(Copied) 10 MIsconceptions of the Church

Having recently published our misconceptions list about Islam, I promised a commenter that I would also publish a list of misconceptions about the Catholic Church – of which there are millions. With this list I am honoring that promise. I have taken ten of the most believed or written about misconceptions about Catholics or the Church and debunked them (with evidence wherever possible). I certainly hope that you all find it interesting and readable.

10

Discourage Bible Reading

Misconception: The Church discourages Bible reading
The very first Christian Bible was produced by the Catholic Church – compiled by Catholic scholars of the 2nd and 3rd century and approved for general Christian use by the Catholic Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397). The very first printed Bible was produced under the auspices of the Catholic Church – printed by the Catholic inventor of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg. And the very first Bible with chapters and numbered verses was produced by the Catholic Church–the work of Stephen Langton, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury.
At every Mass in the world everyday, the Bible is read aloud by the priest. In the traditional Mass there is one reading from the general body of the Bible (excluding the gospels), and two from the Gospels. In the modern Catholic Mass, there are two readings from the general body of the Bible and one from the Gospels. All Catholic homes have a Bible and the Bible is taught in Catholic schools (as is its perennial tradition).
This myth has come about because Bibles were often locked away in Churches in the past, but that was not to prevent people having access – it was to prevent them being stolen. These were hand written Bibles which were incredibly valuable due to scarcity. Furthermore, people think the Church forbade people from reading the Bible by putting it on the Index of Forbidden Books, but the Bibles placed on the Index were Protestant versions (lacking 7 books) or badly translated versions – the most famous of which is the King James Version which Catholics are not supposed to use.

9

Idolatry

Misconception: Catholics worship Mary and are, therefore, committing idolatry
In Catholic theology there are three types of worship – one of which is condemned in the Bible if offered to anyone but God:
1) Latria – this is adoration which is given to God alone – giving this type of worship to anyone else is considered to be a mortal sin and it is the idolatry condemned in the Bible.
2) Hyperdulia – this is a special type of worship given to Mary the Mother of Jesus – it is only given to her and it is not considered to be idolatory as it is not adoration, merely reverence.
3) Dulia – this is the special type of worship given only to the saints and angels – it is also not idolatrous as it, too, is a form of reverence.
The distinction was made by the 2nd Council of Nicaea in 787 AD. The council was called to condemn the people who claimed that it was idolatrous to have statues and images of saints. The canons of the Council can be read here.
Just to clarify: “Latria is a Latin term (from the Greek ???????) used in Orthodox and Catholic theology to mean adoration, which is the highest form of worship or reverence and is directed only to the Holy Trinity.” – there are lower forms of worship (as is implied here). A Catholic who may kneel in front of a statue while praying isn’t worshipping the statue or even praying to it, any more than the Protestant who kneels with a Bible in his hands when praying is worshipping the Bible or praying to it. The images of saints (whether it be in statue form or painting) serves as a reminder of the holiness of the person depicted.

8

Non-Christians

Misconception: Catholics aren’t Christians
In fact, Catholics are the first Christians. When reading over the early Christian writings, you can see clearly that their doctrines and teachings are the same as the Catholic Church today. You hear of Bishops, virgins living in community (nuns), priests, confession, baptism of infants, the Bishop of Rome as head of the Christian religion, and reverence for the saints. Here are some comments by the early Church fathers who were, in many cases, the apostles of the Biblical apostles:

Bishops: For it will be no light sin for us, if we thrust out those who have offered the gifts of the bishop’s office unblamably and holily. — Pope St Clement, Letter to the Corinthians 1, A.D. 96.

The Papacy: “[From] Ignatius . . . to the church also which holds the presidency, in the location of the country of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy of sanctification, and, because you hold the presidency in love, named after Christ and named after the Father” (St Ignatius, Letter to the Romans 1:1 [A.D. 110]).

Holy Communion: “This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God’s Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus.” — St. Justin Martyr, “First Apology”, A.D. 148-155.

Infant Baptism: “Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them” (St Hippolytus, The Apostolic Tradition 21:16 [A.D. 215]).

Confession: “[A filial method of forgiveness], albeit hard and laborious [is] the remission of sins through penance, when the sinner . . . does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who say, “I said, to the Lord, I will accuse myself of my iniquity.” ” (Origen, Homilies in Leviticus 2:4 — A.D. 248)

From these quotes it is obvious that the practices of the modern Catholic Church are the closest to the practices of the apostles and early Christians. It should also be said that the majority of historians accept that the Catholic Church was the first Christian Church as it is verifiable from ancient texts.

7

Totally Infallible

Misconception: The Pope is infallible in all things
Roman Catholics believe that only under certain circumstances is the pope infallible (that is, he can not make a mistake). The Catholic Church defines three conditions under which the Pope is infallible:

I. The Pope must be making a decree on matters of faith or morals
II. The declaration must be binding on the whole Church
III. The Pope must be speaking with the full authority of the Papacy, and not in a personal capacity.

This means that when the Pope is speaking on matters of science, he can make errors (as we have seen in the past with issues such as Heliocentricity). However, when he is teaching a matter of religion and the other two conditions above are met, Catholics consider that the decree is equal to the Word of God. It can not contradict any previous declarations and it must be believed by all Catholics. Catholics believe that if a person denies any of these solemn decrees, they are committing a mortal sin – the type of sin that sends a person to hell. Here is an example of an infallible decree from the Council of Trent (under Pope Saint Pius V – 16th Century):

If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist are contained truly, really and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ, but says that He is in it only as in a sign, or figure or force, let him be anathema.

