attend church with, some will not truely be believers.
With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. So, we can love each other as family , and have discussions about these things. In fairness, as the article has indicated, some Catholics in name only perpetuate this prejudice.
Same with the prejudice about Mary. Why not ask the Mother of God to pray for you? Jesus instructed His disciples to pray to our heavenly Father. We do not need any intermediaries…. Jesus IS our priest …as the book of Hebrews explains, our eternal priest.
Jesus never said we should pray to His mother…. She is with God now, but we should not be praying to her. I believe this is based on scripture. We need to be careful of adding to what God instructs us to do. And, thank you for talking with me…I can change my mind on some things if I see that Christ told us these things. Revelation 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
Dear Josh, Two quick observations about your comment in Rev. And secondly it does not actually say that they are receiving the prayers of the saints on earth. That is simply NOT what the text says. After reading a statement by Dr. C Sproul , I now see that the most important issue non-Catholic Christians have with the Catholic position is the denial of the Biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone…thus denying the Gospel itself…that IS a problem.
All Catholic Christians should examine the facts for themselves in light of scripture. And, ask the Holy Spirit for discernment and understanding of the truth.
Patricia: Citation? My concerns are the things I know are done that I can not find backed up by scripture; Praying to Mary, are some prayers to Mary required when sins are confessed to a priest? Praying to anyone other than God in the name of Christ Jesus also concerns me as not backed by scripture.
Again as I understand it, the martyred saints and all the departed prophets are not available for us to commune with….
So, if you can show me where I am mistaken please explain. Thank you. Elsewhere in this thread is a brief summary of intercession. Rather, it is communication by the power of God. For links, check out this comment. Christ did, and said many more things than those contained in the New Testament. You should speak to a CAtholic apologist for the Churches opinions on topics that u say that are contrary to the Bible.. Hello Albert, I rely on scripture and also on what I have learned by studying the attributes of God.
Some attributes of God He shared with us, ie our emotions and ability to think and reason…. God alone is sovereign and all knowing and all powerful…He is the one who can hear our prayers on the other side of the grave, not departed saints. I just have to stand firm on this belief, scripture does not support praying to anyone other than God. We have prayer chains and we pray corporately in church and in prayer groups, and with each other before meals , etc.
As James tells us, we can also confess our sins to one another and pray for forgiveness. The main point I am making here is to Whom we are praying…we are praying to God the Father in the name of Christ Jesus. We are praying for other people still alive in this world , as well as ourselves. We are also told to pray for the lost, as we spread the gospel message The Great Commission. Praying to Mary or any other saints in Heaven diminishes the work of Christ.
Yes, Elijah and Moses were seen with Christ when He was transformed on the mountain…in no way is this telling us to pray to them! Scripture tells us God forbids us to try to commune with the dead.. In 1 Samuel , king Saul wanted the medium of Endor to contact Samuel the prophet who had died , it did not end well for him. I do realize when you are praying to Mary, or another departed saint, that you are not expecting to see them or hear them…However,your focus is being diverted away from Christ.
When you are moved to pray, who do you think of? Only Jesus, the only righteous person to live, has the power to be our Mediator between sinful man and an absolute holy God. I can assure you, from my 40 or so years of dealing with non-catholic bible reading Christians at work, college, ect.
For a more detailed justification of intercession of the saints. For an even more detailed justification, check out our tract on the subject. Also keep in mind that looking to scripture for all things without having a pre-existing sense of the faith is un-Christian , by the earliest understandings of the faith. Denying the communion of the saints comes down to a denial of all historical beliefs Christians have behind the appropriateness of the Incarnation.
Tim, you seem to be missing the point. Obviously not, right? I mean, look at the context the second chapter of 1 Timothy. That idea is so commonplace now that we tend to forget how radical it was at the time. Since Jesus is the mediator for everyone, we should pray also for non-Christians kings in particular. The point of this chapter absolutely is not to proscribe the solicitation of intercessory prayers from anyone, alive or dead.
