Friday, December 14, 2007
RESPONDING TO BISHOP CESIDIO TALLINI
His comments are in italics. My replies are in bold.
I don't pretend to be orthodox Roman Catholic clergy, unlike Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo and Co., but my Church is not of this world, even though it is a legally chartered church, and I'm a legally consecrated Bishop, and what's the problem with that?
Milingo has nothing to do with this conversation. Why bring him up? It's surely no compliment to compare yourself to him.
Please enlighten me to this, as I'm willing to listen if you can present a compelling argument. I'm a pretty open-minded person overall! Can I still be part of the baloney -- not bologna, that's the good stuff -- of this world and witness Salvation according to the Old and New Testament (pick any translation)?
The Catholic Church has been presenting compelling arguments for 2,000 years, and apparently you haven't listened to any of them. I won't waste my time.
Also, you should read your Catholic Church's own Code of Canon law in my view. I am indeed still a Christian according to the Catholic Church, having been baptized as a Catholic when I was a baby, and that is actually sound reasoning in Roman law terms, although admittedly a little antiquated in Cesidian law terms.
I have often read Canon Law. If you were baptised a Catholic, you are indeed still a Catholic, so why are you messing around reinventing the wheel--or in your case the faith?
It is also not correct I'm polytheistic. A polytheist not only believes there are many Gods, but also holds no favorites. In reality I am a monolater (from monolatry, the belief that there may be more than one deity, but only one should be worshipped). That is a Kosher belief if you still appreciate things like the 10 Commandments, by the way.
No, actually anyone who adheres to the Ten Commandments is not a monolater. We really do believe He is the only one. But you didn't happen to mention which god you believe in. Have you made a choice yet? Are you still sampling the varieity? Are you your own god? You would be more likely to gain followers if you could make up your mind.
Regarding the Ten Commandments, my appreciation of them is apparently greater than yours given that I subscribe to them while you have created your own.
I am also a theist (one who believes that gods exist and interact with the universe), but not a deist (a person who believes that gods created the universe and then abandoned it), while you seem to hold deist beliefs, because you seem to think God abandoned me, and I can show evidence to the contrary. It was God, and God only really, not any church, who made me a Cesidian Bishop. No man had that power, only God does, perhaps working through holy and decent men.
I am certainly not a Deist since I believe that God answers prayer. Do you believe that? Or do you expect your god to operate only under your direction?
While my Church truly doesn't have too many members, so it is a small church compared to the Roman Catholic behemoth, Jesus also said that his church would be a small one too.
Jesus said, "Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it." (Matthew 7:13,14)
Christians today either state that Salvation is granted to those who follow the Bishop of Rome, and there are over a BILLION people who would qualify for Salvation if this were the way, and/or place Salvation in a book called the Bible, which has been translated in its entirety into only 429 languages so far (New Testaments alone are available in at least 1,573 languages). Even if most people were illiterate, which is no longer the case today, since less that 20% of the world's people are illiterate, the Original "JESUS" film is now available in 1,004 of the world's 6,912 spoken languages!
Is this the "Narrow Gate", the one of people who follow an 'infallible' Pope (not even Jesus lead us to believe he was infallible)?
Is the "Narrow Gate", the one of people who trust the Bible to be the 'in
It appears that Haloscan snipped part of your comment. In any case, check out Matthew 28:19. I doubt a church of one was quite what Christ had in mind.
Stop your current foolishness and come back to your true spiritual home. Christ is calling you. Listen to Him.
