Pilgrim,
Much to my changrine, you don't understand me at all.
"I do thing you have described perfectly the difference between true believers and all others; even those who claim to be so. The difference is that true believers bow before and accept as infallibly true, the self revelation of God which He has graciously provided and preserves in His inspired written Word while all others rely upon and rest in their imagination."
How convienient that you get to define "true believers" in such manner as to explicitly exclude me. None of what you said here is Biblical, in regards to biblical requisites to salvation, it is purely Protestant advocacy.
"I realize that since you do not consider the Bible to be an absolute authority, it is not likely that you will bother..."
I don't believe the Bible to be the exclusive embodiment of ALL Christian truth, or the sole rule of faith. I do consider the Bible as an absolute authority and out of all the holy writings governing the Christian faith, the Catholic Church esteems the Old and New Testaments far higher than all the rest combined. In fact, all other Christian writings serve only to affirm the validity of the holy scriptures.
"I end here with a couple of marvelous quotes from two men who have been taken hold of by the sovereign God whom you would not have rule over you:"
Well, let's get to the heart of the matter. You inflict injury upon me when you infer (as you have done twice in this post) that I'm not saved. This is not a mark of humility on your part because YOU DO NOT KNOW! If you were humble, you would have remembered that man looks to the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. If you had soberly remembered this, you might have refrained from the judgement you just rendered.
You also seemed to say that our imagination of God should strictly adhere to the text of scriptures concerning God's attributes, but a purely abstract conceptualization of God for any length of time is not possible. The human equation asserts itself, as has become evident here. For I have percieved in this forum, (if I may offer some kind criticism) an image of God as One who will judge based on man's command of correct doctrine, and perfect knowledge of that which saves him.
Salvation is a heart issue, and biblical knowledge of Jesus in an intimate knowledge, not a scholastic one. I believe all CAtholic teachings and interpretations of scripture, but I know Jesus in such a personal way as cannot be described by words. It is because my relationship to Jesus is so close and enduring that it hurts when those whom I consider brethren in Christ, in smug confidence, conclude that I'm not saved.
I choose my words carefully, and I have never said that any of you will go to hell because you aren't baptized into the one holy Catholic Church, or because you partake in a "false Eucharist." Much to my credit, I don't even believe privately that this would exclude you from the Christian faith. Discussion of doctrinal differences is fine, but when you start to deny my salvation, you assault my dear relationship to Christ, and it becomes personal.
I hope in the future you will exercise more godly consideration in your choice of words.
Life is hard. God is good. Heaven is sure.catholicsoldier <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/takethat.gif" alt="" />