Nelson Donnell of West Gardiner, ME "The Catholic Church teaches that it's the only church founded by Jesus Christ for good reason - it's a historical fact."

Funny thing is, Mike fails to mention that the majority of the history books are usually influentially written from the biased facts and perspective of the conquerors, not the conquered. And those that didn't agreed with the Catholic Church's position during the Dark Ages usually ended up being burnt and destroyed, but not all of them. But I guess Mike forgot about that phase of history and the Inquisitions and Crusades of the Catholic Church.

Do a Google search on Catholic Churches Criminal History, it's repleted with criminal conduct right from it's very inception under the rule of Constantine.report abuse

RicknVA of Alexandria, VA Mike says: 'Many people reject a belief in hell, but Catholic saints who have been given revelations of hell have said that most of the people in hell didn't believe in it while they were on earth. Jesus discussed hell 13 times in the gospels.'

Why is it that only 'Catholic' saints have been given revelations of hell? And, what would you say to the 'hell' that pedophile priests have put their victims through?
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Mike Martin of Farmington, ME The Indians of Mexico strongly resisted Catholicism until the miracle of Guadalupe occurred in the 16th century. Then almost every one of the millions of indigenous Mexicans became Catholic over just a 2 or 3 year period.report abuse

Mike Martin of Farmington, ME The Catholic Church teaches that it's the only church founded by Jesus Christ for good reason - it's a historical fact. Jesus founded a church, as it says in the Bible, and the Catholic Church is the only one that can trace its existence back to that time. All other churches were founded by men or women who had their own ideas about religion. Those people were inspired by Martin Luther, who erroneously taught that the Bible could be interepreted by anyone as anyone sees fit to do so. A society which believes in anything is bound to eventually become a society which believes in nothing, which is the type of society we live in today.

It's no secret that saints are human, either. It's just that the saints have led exemplary lives of holiness, and we recognize them as having done so. Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul have certainly filled that bill.

As far as the Bible goes, we know it is the Word of God because the Catholic Church which was personally founded by Christ told us so. The writers of the New Testament were Catholic, and Catholic bishops in the late 4th and early 5th centuries got together to decide which writings were inspired by God, and assembled them into the Bible as we know it today.

Christ gave the power of binding and loosing to the leaders of his church, so that church has the authority to produce the Bible. And as far as the legitimacy of Christ, I point out once again the miracles. Thousands, possibly millions, have occurred in the last 2000 years, and they can be denied only by the hardest of hearts.report abuse

Nelson Donnell of West Gardiner, ME "Throughout all of history, the spread of the Catholic Church has been accompanied by miracles." Spoken like a true believer of the mystery religion, but I bet there are several Central and South American Indian cultures that would take issue as to how great the Catholic Church was and still is.

Perhaps that Catholic poster is talking about miracles like that of removing two of the ten commandments that dealt with keeping the original sabbath day holy and not having graven images and then dividing two of the other remaining eight commandments to off-set the two that the Catholic Church knew would interfere with their commercial enterprise system.

Just look at how they employ subliminal mind control via the use of worshiping graven images and then there's that whole Sun God thing that they just can't quite get past in life.

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/report abuse

RicknVA of Alexandria, VA Catholic churches also preach that it's the only church 'founded' by Jesus Christ. And this issue with 'saints' - when Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul were living recently, they looked as human as the rest of us - but they too will be 'Saints' of the Catholic church.

And we already know how the bible has been written by man and re-written over the centuries - so how do you explain all that as 'the word of God'?report abuse

Mike Martin of Farmington, ME The con game is played by those who reject belief in God and the saving power of Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Jews in chapter 10 of John's Gospel that they didn't have to believe because of what he said, but they were required to believe because of the miracles Jesus performed.

Throughout all of history, the spread of the Catholic Church has been accompanied by miracles. Miracles of healing and of the Eucharist have taken place many times over the centuries. One of the miracles of the Eucharist, that of Lanciano, Italy, has been ascertained by present-day science, even though the miracle occurred 1300 years ago. Miracles still happen in our times. Ten years ago, I met a missionary priest from India who prayed over a girl who had been killed by a 100-foot accidental fall onto some rocks, and she came back to life. He also gave Communion to a paralyzed man who immediately got up and took a seat with the congregation. Jesus performs miraculous healings by the hands of Catholics here and now in Maine, too, at the Little House of Prayer in Biddeford and at LifeSong Ministries in northern Maine, among other places. I personally know people who have been healed in such a way.

Many people reject a belief in hell, but Catholic saints who have been given revelations of hell have said that most of the people in hell didn't believe in it while they were on earth. Jesus discussed hell 13 times in the gospels.

To those who don't believe, I would put forth Pascal's wager, first postulated by the French scientist Blaise Pascal while he spoke with an atheist who mocked him. Pascal told him that if when he died he learned that the atheist was right, Pascal will have lost nothing. Pascal also told the atheist, however, that if when the atheist died he learned that the believers were right, the atheist will have lost everything.report abuse

Tim of Weld, ME
If that's what you believe Ms. Stratton...then go to church.

But stop telling the rest of us what we "should" be doing based upon your personal beliefs.

Belief in a concept or superstition does not make it so.report abuse

Nelson Donnell of West Gardiner, ME "Most people with common sense know that human nature is prone to laziness."

How correct you are, but you fail to recognize that governments and religious organizations exploit this laziness with their various mind control techniques in order to promote their pyramid schemes. They know that the masses will practice various doctrines based upon only a system of beliefs as long as the tenets of the doctrines are sufferable.

So, if you really believe that there is some god that "asked specifically that we honor Him on Sunday", then perhaps you should earnestly research the history of the foundation of this theory of life. You'd be amazed of how big the con game really is.

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Mike Martin of Farmington, ME Actually, God would prefer that we do both - visit the elderly AND go to church to honor him. Attending Mass is the priority though, for from it we may receive the inspiration to engage in good works.

For a Catholic, going to Mass is a matter of obedience to God. Jesus told Peter and the apostles that whatever they bind or loose on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven. Since the apostles were the first leaders of the church, their teaching that we are to attend Sunday Mass is also a commandment of God. Going to Mass if we are physically able to is necessary to our salvation, as Hebrews 5:9 tells us that Jesus became the cause of eternal salvation to all who obey him. 1st John 5:3 tells us that the commandments of God are not heavy. God doesn't ask us to do anything that is too difficult for us.

We can be saved only by the grace of God (Eph. 2:8). The greatest source of grace known to the world is the Mass, and especially the Eucharist. The Catholic Church (and therefore, God himself) commands us to attend Sunday Mass so that we, by grace, may grow in holiness, without which no man shall see God (Heb. 12:14).report abuse