Act of blasphemy in Galway today.

[magpie seanie]

You know when they changed the words in Mass a few years ago - what was that all about? Don't think that helped.....certainly made me feel more alienated anyway and I'm sure I'm not alone.

[johnneycool]

Typ totally incorrect analysis.Jesus wasn't an early hippy spreading unconditional love.His mission was to save sinners from damnation.If saving sinners wasn't the point,what was?

Church attendance dwindles because most people have convinced themselves that God doesn't exist and religion is poppycock.

That's fine,but what happens if God does exist and the Church teaching is correct?

Is belief in a god a choice or a judgement call?

Believing in a God isn't the sole preserve of the main organised religions and neither does the act of attending Mass and the sacraments make you a better person and if you think that doing so is the be all and end all of being a good christian/catholic then I'd suggest you've missed the point entirely.

[J70]

Typ totally incorrect analysis.Jesus wasn't an early hippy spreading unconditional love.His mission was to save sinners from damnation.If saving sinners wasn't the point,what was?

Church attendance dwindles because most people have convinced themselves that God doesn't exist and religion is poppycock.

That's fine,but what happens if God does exist and the Church teaching is correct?

Is belief in a god a choice or a judgement call?

Believing in a God isn't the sole preserve of the main organised religions and neither does the act of attending Mass and the sacraments make you a better person and if you think that doing so is the be all and end all of being a good christian/catholic then I'd suggest you've missed the point entirely.

I didn't make any comment on any of that.

Tony made a point about what happens to unbelievers if they're wrong.

In response I asked whether disbelief is a choice.

[No wides]

You know when they changed the words in Mass a few years ago - what was that all about? Don't think that helped.....certainly made me feel more alienated anyway and I'm sure I'm not alone.

And also when it was a sin to eat meat on a Friday and then it wasn't, babies still born or not baptised went to purgatory, then they didn't, holy days were holy days of obligation, then they weren't, people who committed suicide weren't allowed a christian burial, then they were etc. etc. 

[T Fearon]

The core doctrine has never changed even if some practices have.The basic fact is that Jesus came to save sinners and to persuade people to believe in him and turn away from sin.That means his compassion and love is very much conditional.

[bennydorano]

Amongst numerous other things I don't know how the word 'fact' can be taken seriously in your context. 'Facts' from the bible in itself, 'facts' when you mean how you're interpreting his message.

[omaghjoe]

Amongst numerous other things I don't know how the word 'fact' can be taken seriously in your context. 'Facts' from the bible in itself, 'facts' when you mean how you're interpreting his message.

When can the term "fact" be taken seriously?

[bennydorano]

Eh, are u serious?? Most certainly not in a book of parables written down many years after the death of the main protagonist.

[omaghjoe]

Eh, are u serious?? Most certainly not in a book of parables written down many years after the death of the main protagonist.

Well if your ruling that out when can the term "fact" be taken seriously?

[bennydorano]

You getting facts and manipulating data mixed up again OJ?

[Take Your Points]

The core doctrine has never changed even if some practices have.The basic fact is that Jesus came to save sinners and to persuade people to believe in him and turn away from sin.That means his compassion and love is very much conditional.

According to the catechism of the Catholic church you are wrong:

Para 2466 states that "To his disciples Jesus teaches the unconditional love of truth: "Let what you say be simply 'Yes or No."

Also check out here for a simple Q&A:  https://www.catholic.com/qa/is-gods-unconditional-love-without-limit

I think you need to go back to the drawing board and study your faith especially in the Gospels.  The teaching of Jesus is based on premise that the unconditional love of God is the focus of Catholic Faith.

The teaching of the Church is that God loves us unconditionally before, during and after we sin. God cannot not love.

Take for example one of the Church's great theologians, St Thomas Aquinas.  He raised the question: If God is everywhere, is God in hell? His answer is, yes. God is in hell. Then, with his usual rigor, Thomas Aquinas asks the next question: what is God doing in hell? And he replies that God is in hell loving the damned. The damned may refuse to be loved and they may refuse to love in response, but the damned cannot cause God not to love them."

It looks like your understanding of being a Catholic is more aligned to being a member of a Protestant denomination where the fearful God and his retribution on the sinners that you espouse is the cornerstone of the faith.

[omaghjoe]

 
I didnt get anything mixed up, if you remember I did post the meaning of the word after being told I should look it up,... but you read what you want to read. BTW I enjoyed your loyal cheerleading for ET benny during that episode, it was excruciatingly David Brent

Now... When in your book can we use the term "fact" seriously?

[omaghjoe]

Having a read and there is some great posts in here by TYPs.

I agree with you on Catholic education,n it leaves students completely unequipped to deal with the challenges of faith in the modern world

GCSE RE is basically a history lesson, completely useless for exploring and enriching ones faith. But useful for meeting the curriculum requirements as you say

In my own experience I had succumbed to those challenges for a few years in my late teens before rediscovering my faith in my early 20s and upon doing so discovered there is a massive resources in theology out there to help the faithful deal with those challenges.

[bennydorano]

I didnt get anything mixed up, if you remember I did post the meaning of the word after being told I should look it up,... but you read what you want to read. BTW I enjoyed your loyal cheerleading for ET benny during that episode, it was excruciatingly David Brent

Now... When in your book can we use the term "fact" seriously?

You heading off down your semantic rabbit hole agajn? I hope you enjoy your trip.

[omaghjoe]

I didnt get anything mixed up, if you remember I did post the meaning of the word after being told I should look it up,... but you read what you want to read. BTW I enjoyed your loyal cheerleading for ET benny during that episode, it was excruciatingly David Brent

Now... When in your book can we use the term "fact" seriously?

You heading off down your semantic rabbit hole agajn? I hope you enjoy your trip.

So not only do you cling to ET like a tennybobber you steal his silly terms as well to deflect from something you brought up.

When can we use the term "fact" seriously?

If your not gonna answer my question just say so it will save us all the time