Archive for June, 2009
I am an agnostic and I recently decided to start reading the Bible, just because. I'm really loving it so far (I'm reading NLT).
What are the best Books of the Bible for new Christians or beginners to Bible study? Which ones sort of "sum up" the stories or teachings in a concise and readable fashion? Which are the most important ones for understanding the message of the Bible? What would you say are the "best of" the Old and New Testaments? Any special recommendations?
How do you usually read a book? Start at the beginning, and finish at the end. This is why so many people have such a hard time understanding the Bible, they abandon all of what they learned about reading in school.
1) Read the Bible from beginning to end, just like you learned how to do with other books in school.
2) Takes notes so that you can identify the literary elements of the Bible, such as the plot, the inciting force, the conflict, the climax, and the resolution, just like you learned how to do with other books in school.
There are no "best books". The Bible is a bunch of different books, but they're arranged so that they give an historical account of God's interaction with the Israelites. There are a couple books that are basically repeats of each other, but other than that you can't skip books or you will be missing parts of the story. If you're really trying to understand what the Bible says, then read the whole thing. Shortcuts are for traveling, not for studying.
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June 29 2009 | Bible | 16 Comments »
There is this pesky perennial allegations that the priests are fond of the younger boys very few are interested in the opposite sex where as the protestant pastors are either playboys or prone to committing adulterous acts which is contrary to both Biblical or Catholic dogma.
Sexual abuse by Christian clergy is a problem of huge proportions. The only thing good about this problem is that is that it is exposed and many churches and denominations besides the Catholic Church are acknowledging their problem and discussing and implementing strategies to overcome the problem.
There have been over eight hundred priests removed because of allegations and/or suspicion of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Studies have shown that the statistics are 1.5% to 4% of priests have been involved in some kind of sexual abuse. There have been only two Protestant groups who have done studies that I know of, which are the Southern Baptists and the Church of Christ. Among Baptist clergy the figure is about 14% and among the clergy in the Church of Christ it is higher but has not been released publicly. Most groups are afraid of studies and it appears that around 15% may be average among all Christian groups. One thing that is very clear is that no Christian group is handling this problem very well and most are in denial and involved in various degrees of cover-up. One of the instances I am aware of is the Church of God denomination in Cleveland, Tennessee who had a bishop arrested for child sexual abuse (22 counts, if I recall correctly) and almost immediately, all references of him were removed in their website and the church denied even knowing him. One must also keep in mind that until fairly recently the psychiatric community believed that pedophiles could be treated and cured. Many churches including the Catholic Church treated the clergy and trusted the psychiatrists when they said they were cured and would not abuse again. It is also interesting that in studies among other professions with contact with children, such as teachers, that the statistics are similar. I am encouraged that the Catholic Church has a zero tolerance policy for these abuses and is working to eliminate practicing homosexual priests from active clergy and identifying problem candidates at the seminary level.
I have given this issue a lot of thought since the statistics have started to come out as to why there are great differences in the statistics between Catholic clergy and Protestant clergy. I really do not think the celibacy issue has anything to do with the lower statistics for Catholics. I believe I have a unique insight being a convert to Catholicism and having worked for years in a Catholic seminary among Jesuits. My thoughts are that the difference in statistics is the result of the different views of Catholics and or Protestants towards their clergy. Excuse my hyperbole, which I use here for emphasis, but Protestant clergy are more autonomous and are looked at by their congregations as morally superior, not that they shouldn’t be but many are not, and many are revered as a pope to that congregation. They are placed on a pedestal that few of us, if any, deserve. This makes them vulnerable to temptation which comes from those that perceive the clergy as a power figure and are tempted by this perception. Many Protestant clergy fall to this snare of Satan. The Catholic priest does not have the same situation. Congregations know of the sinfulness of their priest who confesses regularly to their congregations that they sin in thought, word and deed lest there be any doubt of our sinful nature. This has a dual effect, the priest remains humble as a result of his confession and the congregation does not place the priest on a pedestal as happens in Protestant congregations.
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
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June 29 2009 | Protestant | 10 Comments »
On the Catholic cross the crossing beam is on the uper part,conversely on the Orthodox croos the crossing beam is right on the middle.Why??
THE KATHOLIKOSIS OUR GREEK WORD ( GR> MEANING UNVIERSAL ) LOOK IT UP 
IN DICITIOARY INTERNATIONAL ONE
AND WE ARE THE FIRST KATHOLIKOS ( UNVERSAL ( CHURCH OF THE BIBLE) GREEK SEPTUAGINT
http://www.ecmarsh.com/lxx/
AND GREEK NEW FIRST TESTAMENT OF THE WORLD
http://www.greeknewtestament.com/
MEANT FOR ALL THE WORLD.. THERE IS NO JEW OR GREEK AMONG YOU.. GAL.3.28
WE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST.
