Have you tested what your preachers or religious leaders said?

Pope Francis during a meeting of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Sciences said the scientific account of the beginning of the universe and the development of life through evolution is compatible with the Catholic Church’s vision of creation and he is being attack by some theologians/preachers for saying it.

Christians should reject the idea that the world came into being by chance, but to continue to dispute proven scientific facts makes a mockery of Christianity and the Bible.  Why can evolution not be part of God’s plan?

The author or authors of Genesis were trying to explain something they could not possibly understand at the time. They were not lying, but theologians/preachers today that continue to support the fantasy that everything was created in seven days are lying and I believe they know it. It insults my intelligence, the intelligence that God gave me, for them to continue to try and force me to believe a fantasy in order for them to consider me a Christian.

Just as some theologians/preachers today have a need to think they can explain everything some of the authors of the Bible may have suffered from the same weakness. I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, but it is not the dictated Word of God. It is time for theologians/preachers to stop trying to force us to believe that the Bible is a science book or history book. The Bible is a book that God used and continues to use to teach us moral values. Unfortunately, some authors of scripture allowed their personal moral values, which were influenced by man’s traditions and culture, to be included in the Bible and we must use our God given intelligences to try and distinguish between what is God and what is man.

I do not need to believe in fictional stories in order to believe in God. I do need to try and understand the lessons that are being taught by those stories in order to have a better relationship with God and to be a better person. Quite honestly, I do not believe God endorsed slavery; I do not believe God endorsed the killing of innocent women and children; I do not believe God endorsed denying women equal rights; I do not believe God endorsed many of the things found in Proverbs and Leviticus and I do not believe theologians/preachers that claim to believe in the literal translation of the Bible believe it either or they would apply them to their personal lives, instead of ignoring them as they do.

A lot of Christians today are making the mistake of listening only to theologians/preachers, instead of listening to the Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us. Yes, He instructed the disciples to go forth into all the world baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, but he never said they were to become our god or take the place of the Holy Spirit.  God does not come in confusion and when a theologian/preacher speaks words that cause you confusion you need to get alone with God and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you.  Do you not inject your personal beliefs into the things that you communicate? If you do then why do you think theologians/preachers do not do the same?

Transubstantiation is the teaching that during the Catholic Mass, at the consecration in Communion, the elements of the Eucharist, bread and wine, are transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus and that they are no longer bread and wine, but they retain the appearance of bread and wine.

 In the year 1215A.D. Pope Innocent III decreed the doctrine of transubstantiation. Five years later in 1220A.D. Pope Honorius sanctioned the adoration and or worship of the wafer and wine as doctrine. Then The Council of Trent re-confirmed the teaching: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."  The Council of Trent began Dec. 13, 1545 and ended on October 11, 1551. Was transubstantiation always ‘the conviction of the Church of God’ or did it come about in 1215A.D.

Saint Thomas said, “No act is greater than the consecration of the body of Christ. In this essential phase of the sacred ministry, the power of the priest is not surpassed by that of the bishop, the archbishop, the cardinal or the pope. Indeed it is equal to that of Jesus Christ. For in this role the priest speaks with the voice and the authority of God Himself. When the priest pronounces the tremendous works of Consecration, he reaches up into heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the victim for the sins of man.” How many times does Christ need to be sacrificed for our sins?

This doctrine gave the men of the church tremendous power. They could do something that no other man or woman could do. People who refused to believe they had this power were killed.

No matter if I do or do not believe the doctrine of transubstantiation it does not make me love the Catholic Mass any more or any less. Regardless of my belief I like the dignity, honor and respect the Catholic Mass gives the Sacrament of Communion. A respect that I do not think most Protestant Churches give Communion and a respect that I believe Communion deserves. I do resent being told I must believe one way or the other in order to be a Catholic.

The Protestants do have a valid argument against transubstantiation. Some of the verses used to substantiate the Catholic teaching are the following: Matt. 26:28, "for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins," John 6:52-53. "The Jews therefore began to argue with one another, saying, how can this man give us His flesh to eat? 53 Jesus therefore said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves,” 1 Cor. 11:27. “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." One could question are these words spoken literally or not and how could it have been possible for them to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ if He had not yet been sacrificed.

"But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom," Matthew 26:29. Why would Jesus speak figuratively of His blood as "the fruit of the vine", wine, if it was His literal blood? Jesus called it wine. There are many more questions rightly raised by the Protestants.

I have gotten alone with God, pray, meditated, studied and sought direction from the Holy Spirit and I am content with my decision on transubstantiation and other Catholics must do the same.

Catholics are free to understand the story of Jonah and the whale as literal history or fiction to teach a moral lesson. If it happened, it was certainly a miracle. In 1891 a seaman, James Bartley, from a ship named the Star of the East, was found missing after an eighty-foot sperm whale had been caught. He was presumed drowned. The next day, when the crew cut up the whale, Bartley was discovered alive inside. We know that a man can live one day in the belly of a whale, but three days we do not know. Some Protestant theologians/preachers question the faith of Christians that do not believe the story of Jonah happened literally as told in the Bible.

I am content with the lesson we can learn from Jonah and the whale. It should bring comfort to all of us who fall short at times when it comes to obedience and when we attempt to run away from what we know God wants us to do. Jonah’s story should serve as a lesson to all who sometimes possess a short fuse and who at times are guilty of a superior attitude. What is more important, the lesson to be learned or accepting the story to be literally true.  I happen to think the lesson to be learned is more important.  