If understood as Catholics generally understand Revelations, certain lines define the role of saints. In a sense praying to a saint, in the Catholic understanding, is asking that saint to pray with you to God.
The earliest martyrs of the church we the model for sainthood. Since the Apostles and the Virgin Mary etc were viewed also as providing witness to Christ and the Apostles in any event were all martyrs they were counted as saints by popular acclaim.
Later the church found it necessary to provide a more formal process of review for other proposed saints. The reason we should not pray to departed saints…. God alone is capable of receiving the prayers of a billion people at once and continually…. Asking our fellow humans on earth to pray for us is perfectly acceptable, and expected. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them. Doctrine needs to be in line with scripture. So, a fortiori, it seems like what you are suggesting is an impoverished view of salvation, and denying the words of the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, who described the departed saints as a great cloud of witnesses.
Seems unscriptural to me, if nothing else. So, if I understand you correctly, you do believe other beings in heaven become like God Almighty! Asking a living breathing friend to pray for us is not the same. We are praying to God. Through out old and new testaments, prayers were offered to God, not Moses or Elijah or any departed human.
Sorry, I think I am on solid ground here. They still pray to God, and they can still pray for those they love. Is there some area of scripture that you believe supports the hypothesis that salvation incapacitates someone?
So, someone who worships God is more like God than someone who is lost. And, God made us like Him in the first place by making us in His image.
The doctrine of theosis is a fundamental doctrine of Christianity, and was even recognized by the most extreme critics of the Church in the Reformation like John Calvin and Martin Luther. It is what sanctification is about. One does require grace to pray, but that grace is freely offered to all, which is why we can see people on earth praying for one another.
I am having a hard to wrapping my mind around your hypothesis that, by going to heaven, we are somehow less close to God than on earth. That just strikes me as unscriptural, besides going against tradition and reason. The point has nothing to do with salvation. The point is only God is Omniscient, and omnipresent, and omnipotent;Therefore, Only God can hear the billions of prayers and know the hearts and minds of humanity, at the same time doing everything else that God does continually.
We can not communicate to people on the other side of the grave…that is not supported by scripture. The glory all goes to God, always. We can only pray along side people here with us, and all prayers are directed to our Heavenly Father, just as Jesus taught the disciples. Scripture suggests that they are. Furthermore, there is absolutely zero scriptural support for the idea that someone in heaven is limited by the dimensions of the material universe.
Heaven is spiritual in essence, outside of time and place. With respect,I say I have a better understanding of the difference between our beliefs. I have the same understanding as you that only in this life are we affected by time and space.
That is how I understand it. We will find out someday! I do want to worship God in truth, and not have false understandings about who He is. So thanks for discussing this point with me, and may God help us understand even better!
That is an anti-Christian heresy known as Nestorianism which has been condemned by every Christian church, catholic or protestant, in existence. As Christians who believe in the Trinity, we believe that you cannot separate Jesus into two persons. Therefore, if you say that Mary is only the mother of part of Jesus, that is an anti-Christian blasphemy of the highest order, a direct denial of Jesus Christ come in the flesh.
God is eternal, and creator of everything…. He does not have a mother. So, Jesus had an earthly mother, but God Almighty never did. Did he depose emperors and free us from serving such men? For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.
The beads mean this.. Patricia look at Mark Chapter 9 and Matthew Chapter God decides who he shares his powers with, even with people on Earth prophets, healers, speaking in tongues, etc. He could also share his powers with the Holy souls in Heaven. We are all part of Jesus body, his church and his community. Our spirits are eternal and remain a part of Jesus body and community.
That is why we refer to them as the Community of Saints. We are all called to be Holy and be Saints. No where in the Bible does it say not to ask others for help, living or dead. By making it into Heaven already the Saints have succeeded in this life and who better to ask for help in making our life successful also, than to have their prayers added to ours. Jesus likes us to share in salvation and that is why we pray for others as well as ourselves. Why would he all of a sudden not want us to share any more once we are in heaven?