IS THE ONE YOU DESRIBE THE ONE THAT JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED ON .. (
http://www.gotquestions.org/gossip-Bible.html
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CROSS AND SLAVONIC CROSSES HAVE THREE BARS TO REPRESENT ..
THE SIGN HUNG ON CROSS ( KING OF THE JEWS IN HEBREW < GREEK AND ARAMAIC ( SORRY RC NOT IN LATIN)
THE SECOND BAR FOR THE HANDS ..
THE THRIRD BAR IS FOR ( THE STABBING BY THE GUARD WHEN BLOOD AND WATER FLOWED FROM THE WOUNDS OF CHRISTJohn 19:34 (New International Version)
34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+19:34
THUS THE THREE BARS..
THE GREEK CROSS..USES THE ORDINARY BAR..
I USE BOTH .. A GREEK RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
( MOM WAS RUSSIAN)
THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF CROSSES..
GO GOOGLE SEACH .. HERE IS ONE LINK
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?link=answer&qid=20090624074743AAhxu5T&u=o&update=update&prev_ans_page=1
IC XC NIKA.. JESUS CHRIST CONQUERS ( DEATH)
KYRIE ELEISON.. LORD HAVE MERCY FOR ALL
HERE ARE A NUMBER OF CROSSES. RE GREEK CROSS ( OF MANY FAITHS AND KINDS)
http://www.answers.com/topic/greek-cross
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June 29 2009 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
I am specifically looking for situations and examples where something challenging occurs that seems, at first, to doom a person spiritually. However, as it turns out, that challenge turns out to be a blessing in disguise, and, due in large part to the challenge, a higher spiritual plain is reached. Hoping for examples from the Bible or from other famous Christians.
Just look at the story of Joseph in Genesis. I've always felt that someone in his situation would have had every excuse to rebel against everything he had been taught — but this was a young lad who remained true to his God in circumstances where he was on his own, without any fellowship at all, sticking to his faith and refusing to throw it all in. And what was the result? Prison! But ironically prison proved to be the means by which God brought him to the attention of Pharaoh and his saving of the people of Egypt, with God's help, led to the saving of his own people.
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June 27 2009 | Bible | 3 Comments »
Like, when orthodox churches do missions in other countries like the Philippines, each patriarch does its own mission. Don't you think it would be more effective if they all agreed to have joint missions instead of each trying to establish their own? That way most parts of a low-orthodox country can get churches instead of each patriarch building churches in the same major city.
and who feels that an American Patriarchy should be established to fix the overlapping church jurisdictions in America?
Maybe not one mission of one autocephalous Church, but it is obvious that they should be better coordinated.
On recent talks in Geneva there was set that canonical EO Bishops in diaspora will gather to coordinate their actions.
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June 27 2009 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
My mother purchased a mac and somehow made the mail icon disappear from the docking station at the bottom of the screen on her desktop. She stumbled around and found Applications the next time she logged on, dragged the icon back down to the tray. But it keeps disappearing again. How do I help her get that icon back so it stays?
Drag it to the Dock when it is not running. If it running then simply change its position in the Dock. Either of those should be enough to make it stick.
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June 27 2009 | Icon | 2 Comments »
What does the bible say about making fun of others? How does God deal with those who make fun of others? How does God want us to deal with it?
That it's fun and Jesus wants you to do it.
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June 24 2009 | Bible | 4 Comments »
How did art of the Counter-Reformation differ from that of Protestant Europe?
Protestant movements outlawed any kind of art in their churches (graven images are considered sinful in the ten commandments). The Catholic church, however, kept churning out the religious iconography. Protestant art depicts scenes of daily life and business, catholic focuses on religious and mythological themes.
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June 24 2009 | Protestant | 1 Comment »
I have a daughter who is 13 and I want to get her more involved in her religion. I was hoping to send her to a roman catholic summer camp but I dont know of any.
I suggest you contact the Youth Ministry office of the Diocese of Raleigh:
715 Nazareth Street
Raleigh, NC, 27606-2187
919-821-9770
http://www.dioceseofraleigh.org/directory/view.aspx?id=39
With love in Christ.
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June 24 2009 | Catholic | 8 Comments »
Like, when orthodox churches do missions in other countries like the Philippines, each patriarch does its own mission. Don't you think it would be more effective if they all agreed to have joint missions instead of each trying to establish their own? That way most parts of a low-orthodox country can get churches instead of each patriarch building churches in the same major city.
and who feels that an American Patriarchy should be established to fix the overlapping church jurisdictions in America?
Maybe not one mission of one autocephalous Church, but it is obvious that they should be better coordinated.
On recent talks in Geneva there was set that canonical EO Bishops in diaspora will gather to coordinate their actions.
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June 22 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
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