booklady's comments (member since Aug 28, 2008)

booklady's comments from the Christian Readers group.

God bless you Glenn,

When we are discussing matters of faith in a forum such at this, we have to always ask and wonder, does he/she/they want to know the Truth or do they just want to be heard? Often people engage in these discussions because they need to speak/write and have a means to express themselves--a valid and valuable human need. But this need is not to be confused with those who are genuinely seeking after truth, who want to learn what other faith traditions actually teach and believe.

However, on the slight chance there is anyone who actually wants to know what the Catholic Church really teaches about the Truth of Holy Scripture and the real meaning/need for teaching authority to assist with interpretation, I have included a fuller explanation than the over-simplistic statement 'Catholics have the Pope'. The following comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), an excellent document, a best seller and a great source for full, accurate and complete explanations for what the Church actually believes and teaches. The first sentence (in my mind) says it all: God is the author of Sacred Scripture. It is His Word, His Truth, our guidance, source, well-spring and Life. To say otherwise is to misrepresent the Catholic Church.

'105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. "The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."69

"For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church herself."70

106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. "To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more."71

107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures."72

108 Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book." Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, a word which is "not a written and mute word, but the Word is incarnate and living".73 If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures."74

III. THE HOLY SPIRIT, INTERPRETER OF SCRIPTURE

109 In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.75

110 In order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current. "For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression."76

111 But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written."77 '

There is more--much, much more--too much to include here. But at least you have a taste of the high place afforded to Holy Scripture. As to the role of the Holy Father--well that is another whole topic and way too much to go into here and now. However, I encourage you to study the CCC before you attempt to speak authoritatively about what the Catholic Church teaches or believes.

Yours in Christ, booklady

To answer Sarrah's question about priests forgiving sins, I have copied directly from the Catholic Catechism. Priests do NOT forgive sins! Only God can forgive sins! Please read what the Catholic Church has said in writing on this:

' 1441 Only God forgives sins.39 Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven."40 Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name.41

1442 Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry which he charged with the "ministry of reconciliation."42 The apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God making his appeal" through him and pleading: "Be reconciled to God."43

Reconciliation with the Church

1443 During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God's forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the People of God.44

1444 In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."45 "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head."46 '

Also, I apologize Nasbly. I did not read the posts far enough back to see what your original question was. Since you are Catholic you might want to address your question(s) at/to your home parish. If you are new to the Catholic faith perhaps you might need catechesis. Have you been through RCIA, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults? Please feel free to contact me of you have any more detailed questions. This may not be the best forum to get specific answers as people are often eager to share their opinions -- which are valuable -- but not necessarily always factual. What I think you need/want are facts and answers, but then I might be wrong.

Yours in Christ, booklady

Hi Shy Lyn and fellow friends-in-Christ!

I'm what is known as a cradle Catholic, i.e., I was baptized into the Church shortly after birth and raised in the Faith by my practicing parents. However, given my age (50+) I also grew up in the shadow of the church council Vatican II so I've seen a lot of changes in that same church. I concur that there is far more that most sincere Christians agree about than areas of disagreement, Our Lord Jesus Christ being the most important. Therefore I value this discussion and others like it where we can break down past barriers of ill-will and misunderstanding and instead forge relationships in and through Him.

In that spirit, here is a blog I really enjoyed -- written by a Protestant -- endorsing and praising a recent book by Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth. http://joelgillespie.blogspot.com/2007/0... In the same vein, I have also written blog posts about Protestant spiritual books which I have found helpful in my spiritual journey -- although my writing isn't on the same calibre as Mr. Gillespie's, it is no less sincere. My hope and fervent prayer are that, in the future, Christians of all denominations will look to our areas of agreement and use those to foster relationships of trust, faithfulness and true Christ-like charity!

Yours in Christ, booklady