[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
You hold that much sway? What are you a bishop already? Why do you feel that they should not engage me and why do they ask you whether they should?[/quote]
I discipled a good chunk of them. You don’t remember that I’m am a full time evangelist? They asked me if I knew you. I said I did, so they asked if you knew enough about Catholicism to engage. I never said I told them to not engage you, they made up their own mind. Though I’d rather they not at this point, though I have no problem with engaging later after they have studied for the debate.
I think there is a common factor in this equation you might have missed brother. And, it is probably not necessarily because people are Catholics. I can handle your attacks (which you admit to loving), but some people are less equipped both spiritually but intellectually to get in an argument with someone outside of people they know. I do this for a living, they are new in the faith. I am no way near being spiritually mature, but it is not spiritually draining to engage you (actually, that is a lie sometimes it is, especially when I have other stuff on my plate).
I told them that I debated you almost daily and at least weekly for several years about Christianity. That I was not positive on your grasp of orthodoxy.
I would rather them pray and fast while studying the faith then to engage this early. I’d also rather them work on evangelizing rather than solely apologetics.
I’d rather not be taken seriously. I enjoy when people don’t, makes my life easier. Easier to make people laugh when they don’t take me seriously, too.
Yeah, I could see how you could think it lacks spine. You went through a wonderful period of the Church in which a lot of good people said stupid things and led a lot of people away from the Church because they were scared to tell the truth. This is the fault of the priests as they are responsible for your Catechesis and Soul.
However, instead of getting upset with Jesus because he let Judas consume Him at the Last Supper…when he was being meek, I didn’t let myself become scandalized and leave Jesus over his virtue of meekness. I realized that I am personally responsible for my actions and that if I didn’t come into communion with Jesus and his Bride my soul would be headed straight for Hell, no matter if individuals were scandalous. The perfectness and holiness of the Church has never been based on the individual members, but always on the blood of Jesus Christ and the protection of the Advocate in the matters of Faith. I recommend you do the same and actually learn what your Church teaches instead of taking the easy way out and trying to make yourself feel better for your decision based on the prose of a blogger who may or may not be right.
I don’t know what this says.
And, if the Pope said white was black and black was white. I’d believe it because I have that much faith in Jesus’ promise that the Advocate will protect our Mother from teaching error.