Hi Elvis. Deep Theology here! That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Holy Spirit. Is the water the baptism of repentance? God regenerates the hearts to bring people to spiritual life…. So, does a person choose to be baptized because they want to believe, or because they already believe. How could a person believe unless God gave them a regenerate heart? You also referenced Hosea , but I am not sure why….
If I may contiune; the reputation that the catholic religion has garnered over the years about being pagan and the contention that non-catholic christians have that catholics are not true christian is not without merit. As a young catholic I was taught that all catholics were Christians the same as all squares are rectangles.
And that simply is not true. The question before the court here today is: What does it take to be a Christian or rephrased: What does it mean to be a Christian.
I am speaking about a series of concentric circles, i. It is my contention, after a number of decades reviewing the subject that the catholic religion is burdened down and encumbered by a great deal of non-essentials much of which have very little to do with the true Christian faith. And that these non-essentials are just about all the non-catholic public sees and knows about. So in reality, it is no wonder that so many, if not most non-catholic Christians believe that catholics are not Christians and that a great deal of their religion has pagan origins.
Brother Tim, you seem to make a lot of conclusions but with no citation or specific acusations. Thank you and God bless. I think we should be less concerned with labels and more concerned with actually living out our faith as Christians, being light in this dark world. And with all due respect, the Catholic leadership has lost a great deal of credibility.
This is not to say all Catholics are bad or anything like that. But if the Catholic church wants to survive and regain respect, it must reform itself. Reminds me of a comic strip. After all, when a bible reading, non-catholic sees a catholic neighbor or co-worker or relative they think of the them in in two conflicting ways simultaneously.
One, as a member organization in Rome, and as an individual who may or may not be a true, saved, born again Christian. The Bible talks at some length about how the sinners will remain with us until the end of time, and they will not be separated until the end times. It also talks at some length about a visible, public organization, a corporate body of believers, and is scandalized at denominationalism.
Catholicism is adenominational. It is anti-denominational. It is not a denomination. It is simply, and purely, the visible Church founded by Christ, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. Dear Benjamin, Please tell me were the bible talks about a visible, public organization. Over the centuries Rome has grown to be a cross between a governmental state without borders and an international high finance corporation.
U should do some reading of the early church fathers starting with ignatius of Antioch a student of john the apostle who believed that the eucharist is the flesh of our lord and savior, then he goes on to say that a eucharist is a valid one only when performed under a bishops authority or someone under the bishop, and he also said to follow the bishop.
The apostles were in the best position to fully understand what the birch was and what the apostles interpretation of scripture was.
Here we have a hierchial authoritative scripture all the way back to ad from a student of the apostles. I would also recommend the writings of Clement of Rome in 90 ad who talked about how the apostles ordained future leaders of the church. As far as not seeing something in scripture , scripture itself can have a multitude of interpretations but did the earliest Christian church teach personal interpretation of scripture? Clearly it did not if you read through the writings of the early church fathers.
This was decided in 4 catholic Christian councils between ad and ad. And there were disputes as to which books belonged in the bible and which didnt.
It was the pope in Rome who made that final call. Researching the apostolic fathers and the early church fathers is what kept me catholic when I was curiously attending evengelical bible studies. Bible alone wasnt practices by the early church.
It was scripture , sacrad oral Traditon with a capital T and the magisterium , or else every person off the streets would have their own interpretation and this , form their own church, which we see today. These books on the early church will help The fathers know best by jimmy akin And Where is that in the bible by Patrick Madrid. Also, history of the Holy Bible. The Church declared the Bible the word of God, but not all the teachings of the Church are in the Gospels.
The Gospels are based on the Oral Traditions of the Church, not the other way around. Who believes in the Bible is accepting the Magisterium of the Church. The Apostolic Traditions of the Church consist of the teachings that the apostles passed on orally through their preaching. These teachings largely perhaps entirely overlap with those contained in Scripture, but the mode of their transmission is different.