The last section of the final sentence “let him be anathema” is a standard phrase that normally appears at the end of an infallible statement. It means “let him be cursed”. The most recent pronouncement that can be seen as falling under Papal Infallibility was when Pope John Paul II declared that women could not become priests.

6

Anti-Science

Misconception: The Catholic Church is opposed to science and rejects evolution
In fact, may great scientific advances have come about through Catholic scholarship and education. The most recent and interesting case is that of Monsignor Georges Lemaître (pictured above, center) a Belgian priest who proposed the Big Bang theory. When he proposed his theory, Einstein rejected it, causing Monsignor Lemaître to write to him: “Your math is correct, but your physics is abominable.” Eventually Einstein came to accept the theory.
Also, unlike many of the American Protestant or evangelical religions, the Catholic Church does not reject the theory of evolution. Right from the early days of the theory, the Church remained mostly silent on the issue. The first public statements specifically regarding evolution came from Pope Pius XII who said: “The Church does not forbid that…research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter.”
In 2004, a Theological Commission overseen by Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) issued this statement: “According to the widely accepted scientific account, the universe erupted 15 billion years ago in an explosion called the ‘Big Bang’ and has been expanding and cooling ever since. [...] Converging evidence from many studies in the physical and biological sciences furnishes mounting support for some theory of evolution to account for the development and diversification of life on earth, while controversy continues over the pace and mechanisms of evolution.”
Catholic Schools all around the world (including the US) teach scientific evolution as part of their science curriculum.

5

Indulgences

Misconception: Indulgences let you pay to have your sins forgiven
First of all we need to understand what an indulgence is. The Catholic Church teaches that when a person sins, they get two punishments: eternal (hell) and temporal (punishment on earth while alive, or in purgatory after death). To remove the eternal punishment of hell, a person must confess their sins and be forgiven. But the temporal punishment remains. To remove the temporal punishment a person can receive an indulgence. This is a special “blessing” in which the temporal punishment is removed if a person performs a special act such as doing good deeds or reading certain prayers.
In the Middle ages, forgers who were working for disobedient Bishops would write fake indulgences offering the forgiveness of sins (removal of eternal punishment) in exchange for money which was often used for church building. Popes had been long trying to end the abuse but it took at least three centuries for the sale of indulgences to finally end. True indulgences existed from the beginning of Christianity and the Church continues to grant special indulgences today. Wikipedia has an excellent and honest article on the abuse of indulgences from the Middle Ages. You can read it here. Here is a BBC article on a new indulgence granted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.

4

Emperor Constantine

Misconception: Emperor Constantine invented the Catholic Church in 325 AD
In 313 AD, Emperor Constantine announced toleration of Christianity in the Edict of Milan, which removed penalties for professing Christianity. At the age of 40 he converted to Christianity and in 325 he convened the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea. Because of the importance of this council, many people believe that Constantine created the Church, but in fact there had been many councils (though not as large) prior to Nicaea and the structure of the Church already existed. Constantine was at the council merely as an observer and the Bishops and representative of the Pope made all of the decisions. Before the council of Nicaea, priestly celibacy was already the norm, baptism of infants was practiced (as were all 7 sacraments), and the structure of priests and Bishops was already 300 years old.

3

Priestly Celibacy

Misconception: Catholic Priests can’t get married
This has appeared on a previous list, but it is well worth including it here as well. In order to clear this one up, we need to first understand the nature of the Catholic Church. Within the universal Church there are sections (also called churches but not in the sense that they are separate) – the most common one is, of course, the Roman (or Latin) Catholic Church. Then there is the Eastern Catholic Church (not to be confused with the Orthodox which is a different religion). Both of these churches fall under the jurisdiction of the Pope and all believe the same doctrines. There are a lot of differences between the two groups but these are all in matters of style of worship and certain rules. In the Eastern Church, priests are allowed to be married – but a married priest can’t become a Bishop.
It also happens that occasionally in the Latin Church, pastors who convert from other religions such as the Church of England are allowed to become priests even though they are married, so married priests can be found in all parts of the Roman Catholic Church. Pictured above is a Greek Catholic priest and his wife. Don’t believe me? Here is proof. And here is more proof.

2

Modified Bible

Misconception: The Church added books to the Bible
The Catholic version of the Old Testament differs from the Protestant version in that the Catholic edition contains seven more books than Protestant Bibles. These “extra” books are the reason that many people consider the Church to have added to the Bible, but in fact these books were considered the official canon (list of books) by all Christians until the Protestant reformation during which Martin Luther (leader of the revolution) removed them. Interestingly some of these books contain affirmations of Catholic doctrines which Luther rejected. The reason that the Catholic Church uses the Greek edition is because the apostles used it exclusively in their preaching.
Luther decided to use the Jewish Masoretic canon (circa 700 – 1000 AD) instead of the Apostolic canon. The seven books he removed were: Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and Baruch. While initially wanting to remove at least one book (The Epistle of James, because it contradicts Luther’s teaching that faith alone is needed for salvation [James Chapter 2]) from the New Testament, Luther ultimately decided to keep the Catholic New Testament in full.
Interestingly, Hanukah is mentioned only in 1 and 2 Maccabees, which is not included in either the Jewish or Protestant versions of the Old Testament.

