Hi CatholicSoldier,

I enjoy your posts alot and usually find a lot in common with what you say, but I have a few issues with this one.

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catholicsoldier said:
Perhaps you would like to hear the reaction of a Roman Catholic?

I agree with many here who think it too lengthy and scholarly for laypersons to understand. I disagree with your statement that such refinements of doctrine are not just for theologians and pastors, but for every believer. I am an educated man, and I myself am struggling to understand just what is in dispute here. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" />

I agree that some of the issues here can be difficult to understand (see my other posts in this thread), but just because something is difficult to understand, it doesn't follow that we shouldn't try to understand it. Especially as Christians, wouldn't you agree that we should always strive to refine our understanding of Scripture. The Bible is the very Word of God. For example, the questions I had about infused/imputed righteousness. Maybe at first glance, it seems trivial, but the difference between the two is actually vast.

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I have seen that the emotionals aspects of the rift between Catholics and Protestants have been brought about, not by major doctrinal differences, but by intolerant statements made on both sides.

I would agree that many aspects of the rift between Catholics and Protestants are brought about by intolerance and not doctrinal differences. One of the reasons Tom wrote that article was to help people understand the doctrinal differences. If most Christians don't understand the doctrinal differences between the two sides and think they are trivial, then most likely many of the rifts must not be because of doctrinal issues. But, that does not mean that the rifts that are based on doctrinal issues are not important. In fact, these rifts are the truly important ones. I would imagine that the differences most of the people on this board have with Catholics are doctrinal and not because of intolerant statements. I personally disagree with a lot of Catholic doctrine, and yet many of my close friends are Catholic. Even though I only know you through this board, I consider you a friend too. And although on those doctrinal issues that I believe Catholics are in error about I would argue until I'm blue in the face, I would be quick to acknowledge the doctrinal errors where we agree.

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If I may offer a couple of examples: Most don't realize that most of the hostility toward Catholics today had been generated by the works of E.G. White, a founder and prophetess in the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Such books as The Great Controversy have depicted Roman Catholicism as "the whore of Babylon" and the pope as "the antichrist." Any serious Bible scholar who has researched scriptures concerning the antichrist rejects this notion out of hand. The church continues to promote these books to mainline protestantism while attempting to hide their origin, for indeed the Seventh Day Adventist Church has a long history of heretical teachings.

I am not familiar with E.G. White or this book. But, I've never heard of it promoted in any protestant church I have attended. I think you've been a bit hasty in painting a picture of all Protestant churches. Also, I'm not sure of the timeline of this E.G. White book, but I'm fairly certain if you go back and read some of the writings of the Reformers, you'll find some very vitriolic writing against the Catholic church. I don't know if it's such a new phenomenon. I personally do not believe the Catholic Church is the anti-Christ, but I don't think it's accurate to say that all serious Bible scholars don't believe this. I'm fairly sure I've read some writings of some very well known Bible scholars who believed this (I'll have to confirm this but it's my recollection). It's amazing when reading the writing of many of the giants of Christian literature how they can be so correct in the majority of their theology and then on some issues just go off the deep end. It's a reflection of the corruption of sin that remains in all Christians I suppose.

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On the other side the Roman Catholic Church produces such divisive works as Vatican II, that declares "anethema" anyone who preaches "sola fide" or "salvation by faith alone." This has been a horrible affront to Christian unity and has caused a lot of misunderstanding and hurt between us. In fact, a close examination will reveal only minute differences between our doctrines about the role of works in our salvation. (I would at some point like to discuss this in more detail) You should understand that many Catholic, clergy and lay, strongly disagreed with the language of Vatican II, but as can often happen, we feel that we've been hijacked by the hardliners of our faith.

Again, what at first glance may seem a minute difference could be a vast ocean. It's easy to make general observations like this, but until we start to discuss specific points of doctrine, it's hard to say whether the difference is minute or not.

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Such strife may cause us to forget that we both support the sanctity of life, and have taken the gospel of Christ to the far reaches of the world, with hospitals, schools, libraries, and many more of the blessings we benefit from as a result of our faith. We both have a common love for the Lord Jesus Christ, and a common hope for our redemption from this corrupt world.

I would agree that we should celebrate what we have in common. For things like this, I am thankful for all my Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ.

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I would say that Satan rejoices to see the divisions that cause bitterness and strife between us. The importance of correct doctrine not to be disputed, I can assure you that I feel just as certain about the accuracy of Catholic teachings as you feel about Reformation teachings. Seeing as neither will budge, it behooves us to focus instead on our common bond in Christ Jesus.

The problem I see here is that we shouldn't base what is correct doctrine on how strongly we feel about it being correct. In that case, for example, a Muslim would have just as strong an argument or stronger that the Koran is correct. If you look at most of the writing of Paul, he preached a lot about Christian harmony and love, and yet at the same time, when even the smallest hints of error crept him he was quick to expose it (often in very strong language). I'm sure many of those people he took to task over errors in doctrine felt very strongly that they were correct.

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You have covered much more material than I can possibly respond to in one post. Can I look forward to the opportunity to address these points in more detail?

Not addressed to me in particular, but I hope to discuss more with you.

John