They have been handed down and entrusted to the church. It is necessary that Christians believe in and follow this tradition as well as the Bible Luke The truth of the faith has been given primarily to the leaders of the Church Eph. The Church has been guided by the Holy Spirit, who protects this teaching from corruption John , The goats are all the unbelievers as well as those who think they are followers of Christ, but it is not the same Christ.
I do think that Catholics and Protestants believe in the Deity of Christ which is in accordance with scripture, but many who profess to follow Christ do not…thus, it is a different Jesus from the one described in the book of John. Also, there are nominal Christians who go to church and do good works, but have not seen their own need to be saved from sin. They see themselves as good people who deserve to be in Heaven someday.
These too will be in the goat category I believe. These preachers are everywhere, and all believers should compare scripture to what they hear coming from their pulpit. Not the point. The point is that without the sacramental life, you slow or prevent sanctification, and you have fewer weapons with which to combat the devil, who goes about even now as a roaring lion, seeking whom he should devour.
It follows that you are easier pickings for the devil, for there is little avenue for the ordinary graces God gave us.
Which is a stirring condemnation against the novelty of sola scriptura , among other things. Hi Ben, I do not know what you mean by by. I have come to understand that I receive salvation the minute I fully see my need for a savior, and surrender my life to Jesus Christ. I got baptized because Jesus commanded us to do that as a public witness of my confession of faith in Him.
I take Communion also to focus my mind on the sacrifice He made for me and re dedicate my life to Him. My sanctification is a process that continues until I die. Looking back over the past 20 years, I can see I have grown as a Christian and I do react in much more Christ like ways than before, and I lean on God more as well as give God thanks for more everyday.
Christ gave us the sacraments, which are outward signs of inward graces. Sacraments are His chosen method to apply the fruits of redemption; the forgiveness of sin among them. Sanctification proceeding without them is unnecessarily difficult, and in fact contrary to the wishes of Christ. Not that sanctification with them is any walk in the park, naturally. They strengthen us in our resolve and spiritual temperament, protecting us from the evil one to a degree. This seems somewhat of a false dichotomy if you accept the Biblical suggestion that the Church is the mystical body of Christ.
I am not sure I fully understand your request. If there are readers who would be interested in examining the question as to why so many protestants do not believe catholics are Christians I would be willing to give my 2 cents worth from my decades of talking with them about catholics. I offered in my last post what I believe to be a valid answer to that question. Poor Knight, are you asking me to point out just one of these non-essentials that has been absorbed by the church through out its year history?
How about you point one out first. There are dozens as far as the Protestants are concerned. Why limit our discussion to just one? I admire u both very much I am reading both of what u are saying,I can not express my self as well as u. Out centuries of time I have to close now I pray to the Holy Spirit he gives u the wisdom to see clearly amen.
Tim, believe it or not the trinity was not apostolic tradition. Y the apostles but by the church. Remember what the early Church believed in.
The church by the authority given to it by Christ decided on that, and even the formation of the bible canon itself was not done during the times of the apostles. Is Christianity based on the bible or is the bible based on Christianity? Was Paul writing to Christian communities already formed or did those communities have a bible to read before Paul wrote to them? I have a busy week and will probably forget this exchange long before I get time to respond but God bless and Peace be with you.
Dear Biggar, There is a lot in your above post of March 7 in which to respond. I can get into the whole 9 yards with you if wish and give you a list. All I would have to do is go over to one of multitudes of home bible studies that one of my bible reading non-christians is having this week and turn on a tape recorder and ask them this same question and they would go one for hours listing all of the silly, non-biblical beliefs and activities that catholic people believe and engage in.
And they would do it all with bible verses flying at you one after another. I will read John 6 later. It is a big chapter. How about you reading Romans chapter and the book of Galatians and Eph. I love the book of John. Evan the 6 year old children of my non-catholic, bible believing friends can recite from memory the words of Jesus from John !