1

Medieval Papacy

Misconception: The Papacy is a medieval invention
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, and from the beginning of Christianity he was considered the head of the Church. This fact is alluded to in many of the early Church documents and even in the Bible itself: “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter [Greek for "rock"]; and upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). Peter was the first Bishop of Rome and he led the Church until his death in 64 AD, at which point St Linus became the second Pope. St Irenaeus mentions him here:

The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate [office of Bishop of Rome]. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy [2 Timothy 4:21]. To him succeeded Anacletus [third Pope, pictured above]; and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement [4th Pope] was allotted the bishopric. — Against the Heresies, 180 AD

St Irenaeus goes on to mention another six Popes and the various tasks they undertook during their reigns – such as the imposition by Pope Linus of the rule that women cover their heads in Church (a rule which, though often ignored, still exists today).

With Reason

  Why do we pray?  Why do we fast? Why are we called to participate in the sacraments and the active Church?

  Well, all over you can find information on how people who go to Church and pray, are happier and live longer.

  I recently saw two things on fasting. I saw a mini-documentary from Britain where a man went on a 5-2 diet, i.e. he would eat normally and whatever he wanted for 5 days and only eat one meal the next two days.  His health numbers were astonishing, but he cautioned that even though it seemed to work for him, one should not assume it is gold-worthy.

  In the same mini-documentary, some researchers found that mice who would fast, would gain brain cells.  There explanation was that it could be a survival tool to look for food when one has not eaten.  So there COULD be evidence that it makes us smarter as well!

  A few days later, in a Danish newspaper, I read an article speaking to scientific research discovering the benefits of fasting.

  Interesting stuff!  It was like we should fast.

  To one extent it makes perfect sense.  We live in such a me-me-me society, that fasting is a way to keep ourselves in check from all the consumption, and there are studies out there now which suggest it's good for us!

  WELL, sticking to this me-me-me society, there is a new study from the Brits which shows those who are ''spiritual but not religious'' are prone to neurotic ills.

The spiritual but not religious likely to face mental health issues, drug use, study says

By Dan Merica, CNN

Washington (CNN) - Can being spiritual but not religious lead to mental health issues? The answer is yes, according to a recent study.
The study, published in the January edition of the British Journal of Psychiatry, says spiritual but not religious people, as opposed to people who are religious, agnostic or atheist, were more likely to develop a "mental disorder," "be dependent on drugs" and "have abnormal eating attitudes,” like bulimia and anorexia.
“People who have spiritual beliefs outside of the context of any organized religion are more likely to suffer from these maladies,” said Michael King, a professor at University College London and the head researcher on the project.
Thirty percent of respondents who identified as spiritual said they had used drugs, a number that was nearly twice as much as the 16% of religious respondents who said they had used drugs, according to the study. Among the spiritual respondents, 5% said they were dependent on drugs, while 2% of religious respondents identified as dependent.
On mental health issues, the study said spiritual but not religious people were more likely to suffer from “any neurotic disorder,” “mixed anxiety/depressive disorders” or “depression” than their religious counterparts. Overall, 19% of spiritual respondents said they suffered from a neurotic disorder, while 15% of religious respondents responded the same way.
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The practice of being spiritual but not religious is difficult to define and has a number of gray areas. The phrase is generally used to describe people who do not attend church, atheists who believe in some sort of higher power, free thinkers and the unaffiliated. It is also used for people who blend different faiths.
In short, King writes, “People who have a spiritual understanding of life in the absence of a religious framework are vulnerable to mental disorder.”
King, who said he has received a substantial amount of hate mail over the study, defended his findings, “If you take drug dependency, they are about 77% more likely than religious respondents, 24% more likely to having a generalized anxiety disorder. These are quite obvious differences.”
Opinion: 'I'm spiritual but not religious' is a cop-out
The study was conducted with the government of the United Kingdom, which asked the questions as part of a larger psychiatric study.
With a sample of 7,403 British people, the study found that nearly 19% of England’s population is spiritual but not religious. That number is higher in the United States, where, according to a 2002 Gallup Poll, in a sample of 729 adults, 33% of Americans identified themselves as "spiritual but not religious.”
Past academic studies in the United States have come to similar conclusions, said Tanya Luhrmann, a psychological anthropologist and the Watkins University professor at Stanford University. Most academic research about religion and well-being, said Luhrmann, has found that religion is good for you.
According to Luhrmann, organized religion provides three outlets that benefit churchgoers' well being: social support, attachment to a loving God and the organized practice of prayer.
“When you become spiritual but not religious, you are losing the first two points and most spiritual but not religious people aren’t participating in the third,” Luhrmann said. “It is not just a generic belief in God that works; it is specific practices that work.”
People who identify themselves as spiritual but not religious push back against the notion that they have no community to fall back on or impetus to help the poor. In an interview with CNN in June 2010, BJ Gallagher, a Huffington Post blogger who writes about spirituality, compared spiritual but not religious people to people who complete 12-step programs to beat addiction.
“Twelve-step people have a brilliant spiritual community that avoids all the pitfalls of organized religion,” said Gallagher, author of “The Best Way Out is Always Through.” “Each recovering addict has a 'God of our own understanding,' and there are no priests or intermediaries between you and your God. It's a spiritual community that works.”
CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories
Heather Cariou, a New York-based author, identifies as spiritual instead of religious. She told CNN last year that she adopted a spirituality that blends Buddhism, Judaism and other beliefs.
"I don't need to define myself to any community by putting myself in a box labeled Baptist or Catholic or Muslim," she said. "When I die, I believe all my accounting will be done to God, and that when I enter the eternal realm, I will not walk though a door with a label on it."
Younger people identify as spiritual but not religious more frequently than their older counterparts. In a 2009 survey by the research firm LifeWay Christian Resources, 72% of millennials (18- to 29-year-olds) said they are "more spiritual than religious."
The phrase is now so commonplace that it has spawned its own acronym ("I'm SBNR") and website: SBNR.org.
Traditionally the words "religious" and "spiritual" were closely linked, but over time the latter word began to describe an experience disconnected from the traditional confines of religion, particularly organized religion.
A widely discussed survey of adult Americans by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released in October found that the religiously unaffiliated both believe in God and define themselves as spiritual but not religious.
Sixty-eight percent of the religiously unaffiliated believe in God and 58% say they often feel a deep connection with nature and the Earth, in a spiritual way. Additionally, the study found 37% classify themselves as "spiritual" but not "religious" and 21% say they pray every day.
As expected, the practice of being spiritual but not religious has been roundly criticized by those who participate in organized religion. Jesuit priest James Martin told CNN in June that the phrase, "I’m spiritual but not religious," can boil down to egotism.
"Being spiritual but not religious can lead to complacency and self-centeredness," said Martin, an editor at America, a national Catholic magazine based in New York. "If it's just you and God in your room, and a religious community makes no demands on you, why help the poor?"

