Question for Catholics

[GopherSA]

I'm not a Church lawyer. I do know that if you were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then the Catholic Church recognizes your baptism.

YES!

The Catholic Church does recognize your baptism if done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are not beyond saving!

Just sign up for RCIA...you can call St. Marks (my parish) any time tomorrow to begin your process. It takes a few months, but you'll get confirmed and receive your first communion by the time you're done.

[travis2]

That's pretty certain stuff, ain't it...

How 'bout this; We confine the discussion to the legitimacy of this passage as being the installation of Peter as the first Pope and then, if we ever reach agreement -- or impasse -- we move to whether or not the current Catholic Pope is in a direct lineage to Peter the apostle.

Fair enough? Because, I think that's where the true issues are.

Issue #1) The Protestant faith holds that Peter was not elevated above the other apostles to any particular office and there is no scriptural basis for such belief.

Issue #2) The Catholic Church's own history of the papacy is so full of holes, gaps, disputes, and downright craziness that is is impossible for them to make the claim the current Pope is part of an unbroken chain of apostates leading back to Peter the apostle.

How 'bout we settle those two allegations first...or, at the very least, confine our arguments to them.

Ummmm...how about you moderate your language to that of the Christian you claim to be before we do anything.

[JoeChalupa]

Catholic is what I am.

[travis2]

For Protestants who might be a little leery of a Catholic-"biased" site, here is a Protestant-run "e enical" site that does a decent job of explaining things. It's not perfect; there are some errors in a few of their explanations, and others while being "technically" correct, suffer from poor semantics.

But it's not bad.

I invite my Catholic brethren to take a gander and give your own reviews as well.

http://mb-soft.com/believe/indexa.html

[The Ressurrected One]

I've lost the will to continue this argument.

I apologize to the Catholics in this forum for my offensive and abrasive and poorly informed opinions on the origins and legitimacy of your religion.

We are brother and sisters in Christ and I ask your forgiveness and understanding.

I was wrong to criticize your Church in that manner.

[NeoConIV]

I saw it more as lively debate, no apology needed as I see it. But thanks anyway!

[travis2]

I've lost the will to continue this argument.

I apologize to the Catholics in this forum for my offensive and abrasive and poorly informed opinions on the origins and legitimacy of your religion.

We are brother and sisters in Christ and I ask your forgiveness and understanding.

I was wrong to criticize your Church in that manner.

Maybe we can discuss things at a later date, TRO. I have no qualms about that. Seems like it's the religious debates that often get the nastiest. If we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable, then I'm more than happy to explain my side and listen to your side. There are certainly no hard feelings from my side of the fence.

[The Ressurrected One]

Maybe we can discuss things at a later date, TRO. I have no qualms about that. Seems like it's the religious debates that often get the nastiest. If we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable, then I'm more than happy to explain my side and listen to your side. There are certainly no hard feelings from my side of the fence.

Agreed and I appreciate the humility in your response.

[JoeChalupa]

I've lost the will to continue this argument.

I apologize to the Catholics in this forum for my offensive and abrasive and poorly informed opinions on the origins and legitimacy of your religion.

We are brother and sisters in Christ and I ask your forgiveness and understanding.

I was wrong to criticize your Church in that manner.

I have tough Catholic skin but thanks for the post.