If anyone asks you do you take the Bible literally be careful how you answer. If you say "Yes," they may quote some Bible verses that, if taken literally, make little sense. For example Mark 9:42-48, which tells Christians if their hand or foot "offends" them, they should "cut it off," and if their eye "offends" them, they should "pluck it out." Do you really take that scripture literally? If you say “No.” they may claim the Bible means whatever the believer wants it to mean. Therefore, any person’s interpretation is as good — or poor — as anyone else’s.

I have found the best reply is, “I take the literal parts literally, the figurative parts figuratively, and I use common sense, my experience, my knowledge of language and grammar, the techniques of hermeneutics (interpretations) and rely on the Holy Spirit for help in knowing the difference.  I do the same thing you do any time you hear or read any statement by anyone about anything."

Knowledge of the Bible is a great thing to have; it can help you defend your faith and to teach others in it. But knowledge alone does not signify spiritual maturity. It is our personal relationship with God that causes us to grow spiritually. It is our personal relationship with God that leads us to right interpretations. It is our personal relationship with God that leads us to a stronger faith.

I think God prefers us to know what we believe and why we believe it rather than being spoon fed religious beliefs without questioning them. I know it makes for a stronger faith and not a weaker faith. Unfortunately the beliefs and faith of the majority of Christians today are based on what the leadership believes and not what the Christian personally believes.  

Does the Bible Prove the Existence of God?

 I recently heard about a book called “Has Christianity Failed You.”  I heard about the book on a Christian program being broadcasted by a Christian station.  A few days later I ran across a piece on You Tube where an atheist was questioning the material in the book.  I have not read the book, as yet, but it seems that the atheist challenging the book believes the author used only the Bible to try and prove the existence of a God.   He states that it is impossible to use a book, which many do not believe in, to prove the existence of a God. He states that the author would first have to prove the book he is using, the Bible, is accurate in every detail.  I agree with that.  Unless you have allowed yourself to have a personal relationship with God, I do not believe the Bible, is enough to allow you to completely believe in God.  A personal relationship is one where you have felt the intervention of God in your life on a personal level.  Atheist and many Christians wrongly deny these personal God interventions and write them off as coincidences.

The atheist takes segments of the Bible and used them to try and prove his point that there is no God, particularly a Christian God.  I believe both men to be wrong.  I do not believe you can prove the existence of a God or non-existence of a God with ANY book.  All books are written by men and all books are influenced by men and all men have an agenda when writing a book.  Unless you have allowed yourself to have a personal relationship with God you open yourself up to always have your faith in God challenged by the words of men verbally or through books. 

The thing that attracted me most to the Catholic faith is that they do not require one to believe in the literal translation of the Bible.  They acknowledge many of the stories in the Bible like Noah’s flood, the creation story, Jonah and the fish story, the tower of Babel and others are stories, but valuable stories that one can learn from.  Unlike Fundamentalist Christians, Catholic’s are not required to believe that these stories happened literally, word for word, as man told them and later wrote them down.  If you profess to believe the literal translation of the Bible you open yourself up to be made a fool of by atheist.  The Bible can become a weapon that is used against you, instead of a tool that can draw you closer to God.

In my ‘old age’ the thing that disappoints me the most is the Catholic Christians that I meet who believe they are good Catholic Christians simply because they attend Mass, perform Catholic rituals and believe in the Bible.   The same is true of Protestant Christians. Many Protestants believe if they attend church, profess to believe literally in the Bible and tithe they are good Christians. Christianity is more than satisfying the requirements of men.  Christianity is following the teachings of Christ that were implanted in us by God when God sent the Holy Spirit.  I would say the majority of Catholic Christians and Protestant Christians do not have any idea what God wants of them they simply act like a sponge and assorp all the teachings as proclaimed by their leaders without ever questioning them. 

We should not be doing something simply because the Bible or man tells us to do it.  We should be doing the things we feel God is leading us to do.  Morality is doing those things that bring happiness, health and wellbeing to self and others and by our doing these things we make our community a better place.  Immorality is doing the opposite.  Many moral teachings are in the Bible and we should follow them, but as atheist always point out there are some immoral things listed in the Bible and we certainly should avoid them.  I am not going in to all these things in detail, but I certainly believe it is immoral to own slaves and the Bible grants some the authority to do so. I believe my God believes it is immoral to own slaves.

I believe my God judges me to be as good a Christian Catholic as possible, but according to many in the Catholic Church my present beliefs would prohibit them from believing I was.   I have studied the history of the Catholic Church and I know for a FACT there have been many evil Popes.  I do not believe my God wants me to follow ANY man blindly be they pope, bishop, priest, religious leader or self-proclaimed SON OF GOD like Pastor Apollo.  At the moment a reproductive bill is before the Philippine Congress and Senate and the Catholic hierarchy is standing in the way of its passage.  I believe their stand to be immoral and I believe God through the Holy Spirit has led me to this belief.  Just last week charges were brought against a Filipino priest for rape and his bishop protects him by bringing him into his home and is protecting him from being arrested as any other citizen of the Philippines would be.  I believe this is immoral and it certainly by no means passes my definition of morality. 

 People need to attempt a personal relationship with God and use that to define God and not rely totally on the Bible, religion, denomination or men.  Regardless of what anyone says my faith in God can only be affected by my personal relationship with God and no man or woman can change that.