 

Sola Fide (By Faith Alone)

The Catholic Sola Fide:
   There is a reason that Pope Benedict teaches that faith alone suffices and that it always comes with charity. He means, by "true faith," a living faith. Now, living faith by dogmatic definition includes charity, for divine faith without hope and charity does not avail (1 Cor 13:2, 1 Jn 3:14). Charity is not first a "work." It is first of all a divine gift of love that comes down from the Father (Jas 1:17) through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). It is by this gift of divine love that faith can realize itself in good works (Gal 5:6). Pope Benedict teaches this very thing: Charity is the soul or form of faith (Audience, Nov. 19).

    http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/justification-sola-fide

1 Corinthians 13:2

New International Version (NIV)

² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

1 John 3:14

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

James 1:17

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Romans 5:5

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Galatians 5:6

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Evil in our Midst

“This century is under the power of the devil, but when the secrets confided to you come to pass, his power will be destroyed.'' Lady of Medjugorje

FACT: The 20th century saw more death and murder than any century previously.

  With the help of Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Kim II Sung, Menghistu (Ethiopia), Ismail Enver (Turkey; against the Armenians), Pol Pot (Cambodia), Franco (Spain), and Milosevic (Yugoslavia) the world saw widespread atrocities of death. 

DEVELOPMENTS:  The atomic world and the global purge of resources have seem to given the modern world less dignity to the creation of the earth and more pursuit of selfish ends leaving behind to the future generations debt and global decay.

ABORTIONS: This year, as of 12:00 GMT there has already been 2, 479, 000 (and counting) abortions this year. (but both accidental and induced)
    However, According to WHO, every year in the world an estimated 40-50 million women faced with an unplanned pregnancy decide to have an abortion. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day.
    In the USA, where nearly half of pregnancies are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion [1] , there are over 3,000 abortions per day. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies in the USA (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion. [2]


THAT IS A GROTESQUE! GROTESQUE! AMOUNT of LOSS of LIFE

Is this evidence of a modern secular, narcissistic modern attitude which has denied a creature or only chooses what they would like to be true, through a vain knowledge.

1 Timothy 6: 20- 21
²⁰ Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, ²¹ which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.
Grace be with you all.

Secularism is an allowance to the individual, the call of man to be a communion of saints.

Are we so important? Do we not come from another human? How could we be more important than the human we come from, and they more than them in who they come from?

There is a human Truth! before and individual truth ,  Our nature is not our own, it is shared through our joint Creation, a joint human Creation.


 HIS WILL, HIS WAY, not our own deciphers
The failure of people today, as illustrated here by my own Catholic brethren in the following article illustrates to me, that the number of Christians in this world is uncertain, because the True message is not carried out or truly believed in, as illustrated:

  late Pope John Paul II, "a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized" (Evangelium Vitae, 93; cf. Caritas in Veritate, 15).

Concerning Roe v. Wade
  In fact, substantial majorities of white Protestants (76%), black Protestants (65%) and white Catholics (63%) say the ruling should not be over turned, the survey found

 http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/16/survey-few-religious-groups-want-roe-v-wade-overturned-despite-belief-abortion-morally-wrong/

Seven Deadly Sins - Adam&Eve - Universal Truth

SEVEN DEADLY SINS – ADAM & EVE – UNIVERSAL TRUTH

A Tuesday Morning Reflection:::

What is Religion??? It is a set beliefs in the world that is set in disciplines and
institutions… usually formed from a ‘truth’, and culminates with an understanding of our
life and after…

Is there Truth (capital T)??? Or are we all to discover our ‘’own’’ truths??

