(urth) resurrecting a 2002 thread that posits an alternative lineage for Sev

[Gerry Quinn]

On 06/10/2014 15:19, Marc Aramini wrote:
>
> Deification is a Protestant over-reaction to the great respect offered 
> to the saints and Mary as intermediaries on the behalf of humanity to 
> an infinitely incomprehensible God. Reverence and awe and 
> relative closeness to God (compared to our own existence) does not 
> make one a literal God.
>
The Catholic Church doesn't generally fulminate about the theological 
details of the beliefs of the faithful.  The saints - and Mary too - in 
principle intercede with the Lord when prayed to, rather than answering 
prayers themselves.  But if somebody feels that they probably have 
authorisation to answer some prayers on their own, nobody is preaching 
hellfire and damnation just because they got the theology wrong.

I think it's fair to say there is more of a 'community of the faithful' 
ethos in the Catholic Church than in many or most of the Protestant 
churches.  Bible reading, for example, is not discouraged but neither is 
it heavily encouraged,  There's no element of 'every man his own 
theologian'.  A simple faith and a good life are more than sufficient.

[By the way, it is my understanding that there are 'Catholics' of a 
slightly different colour in the US.  I'm speaking of Roman Catholicism 
as practised in Ireland, say.]

- Gerry Quinn