Dear Baptistic..
Interesting reply. Thanks.
Interesting to see that you have read some of the things Vassula Rydén has written. I have had long dialogues with people of great knowledge, believing sola scriptura. One person in particular made a whole analysis of several books by Vassula and then concluded a whole list of things which she claimed were unbiblical. One by one I proved these points actually to be found I Sacred Scripture and in the end she admitted: “Okay, bottom line I just don’t feel at ease about this writing person claiming to be the Lord.” This woman was horrified at the idea of being cheated. She had once been possessed by evil spirits and now she trusted no body and nothing.
Obviously I think you are right: any feeling we might have cannot justify letting one self being misled. I do believe anyone who has ever considered becoming a catholic has done so while searching into the Bible… winning someone over to Catholic Christianity is no easy thing. No human being could have made me make that journey. Even my own culture is stigmatising the catholic Church as the worst of all churches. But one must follow Truth, I reckon, and believe me my friend; if I merely followed my feelings then I was long gone. I feel often more comfortable among the Pentecostals.. wow.. what a ride it is to go to their services. You can really feel the Holy Spirit in there.. I often go to two services or three in one Sunday. It is awesome to go and worship the Lord with these brothers.. The Lord is there so how could it not be? It rocks my world and I feel relieved when I leave them. Then I go to my local catholic parish church. I come into the room and everything is empty and silent.. and a certain feeling overwhelms me .. I am in the presence of the Lord of heaven and earth. I must bow down until I lie prostrate at the floor in front of such awesome Majesty. I believe with all my heart that it is the Holy Spirit who works this in me, touching me profoundly but differently at each place, filling me with awe, joy, and love.
… You will say that this is emotions again. But I think that teaching and feeling go together. If something is suspicious then peace cannot last. I however can’t help but smile a bit at the person who thinks himself free from being led by his emotion… I mean think about it. Don’t you do much of what you do because it feels right…also in accordance with what you think should feel right. I assure you such reasoning is quite used.. but not always logical. If you were firm in a belief that to worship trees was the greatest thing to do then you would probably feel great while doing it. Your emotions would not tell you anything of value… But you are led by it, in accordance with what you have been taught is appropriate, however highly elevated above it you would think yourself.
A few points. This might come as a surprise to you. I know many Protestants who pray the rosary, but I actually have a harder time understanding them than I do you. It is very clear and understandable to me that you fell it to be wrong. I understand the logic of your reasoning and actually I do agree with you: praying the rosary is hardly a sign of unity. It is a very difficult matter and controversial matter. The readers of Vassula’s books who really believe in the authenticity of the messages would have the catholic and orthodox stance on the teaching on the immaculate conception, and can therefore pray like this. The speaking of “gods by participation” is an old teaching which is most dominant in the orthodox piety. I can assure you that an orthodox could give you a profound and scriptural reason for this teaching ..yes based on scripture. Not by another Gospel, but by another interpretation.
Now to the real point. First of all I find the thought of proselyticing among fellow Christians a bit strange.. This friend of yours, however, does also puzzle me. Is she a believer of Christ or not, is the question. I find it difficult to understand what you write about her. Again it seems to me that you contradict your self: You say that you won’t say that no Catholics are saved. Yet you could not be more clear than you are about the catholic teaching being full of error, and with all due respect, I think you should be honest toward your self and say: certainly they are not going to be saved .. that is the logic consequence of faking the Gospel and committing the sins of which you speak in connection with the Virgin Mary.. Deceiving spirits are what you call those whom we refer to as our family who are alive in and through God, Our Father. That’s serious accusations and you gotta be clear on your points. I am the first to say that if the Catholic Church is teaching wrongly then the Catholics are in a whole lot of trouble. I am always ready to be taught and I am estimating all your words.. But let me ask you: have you ever read anything which was written by a Catholic apologetic.. did you read anything of Scott Hahn for instance?
You see I have quite many friends who never did read anything written by Catholics and yet they once thought they knew what Catholicism was, and they would even go to foreign countries to try and “convert” catholic people,.. needless to say they were puzzled when they met humble people who seemed to surpass them by far in their love for Christ. One man was truly slobbering whenever he met a catholic because he then saw a chance of converting the “poor soul” and make him/her a “real Christian”. One day he met a woman who gave him a book by Karl Keating called “Fundamentalism and Catholicism”. He took the book with him on a business trip and calling on his wife he said: “A woman gave me a book and the guy who wrote this book not only knows his Bible.. he also poses questions which I never even thought of asking my self!” The man was stupefied. He had fought Catholicism, or rather, what he thought it to be, but ended up becoming Catholic. And my point by this, brother is I think the main mistake you do is that you, in your fear and suspicion, think that certain people are coming with a false Gospel. I have worried and prayed much about the passage you there refer to from Scripture about false brothers and another gospel) But the truth is there IS ONLY ONE GOSPEL. But there are many interpretations. You know in America alone there are 30,000 evangelical denominations which each has its own interpretation of the same Bible but with different results. Many of these are even harassing each other and promising the others fire and brimstone…Is that the rock on which to built the Church, which Jesus spoke of to Peter? Hardly…I really find it in my heart to say to you that you gotta get back to the early Church fathers, and read the stuff they wrote, in order to see how these interpreted the Bible.. and how they were building the Church.. You would be surprised. (I say this with no arrogance.. also the Catholic Church could do well in imitating the early church more than she does today but the illness of rationalism and secularism etc- is to be found everywhere in Christ’s body…Praised be His Name for His faithfulness)
I have discovered, in all honesty, that there is no such coherent interpretation of Sacred Scripture to be found anywhere as the one that I found in the Catholic Church. Everything seemed to fall in to place.. one piece after the other... Scripture was given to and a made by the Church (which is one) through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and He has guarded It throughout history within the Church. You see, the Church was already there when Scripture came into existence.
You have not told me which denomination you attend… that might be a good beginning if you wish further dialogue.
It is interesting to notice that many Christians condemn their catholic brethren whereas we are all really just trying our utmost to please and serve the same Christ. An Evangelical, protestant, messianic jew or orthodox is however, by catholics, called “brother” and “member of the Body of Christ”.
I challenge you brother to look into it: find out not only what the CC says but also why is says it.
Merry Christmas. Praised be Jesus
From Katarina <><