Section 1:

Socrates is known for the philosophical premise that a wise man is one who
acknowledges ‘’he knows nothing.’’ And what can we take from this? Are we not
capable of finding our ‘’own’’ truth then? If we know nothing, what are we to do?
Socrates also says, ‘‘an unexamined life is not worth living.’’
So Socrates is then saying as we put them together in the simplest sense.. “We know
nothing and we are to look for that which we don’t know about, our lives’’
So where does that get us??? It takes us to humility….. Humility is the key to the door
of our existence… There were hundreds and millions before us, and there will be after
us… So to understand our humanity, we must approach ourselves in a humble manner
(more on humility with the Seven Deadly sins)
Where does Religion fit? Well religion offers a truth… and it transcends our lives and
meets humanity’s existence… not our own, but humanity’s…We must humble our self-
ambitions of what we want to be, and acknowledge that there are things in this world that
exist outside of ourselves as contemporary people.
But is there really a Truth?? A morality that any religion can claim??

Well, maybe there is a logical explanation for this argument…

We know if we eat poison, it will harm us… Or if we eat and live with a lazy, grease-
eating lifestyle then we become unhealthy….
As human’s we have many different aspects of our being… body, intelligence and
psyche….

If we know by nature that there are things that harm our physical body, or a least are
unhealthy…… and these ‘health’ risks are universal… poison is not just bad for one
but bad for us all… a Material Truth….. then is it such a stretch to believe in a Real
Universal Truth for our psyche??? That being our moral fiber? There are ‘poisons’
for living??? I think that we are linked in such a way that if our physical body can be
harmed so can other facets of our body, and if the physical harms are universal to all of
us, then so there are universal truths that harm the psyche…….

So let’s advance that to: What are some Universal Truths?

A Popularist (slightly secular) Truth:
----People search and desire Justice (Justice in fairness and in self-worth)
---- The idea of Justice is ever evolving, but it has been at center of most
philosophical quizzes
---- Justice hits upon the idea of our judgment by others whether in social or
judicial matters… people want to be treated fairly… there is a social justice (one of
courts and rule of law) and then there is moral justice (are we ourselves just people?)
---- How do we judge what is Justice? Justice is one that transcends our own
psyche onto others… the popular desire for Justice, showcases that for the world to work
we must look past ourselves as people and look more for our humanity as Universal…
Justice doesn’t work for ourselves with our own ideas of Justice….treat others the way
you want to be treated surpasses your own beliefs, because you have to meet the others
as well to be fair to that other……I am brave enough to say, that we are not Just people if
we are concerned only just our own Justice.
--- The Judgmental man--- If Justice, by nature, is Universal… then what
are the just souls suppose to do for the unjust?? Are they allowed to pass judgment??
Should a murderer not face a jury??? Should a man not face his world’s view of him??
If we hide from the world’s view of ourselves, then we hide from ourselves, too….We
as individuals are mortal, the essence of what is human is not, it’s transcending, we are
not removed from what we are, therefore, if we enclose our views of justice and morality
onto our own views, we are denying our creation’s transcendence for the sake of our
own self…judgments, therefore, should not benefit yourself or elevate your own Justice
in your eyes… it should stick to WHAT IS BEST FOR THE OTHER…… this is how
Justice ties into a Universal Truth… it should sympathize towards that person as one
who harms themselves…. not in a manner that breeds contempt for the person….. Love
the person, Hate the deed…. If we criticize, a just man should know that he is capable of
the same action if he does not live justly, and that the action is not healthy for either the
guilty and the innocent….Justice has two forms of transcendence- universal and timeless
(surpasses contemporary time and is always looming about with each generation) and
person to person (our justice transcends towards others as we search for what is good in
the world)

----People are not perfect
---- the idea is not hard to perceive at all, and it is actually the biggest argument
used against religions, and sometimes even argued against the need for religion… If
people are not perfect, then why should I follow a religion created by man??
---- A quick response would be that science transcends the physical world, and religion
transcends the world of the psyche… but what do we view is perfection??? The world
as science provides, is perfect! Things that are discovered, are just that discovered
not made, things that are discovered are also discovered by only manipulation not
alteration… The physical world has not altered, human intelligence has manipulated it,
and most importantly has worked within the truths of the physical world, which remains
perfect………… Human’s have life, because we have life we are perfectly made to
function in our physical world no matter our mental or physical handicap, that is the first
operation of our bodies.. to live….. and with life comes thought … from thought comes
intelligence, another ‘’perfect fit’’ of our humanity, we all think (whether we know it or

not)….. and with the two body and minds, comes the soul, or psyche (individual)….and
its in our (soul, psyche, individual) that we complete our humanity….. and it is in this
area that we mean when we say that ‘’man is not perfect’’…. But we are ‘’perfectly
human’’ as it is here that we define ourselves…. But we are not ‘’perfectly human’’ in
the form of our transcending humanity…. Because it is in our individuality that we do
not overcome our individual pride to perform ‘’Right Justice’’…. And it is our pride that
discredits the need for the ‘’Universal Truth’’ to acquire ‘’Perfection’’………
---- Some who reject Christianity, reject that Jesus even was a person… this is more
than likely a trait of their individual telling them that a story about a perfect man is a
fiction one…. well, set aside the discussion about his perfection for a moment, but Jesus
of Nazareth was a true historic figure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus)

Section 2:

Christianizing ‘’Truth and Justice’’

One food for thought..: Is there another religion out there that is based on prophets??
And then thus coming true from eye witness accounts, and also transcending time??

