@JonEricson I'm not going to say "would you kindly please" when what I really mean is "that might be a bad idea, because X, try asking just one question?" if that's what you mean
@JonEricson Well check out the question. I suspect that in general "answer your own question" questions just get rated lower in general across SE, because, hey, there's already an answer. The question itself is just "here are all the places that the 4 and 24 are mentioned. What are they?"
It will bring to them the waters that flowed out from the side of Jesus, in accordance with the prophesy of Ezekiel, for your salvation and the salvation of many. The rest is up to God, you do not matter. A person sins if he thinks that he may discern the heart of another, since that is for God alone.
I think that in certain (not-well-understood-by-me) circumstances, the Holy Spirit baptizes a dying person directly. That still doesn't change what I'm obliged to do, and what I'm obliged to want for others
You might actually want to ask that as a question...
@El'endiaStarman If I am not mistaken, the Catholic, contrary to the common Protestant, believes that baptism confers grace. @Alypius is that right?
@Alypius In your answer to that question you link to this Catachism. Is that better then the one I linked to in your transubstantiation question? Should I prefer that one?
@fredsbend Yes when possible, you should prefer the "Catechism of the Catholic Church", (CCC) which is also hosted at the vatican.va site, but there it has a difficult-to-read yellow background. It's the (English translation of the) "official" Church catechism.
There are other very good catechisms (books that instruct on the Catholic faith), such as the Baltimore Catechism, which I believe was directed especially towards children and used pretty widely in the states in the past - you'll find that they might clarify some things that the CCC might not be as clear on. But the CCC is the go-to for Church teaching
@Alypius Not sure. 'confers grace' is just what they kept saying the Catholics say when I did formal Bible study 8 years ago. What might it mean to a Catholic?
To me there is only one kind of grace and one kind of sin so I don't understand it and have never really looked at it that much.
I edited this removing some of the guess work that your link cleared up. I hope the question better satisfies.
@fredsbend as a Catholic, I'd point you to the CCC (see my link above) rather than trying to explain it myself - I see explaining Truth incorrectly as a bit of a sin on my part, so I let the Church do her work of explaining without putting myself (and potentially my own ego) in the way :)
@fredsbend God may restrict me as He pleases. His Bride, the Holy Church, helped by the Holy Spirit, takes care of me and directs me, so that I do not lose my way. God's will is too difficult for me to understand, I need the help of others and we all need the help of each other. That's one way I see the Church, I think.
@Alypius No argument there. A cord of three strands is not easily broken. I am just trying to say, shouldn't I be able to connect to God without anything? I don't know if that is true or not. Just something I think should be.
@fredsbend to take one example, if you are currently in mortal sin, and you lack perfect contrition and do not ardently desire to confess your sins to God exactly as you would confess before a person, then you are disconnected from God
@Alypius 'as you would a person' Interesting. I have rarely wanted to confess my sins to any person, which would require basically reliving the sin and bringing much shame to you. I have always struggled feeling connected to God, too. Perhaps there is a connection. I have just always figured God knows so confession is not necessary.
@fredsbend yes, I thought so too about confessing sins "to a person". At first I was distrusting towards confession in general, and right before my first confession I was nervous and afraid. My first confession humbled me before God. I relived none of my sins, but their gravity impressed upon me. I was not put to shame, though, I think, for "No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse."
as for "reliving" sins, Psalm 51, "For I know my transgressions; my sin is always before me."
@Alypius Thank you. A re-read of that is always good. But in analysis, he does not confess his sins. Only pleads for mercy from their consequence. Separation.
@fredsbend that's just me pointing out that sins should not be forgotten as if in shame Instead they should be remembered, and then, confessed, lest you stand in this world obstinate before God; you will not get another chance once you are dead. I didn't think it had much to do with confession, but I'm probably wrong
@Alypius Thanks for the quick chat and Christian encouragement. I really should do these things I've been putting off since I first logged in. This site is so addicting. Have a good night.
@fredsbend about your answer, I don't want to seem like I'm being picky, but I really do want the very literal sense of my question - what moment does it happen?
It's important to me, because when I go to Mass, there is an exact moment, while the priest, acting in persona Christi (CCC1548), is saying words that are perhaps more important than "let there be light", that scores and scores of angels descend into my church as Christ makes Himself present before me, as he made Himself present before Thomas the doubter. I want to know when it happens. What word does it happen on? Before or after? Does it happen twice?
I was curious about the community's opinions on the areas of knowledge where we are currently lacking. It seems to me that many questions are getting decent answers, and there are certain topics where questions are very likely to be answered well, given the current userbase. But there are other c...
It seems like the recent questions being asked on Christianity are of the form, "Justify your Christian existence", rather than "Can you expound on this facet of Christianity". Basically, the kinds of questions atheists ask.
It might be just me, but lately I feel depressed every time I visit Ch...
I have been thinking about this for a few days (mostly because I would headhunt Refute This! questions because I love debating; even small details). However, I agree with the community that this site should avoid the "Oh, yeah, well, this and this ..." attitude. But something feels missing.
The...
@Alypius Wanted to show you that I had the same problem on SO meta that you are close to having here. About how voting works on meta for SE sites. I disagree as well, but, oh well.
But think most of my problem was that the guys on SO are very cynical (It's a geek thing) and saw my comments and were like "What a wiener! Downvote!"
I actually don't have that problem. I think it should be done based on agreement, but people need to actually figure out what they're disagreeing with. You end up with people downvoting based on the least important part of a person's post.
It seems like the recent questions being asked on Christianity are of the form, "Justify your Christian existence", rather than "Can you expound on this facet of Christianity". Basically, the kinds of questions atheists ask.
It might be just me, but lately I feel depressed every time I visit Ch...
I have been thinking about this for a few days (mostly because I would headhunt Refute This! questions because I love debating; even small details). However, I agree with the community that this site should avoid the "Oh, yeah, well, this and this ..." attitude. But something feels missing.
The...
The Upper Room
The Upper Room