Good will to all men? Not from the grumpy atheists! (Thank God not all atheists are grumpy but there sure seems to be a lot of them)
Why is it that so many in the atheist community cannot bring themselves to get past their anger whenever they engage in discussions? The language of many of their contributions in public debate is laced with invective and dripping with sarcasm and bile. There are exceptions of course, but they tend to fall more into the category of being the 'exception that proves the rule' when compared to the hostility of many of today's atheist posters. Comment offered by the theists in the public square is often depicted as being 'malicious' or 'venomous' and intended to enslave the 'feeble minded and weak' by those who post. Nothing could be further from the truth. Venom is something that is oriented to death. Christians are oriented in a 180 degree different direction. We speak not to the culture of death that grips our world but rather for the culture of life and light which ends with the gift of eternal life. For example, the Catholic Church in its hum...
Father Tim...what a wonderful post...i looked at some of the articles and was struck by what i think we often forget...it is what God does for us in this sacrament...it is the 1 place we are positive that we have received unconditional love again and again
ReplyDeleteWith so many priests guilty of so many foul acts, why would anyone confess to a priest?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDeleteThe validity of ANY sacrament does not depend on the holiness of the priest....it is what Christ does for us in the sacrament
U tar all priests with the same brush...that is not fair...the percentage of offenders (as horrific as it is) is very small to the total number of priests. The priest is Christ's representative and gives me absolution...forgiveness comes from God
You go to confession to receive pardon for your sins from God, not the priest. Fortunately, that forgiveness is not dependent on the moral state of the confessor anymore than getting a good root canal is dependent on the number of cavities in your dentists mouth.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Paul
I think it would be better to confess to somebody you trust, whether they are a priest or not.
ReplyDeleteConfessing your sins to someone other than a priest can be therapeutic if one was trying to overcome one vice or another, but Christ never gave that person the authority to absolve a person of that sin. Only a priest the authority to do that. Many of those outside the church don't believe this but we believe Jesus gave that authority to the priesthood when he bestowed it on his disciples (John 20:21-23) and writings of the early church fathers confirm this.
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Paul