I know many Native American religions like the Aztecs had prophecies that were revealed
to them from the oncoming Europeans…. But those prophecies had passed as we know
who the Spanish, for example, were…. And coincidentally, the Europeans were in
fact ‘Christian’

I wrote about the humility that comes from Socrates ‘’know nothing’’ idea, and
then broke down Justice and Truth with ideas that we must humble our-‘’selves’’ to
accomplish such a thing….So if we are such a wonderful creation, why are we so selfish?

Well the Bible speaks about this, in the story of our creation…. The forbidden fruit
and the original sin… coincidentally, the story provides us with the a story of what
is good and bad for us through the physical terms of eating….much of the bible talks
about ‘’nature’’….. Adam and Eve surely knew nothing, much for sure… they are
representative of our first… they knew not of philosophy and science… they knew they
were living and they were desiring… and they surely had thoughts about where they were
and what a tree was…. They lived from these assets of there humanity… and were surely
selfish people…. This is the original sin… the individual that knows and relates only to
that, their individuality… But yet, they were not so selfish to not want to create…. The
human creation is very much resembled in a child… we are created… and Adam and
Eve had very much the psyche of a baby… a newborn… as humanity grows, we learn
of others and broader things than ourselves, such as science…. The human world can be
synchronized with the human life cycle so beautifully….. and on that note, one can see
the argument for child baptism over adolescent…. But the original sin, I presume, is very
much linked into what I propositioned in the discussion over ‘’the perfect human’’…
SO, ask yourself? Why was Jesus perfect if he was the Son of God? Because he knew
what his ‘’humanity’’ and ‘’individuality’’ was…. He has the manual’s guide…. And

he shows he is a Great God… because He is not a selfish god as He gave us life… and
opened the world to ‘’individualS’’ or ‘’OTHERS’’…………..

The Seven deadly sins are basically the outline for Christians to know what is harmful…..
……….. and they all lie within the main sin of Pride (the original Sin)….

Link: conversation of Seven Deadly Sins with Bible and Catholic references:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins#Biblical_references

1.Lust (latin: luxuria) Pride is seen in lust by the simple word: self-gratification, lust in
the form self-gratification, purely physical…. Is a prideful-lead affliction.

2.Gluttony (latin: gula) Many people see gluttony as a sickness, and an action that is
one opposite of pride. Eating/Gluttony is sometimes therapeutic…. But gluttony has
its transgressors, and the Greeks & Romans acknowledged so much from their god
Bacchus…But truly, Gluttony is not only over-eating, it is also in the form of taking
more than one’s share…It’s a sin formulating from pride… I want to eat good food, I
don’t care how many pieces of cake and people there are…Also, the story of Adam and
Eve, although representative, nonetheless, illustrates that our own eating habits can be
strickened with pride

3.Greed (latin: avaritia) A sin of portion…. I want my share and then some…
possessing a pride that also places the worth of wealth over justice…. A worship of
money over people, ‘’because wealth is good for me’’…. As previously mentioned, ‘’no
one is perfect’’ relates to the fact that we put self-desires over universal Good… Greed is
a sin of the desire for goods, not the Good

4. Sloth (latin: acedia) Philosophically, one who does not ‘’examine their own life’’
is harming their own good, and not examining their own life can be seen as a lazy
decision….but this is a sin of the actual physical laziness, and like gluttony, can often
be mistaken as an action against self-pride….. But if we DECIDE to be inactive in life,
than the results we have on others effect that… what if the one guilty of sloth is a father,
then he as a result puts his own DECISION for inaction apart of his duty to the child…
Pride can be found in sloth by the self-decision to not take up a duty completely for
one’s own sake of ease or relaxation…. The world teaches us that we do not control what
happens, and we should be careful how lazy we are to ‘’Take Up Our Crosses’’ … and
we ourselves the chance to live out our humanity as well…

5. Wrath (latin: ira) This is anger against another, basically not worried or concerned
with the other as a human being… resulting, you are putting your desires so much
ahead of the next guys that you are enraged as you perceive they do not live up to your
desires…. All stemming from your pride…. Your pride says your individual concern is
priority over your humanness…. Is it not why we tell each other to be humane? When we
are angered or frustrated?

6. Envy (latin: invidia) Our pride gets in the way, we want what we don’t or can’t have,
our focus is on material and what things do for us…. I have found out personally, to be

a happy person living as I do, I focus on what I do have, and not what I don’t have…..It
is also a key to happiness (as all deadly sin examples are), as if you don’t live with it…..
you are happier! ….. ties to the end *

7. Pride (latin: superbia) I love how the latin is called ‘’superbia’’…. It is the ‘’Super
Deadly Sin’’……………because it buts the I ahead of the Humanity

* If we live away from the Deadly Sins, we are happier in ourselves…. If we are stricken
with such habits of thought and living….. we harden ourselves for a life of pain and
confusion…. Really, that is almost what it all comes down to, we live for our Truth…
our life seems easier and enjoyable…. We live away form our truth and live, perhaps,
hedonistic…. We find ourselves trapped in ourselves, apart from ourselves……

EXAMINE IT: Hedonism, Self-Gratification, Self-Theosity, … are they how you
can be, or have been, or others that you know can be, and have been in obtaining True
Happiness???

Or is Self-Giving, Practicing Religiosity, Being a ‘’Man for Others’’ they way you know
yourself and others to be happy???