John 6 really has to be rough for protestants. I mean, to paraphrase the dialogue from John …. You must eat My Flesh, which is real food, and drink My Blood, which is real drink, to have eternal life. I mean, we know your parents. In contrast, the Roman Catholic Church views justification as a process, dependent on the grace you receive by participating in the Church—which is seen as a repository of saving grace.
Svigel explains the Catholic perspective:. Svigel explains:. It contains the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ. And that becomes the spiritual and physical nourishment. As you partake of it, it becomes part of you, transforms you, and makes you more and more righteous.
Martin Luther likened this to the idea of a red-hot iron in a fire—united, but not changed. Bock says:. Jesus Christ surrounds the elements. In this understanding, the elements are symbols which remain ontologically unaffected by the ritual. As previously discussed, protestants view justification as the moment God declares that a guilty person is righteous because of what Christ has done.
Sanctification , then, is the process of being made more righteous throughout your life. Rather than a vertical structure, Protestants see the church as having a horizontal structure. Svigel contrasts the role of the Catholic priest with the Protestant idea of the priesthood of all believers:. From Luther on, we have the ability to confess our sins to one another, pronounce forgiveness as the scripture says. Roman Catholics see veneration, not as praying to the Saints and the Virgin Mary, but as praying through them.
This is seen as similar to asking a brother or sister in Christ to pray for you. The Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father the Son is one and the same God. The Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us.
The Holy union of a man and woman. What God has bound together, no person can separate. Divorce permitted in cases of adultery or abandonment. Variable but treated with respect. Women are not allowed to be priests. However, they can become nuns. Usually, women are not allowed to be part of the clergy, but are permitted to teach or work in other areas. Split off in an attempt to return to church's origins approx. Believe in all prophets of the Books from the Holy Bible, and that Muhammad is a false prophet.
According to Catholic doctrine, Catholicism is the original Christian Church. Christianity is the true religion. Judaism is a true religion, but they do not believe Jesus is the Messiah. Islam is a false religion, pagan religions are also false. Islam is a false religion. Pagan religions are also false. Mary is considered favored among women, and was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus through a virgin birth. Thus, she is considered holy, and may be prayed to as an intercessor to God. Mary is considered favored among women, and was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus through a virgin birth, but is otherwise simply a human with no other special attributes.
A place of cleansing and preparation for heaven. Also a place where the punishment due to unremitted venial sins may be expiated. Humans are free to devote themselves to knowledge and communion in the image of God. Received at baptism; may be lost by mortal sin; regained by faith and penance. You must believe Jesus is the only son of God, confess your sins, must have a relationship with Jesus.
Faith in Jesus Christ as having already paid the penalty for your sins. Various forms of grace and free will. In one extreme, God predestines who will be saved and there is no free will. In the other extreme it is entirely the free will of man. Most protestants are somewhere in between. Only for their intercession or help, at end of each prayer you must say "but only God's will be done". Saints are anyone that believes, and Mary is only a human. The only intercessor between God and man is Jesus, not saints, Mary, or angels.
Commonly termed the 'Mystic Supper' or 'Divine Liturgy' - This makes present Christ's sacrifice and therefore forgiveness of sins is obtained through it. It is also an encounter with the Risen Christ. A special group of holy people, who are venerated.
They may act as intercessors between God and Man and may be invoked in prayer. The Bible and Catechisms, which may be added to or amended by The Pope. The Bible alone. Each person must verify all teachings through the Bible. During the Eucharist, the Priest calls down the Holy Spirit upon the gifts the bread and the wine. They then change into the actual body and blood of Christ. The precise way in which this happens is a divine mystery. Christ is present in spirit, but the bread and wine are merely symbolic of his death, and of the believer's commitment to him.
Catholics believe that salvation to eternal life is God's will for all people. You must believe Jesus was the son of God, receive Baptism, confess your sins, and take part in Holy Mass to obtain this.
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