WORTH NOTE

Here is a fair question::: I put forth that ‘If there are universal truths in our physical
nature, then there must be a universal truth for other aspects of our being as well’’
Well, if so, then does that mean we can manipulate our psyche as we do the physical
world?? Or in other words, Our intelligence can manipulate the world as we know the
physical world… as science grows… so there in, can we use the physical world, or our
intelligence to manipulate our psyche???
Yes, but it does not take away from the Universal Truth…. The manipulations work
from the truth…. And the discovery continues onward, transcending time….
Cloning, test tube babies, or things learnt from stem cell research do not demonstrate
that our physical nature does not contain a truth, that man can overpower nature…. In
those cases man is using his intelligence to work with nature… to work within the truths
of nature…. And it is yet, a better example that Truth overrides the human perspective,
because we as human’s are limited… and although we do research and learn, we are
continually doing so… and always within the limits of Truth (no matter how much
information changes, it lies within the principles of truth)… Human’s have manipulated
the conception of another human… but have and always will have to work within the
concepts of chromosomes….
The Truth… is the same….. no matter which information we learn…. It stays within the
Truth…. And that is the need of institutions such as science and religion….. to transcend
time…

Universal Church, Luther, and Beyond

PRELUDE
Religion for Love
--Accept Beauty All Around-and Others
     -- Religion that teaches to love beyond faults.... Greatest Love, Religion of Love not Condemnation
    *Forgiveness... Christian Love is of forgiveness, for forgiveness, and through forgiveness
                       We have power to forgive, but only through Christ not ourselves (forgive expression of God’s law of love)
                  Loving God as ourselves
                           --Prayer
                           --Garden of Eden (Prevailing Will)
                             --Consistent with Judaism
                            --God-Humanity-Ourselves
Leviticus 19:18 Love your neighbor


Luther and The Universal Church
  -- Justified by Faith, but Pope Antichrist
  -- Papal faults...
       *Power of Faith over Rome
       *virgin birth, no intercession?   
   -- Saints
        - Luther recognized previous, but not praying or relics
   --Justification of Faith in Catholicism
     --Novena
     --Scapular


-- Continuing Church
   --Luther story told, Catholicism story lives.
         --Lourdes, Medjugorje Miracles



PRELUDE

My father recently sent an email, about a book that discusses that our brain controls much of who we are, and our actions, using the case of the Austin, Tx tower gunman.. they found a tumor in the portion of the brain that our restraint lies.....And my father said that he perceived this to show that we should appreciate the uniqueness in the world, and not condemn and judge others....
   Well, whether he realized it or not, this is very much in line with the Church teachings...
I also have a cousin, who has always been a great artist, and now he expresses his art with photography, but as an artist he also has the artist’s explorative mind.  He is very intellectually curious... And he once wrote to me, exclaiming that Human Religion is all about -- the evil of man- that were are naturally corrupt, and we better live better.... we are scared of ourselves to pursue the true Good...
    Examining these two gentlemen’s observations and conclusions, and you see directly the greatest misconception of what it is to be Christian...
 
  The Greatest Commandment is: Love God, Love our neighbors as ourselves.

So were does the misconception come in?? The understanding of forgiveness...
   
  Forgiveness is the Christian Love, to forgive to to ‘’give for ‘’the other’’’’... Give away yourself, to give love, to love the fault, to cherish the other.

 The story of the Lost Son is one of forgiveness. No matter what, we should have an open heart to all, no matter how much they offended or disrespected us.  

 Forgiveness answers both of my beloved gentlemen, humans are not perfect, we do have flaws, and the most simple minded person would be hard to deny that.  Ask them if they ever felt pain because of the actions of another, if something has ever been taken away from them by another.  Is our innocence intact?  Have we sworn against others, have we wished better for ourselves than others..... have we taken from others ourselves?  Have we ever not understood the actions of another?
 All these experiences showcase the ability to affect someone by action, and in return expressing ‘harm’.

God is not harm, got is our savior of harm.  How do we get closer to God is by allowing his example of forgiveness, to work within us towards others.

Fear and Love are two of the essential motivations of the human psyche (psychology of forgiveness). Almost, if not all, decisions are influenced by the love of something, or the fear of something... Our actions express love or fear.  We may be inactive because we are afraid of what we may give up due to the action, and conversely, We may be active because we love what we may acquire....

The one who forgives... is the one who gives something up, and the forgiven is the one who receives... The one who forgives gives away their love and fear so the other person may stand in good humor against the one offended.  

It is the greatest love, it works in the fallacy of humanity so beautifully that it nearly replenishes all the fault has created.
 If there is absolute forgiveness in the world, then there is absolute rebirth of the human condition.... faults are no match for that kind of love.  That is therefore why we are called to forgive in the Lord’ Prayer ‘’as we forgive those who trespass against us’’.  Love and equality of people is only accomplished through absolute forgiveness.  

 This is the Lord’s Greatest Commandment, to love Him, and to love the neighbor as yourself. To love is to love in forgiveness, by forgiveness, and through forgiveness...

In doing this, we are both ‘’appreciating the uniqueness and beauty of all creation’’ and ‘’practicing a love that supersedes the faults of man’’’

We should never deny or reject someone’s forgiveness, they are offering everything beyond themselves for your sake.

Forgiveness is always good, and is a expression of the Greatest Love.... it does not condemn but redeems.

It has come to my attention. That in Lutheranism, They tie the Greatest Commandment together. As said by a Danish Lutheran priestess, Luther says God’s love and the love of neighbors can not be differential.

In examination, I guess it is said, that we must love others as God loves us, and therefore it is the same.  And there is a strong tie to that in Catholicism as well, but in Catholicism there is a definiate distinction between loving God first and then others and ourselves.. But both understandings understand the relevance of both.

But, in examining, forgiveness as the Greatest Love... I
    God loved first, therefore God forgave first.  God’s forgiveness is the greatest forgiveness of all, so to say that we love each other equally, is to say that we love and forgive as God does and did.  We are called to love each other as God loves us, but God superseded all of us, and his Love is first, and his love is most powerful because it granted us the ability to love.
.  It is vital to always remember that God is the beginning, and we are not ourselves before God and our humanity. But we have existed third.  God IS, then he created humanity and human Truths result from his presence and creation, and we as individuals come from this presence of humanity and its creation through God.. So, God-Humanity-Us.
  A child does not love a parent in the same way a parent loves a child, a child loves a parent because of the protection and love it was given, and a parent loved a child before the child was a child, and that is why they created the child’s life. The child’s life came from the parent, and  the parent loved the child before the child was created, the child had no way to love the parent before the parent was made, the love of the parent gave life, the child can only give its own child that kind of love, to give life.   That is why the 4th commandment expresses one shall honor thy mother and father, because the life given was a gift by the parent, and there is no other way to express the love of that life than by honoring the one who gave it to you.  
   God’s forgiveness is the parent of forgiveness, the love in it existed before our faults occurred, and there is no greater forgiveness and love than that, not even our own. But our reciprocation of that Greatest love is still crucial to our lives!

Just as prayer, we do not pray to ourselves, every prayer, even through the saints, is at the end a message for God.
  By the very necessity of prayer, we show that God’s love and power is greatest, not our own. God does not need to pray to us. There is nothing God has to pray to, just as forgiveness, all our forgiveness and love, in the end, is something stemming from God.  Because of the need to pray, the need to forgive, and the need to love stems from God, and not ourselves, God and his love is FIRST most vital to our lives.

Furthermore, wouldn’t having two loves of equal weight effect the actions of the will. Whose will would be precedent over the other, if the love is equal.  When we act against God, we still can love ourselves, but we act not out of love of God, but more so from a love of our own desire. We are unquestionably asked to do God’s Will as humans. Our own will against God’s is harmful, and against God’s love, but we can still maintain our own love while living against His will.  The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden, shows that they had a love of themselves that superseded their love for God, by acting against the law of God, for their own will.  If all love is equal, then where lies the weight balance of the wills with that equal love. When we act, do we act from either love or fear, and when we act out of love, don’t we pursue that which we desire from this love.  So aren’t desire and love related by the actions we enact? Love is a motivation of our will.  We will what we love.. what happens when these two equal loves, have different desires.

In Catholicism, the Greatest Commandment, is one where God’s love of us precedes our love.  We are called to love one another and ourselves, because he loves us., and others   We are to love ourselves to allow ourselves to do His will. The love of ourselves should invite us to do His will, not any alteration. We are to live as he wills, and we should come to ‘’love’’ our humanity so that we live out His truths.   Therefore, God’s love supersedes our love, because God is Truth, so his loves works from His Truth, our love reciprocates that love, but is the second love because we can not duplicate the Original Love.  

Lastly, biblical proof, for if there is a Greater love, or are the loves one in the same, is this:
  In the Bible where Jesus mentions the Greatest Commandment, a Jewish man well educated of the law, questioned Jesus in an attempt to test Jesus’ knowledge of the law. Jesus of course a Jew, and an adherer to the Jewish law, and only coming to redeem the law in His name... was well acquainted with scripture, and answered satisfactory to the Jew when he answered, ‘’love God, neighbor as yourself.  The second portion is in the Old Testament Lev (Third Book of Moses) 19:18.  He was maintaining Jewish law, and Jews practice that God’s love is First, and the love of neighbor, very crucial to behave in God’s love, stands second in a complimentary role to the first.

Step One

Although we may not realize it, every footstep is calculated and with purpose. Yes, we do walk most naturally, but in that nature is our calcultive measures, that is inate in our minds....

Those measures are intutive, they fit us.... We are stagnant without them, we can not grow, and we can not explore without those intutive measurements..... I am talking about our inate nature as expressed from the footstep.....one motion, with more compounding reasons than we are troubled by... the method and motivations are sublime to our state of mind....

The footstep is a wonderful example... it is the cause for much symbolism and poetry, and just as with ourselves we overlook it... instead of the footstep we talk about pathes... a serious of footsteps... a portfolio of our inate movements...... we talk objectives and goals, and often overlook the little things that carries us to those goals and objectives.... And to those, they often are confused why they are still wondering abound, and haven't reached their destination..... Thinking that they reached the major milestones along the way to acheive their mission.... They have crossed to the other side, they have reached the mountain and only discover that they are just in between their start at the footstep of the mountain to the other side, and not on top as they first perceived.... Because no matter how wonderful the view from the pinnacle, because the compass is just as directive on the pinnacle as it is on top.... there is still direction....

We must always grow, we must always move on or along. The one that lives in each moment and appreciates the daily blessings...... can make it in this world with composure... and not be left dissapointed when the pinnacle hasn't met it's expectation.....

The world in it's mass existence, is lived in its true every day moments... The happier we are to walk, the happier we are to arrive and explore again....

Life is beautiful! Walk on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPTNYPDmZHY