*.* SWITCHED!!! ATTENTION! *.*
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Me blogged @ | 1:42 pm
*.* Reasons why I'm Catholic *.*
This is shared by Dave Armstrong who gave 150 reasons. Below are just some of them and some of which, i feel like saying "how true!":
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy.
2. Catholicism isn't formally divided and sectarian (Jn 17:20-23; Rom 16:17; 1 Cor 1:10-13).
3. Catholic unity makes Christianity and Jesus more believable to the world (Jn 17:23).
4. Protestantism leans too much on mere traditions of men (every denomination stems from one Founder's vision. As soon as two or more of these contradict each other, error is necessarily present).
5. Catholicism retains apostolic succession, necessary to know what is true Christian apostolic Tradition. It was the criterion of Christian truth used by the early Christians.
6. Evangelicalism's "techniques" of evangelism are often contrived and manipulative, certainly not directly derived from the text of the Bible. Some even resemble brainwashing to a degree.
7. Catholicism retains the sense of the sacred, the sublime, the holy, and the beautiful in spirituality. The ideas of altar, and "sacred space" are preserved. Many Protestant churches are no more than "meeting halls" or "gymnasiums" or "barn"-type structures. Most Protestants' homes are more esthetically striking than their churches. Likewise, Protestants are often "addicted to mediocrity" in their appreciation of art, music, architecture, drama, the imagination, etc.
8. Most Protestants regard the Eucharist symbolically, which is contrary to universal Christian Tradition up to 1517, and the Bible (Mt 26:26-28; Jn 6:47-63; 1 Cor 10:14-22; 1 Cor 11:23-30), which hold to the Real Presence (another instance of the antipathy to matter).
9. Pentecostal or charismatic Protestantism places much too high an emphasis on spiritual experience, not balancing it properly with reason, the Bible, and Tradition (including the authority of the Church to pronounce on the validity of "private revelations").
10. Protestantism separates the Bible from the Church.
11. Protestantism pits the veneration of saints against the worship of God. Catholic theology doesn't permit worship of saints in the same fashion as that directed towards God. Saints are revered and honored, not adored, as only God the Creator can be.
12. Evangelicalism often emphasizes numerical growth rather than individual spiritual growth.
13. The phrases "word of God" or "word of the Lord" in Acts and the epistles almost always refer to oral preaching, not to the Bible itself. Much of the Bible was originally oral (e.g., Jesus' entire teaching- He wrote nothing -St. Peter's sermon at Pentecost, etc.).
14. The concepts of "Tradition," "gospel," "word of God," "doctrine," and "the Faith" are essentially synonymous, and all are predominantly oral. E.g., in the Thessalonian epistles alone St. Paul uses 3 of these interchangeably (2 Thess 2:15; 2 Thess 3:6; 1 Thess 2:9,13 (cf. Gal 1:9; Acts 8:14). If Tradition is a dirty word, then so is "gospel" and "word of God"!
15. St. Paul, in 1 Tim 3:15, puts the Church above Bible as the grounds for truth, as in Catholicism.
16. Sola Scriptura literally couldn't have been true, practically speaking, for most Christians throughout history, since the movable-type printing press only appeared in the mid-15th century. Preaching and oral Tradition, along with things like devotional practices, Christian holidays, church architecture and other sacred art, were the primary carriers of the gospel for 1400 years. For all these centuries, sola Scriptura would have been regarded as an absurd abstraction and impossibility.
17. Contrary to Protestant anti-Catholic myth, the Catholic Church has always revered the Bible, and hasn't suppressed it (it protested some Protestant translations, but Protestants have often done the same regarding Catholic versions). This is proven by the laborious care of monks in protecting and copying manuscripts, and the constant translations into vernacular tongues (as opposed to the falsehoods about only Latin Bibles), among other plentiful and indisputable historical evidences. The Bible is a Catholic book, and no matter how much Protestants study it and proclaim it as peculiarly their own, they must acknowledge their undeniable debt to the Catholic Church for having decided the Canon, and for preserving the Bible intact for 1400 years. How could the Catholic Church be "against the Bible," as anti-Catholics say, yet at the same time preserve and revere the Bible profoundly for so many years? The very thought is so absurd as to be self-refuting. If Catholicism is indeed as heinous as anti-Catholics would have us believe, Protestantism ought to put together its own Bible, instead of using the one delivered to them by the Catholic Church, as it obviously could not be trusted!
18. Protestantism pits faith against works (sola fide), which is a rejection of Christian Tradition and the explicit teaching of the Bible (Mt 25:31-46; Lk 18:18-25; Jn 6:27-29; Gal 5:6; Eph 2:8-10; Phil 2:12-13; Phil 3:10-14; 1 Thess 1:3; 2 Thess 1:11; Heb 5:9; Jas 1:21-27; Jas 2:14-16). These passages also indicate that salvation is a process, not an instantaneous event, as in Protestantism.
19. Protestantism rejects, on inadequate grounds, the intercession of the saints for us after death, and the correspondent invocation of the saints for their effectual prayers (Jas 5:16). Christian Tradition and the Bible, on the other hand, have upheld this practice: Dead saints are aware of earthly affairs (Mt 22:30 w/ Lk 15:10 and 1 Cor 15:29; Heb 12:1), appear on earth to interact with men (1 Sam 28:12-15; Mt 17:1-3, 27:50-53; Rev 11:3), and therefore can intercede for us, and likewise be petitioned for their prayers, just as are Christians on earth (2 Maccabees 15:14; Rev 5:8; 6:9-10).
20. Protestantism rejects the papacy, despite profound Christian Tradition, and the strong evidence in the Bible of Peter's preeminence and commission by Jesus as the Rock of His Church. No one denies he was some type of leader among the apostles. The papacy as we now know it is derived from this primacy: Mt 16:18-19; Lk 22:31-2; Jn 21:15-17 are the most direct "papal" passages. Peter's name appears first in all lists of apostles; even an angel implies he is their leader (Mk 16:7), and he is accepted by the world as such (Acts 2:37-8,41). He works the first miracle of the Church age (Acts 3:6-8), utters the first anathema (Acts 5:2-11), raises the dead (Acts 9:40), first receives the Gentiles (Acts 10:9-48), and his name is mentioned more often than all the other disciples put together (191 times). Much more similar evidence can be found.
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Me blogged @ | 9:38 pm
*.* Ten Reasons to Choose Life *.*
(Listed on the back of a t-shirt.)
1. Because at conception, your baby's curly hair, green eyes, 5'6"frame, and female gender have already been determined.
2. Because at 21 days, her heart is beating.
3. Because at 43 days, she has brain waves.
4. Because at 8 weeks, she has fingers and toes.
5. Because at 10 weeks, she can feel pain.
6. Because at 12 weeks, she can suck her thumb.
7. Because at 4 months, she can listen to Mozart.
8. Because at 5 months, she can dream.
9. Because at 7 months, she can recognize her mother's voice.
10. Because at 9 months, you've got a friend for life.
++Got the above from here, thought that it's quite interesting!~
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Me blogged @ | 9:31 pm
*.* Five like five *.*
Its like five days ago when 2007 just started. Today is the 15th of the fifth-month, Anno Domini MMVII. Well, i hope thats the correct Roman numeral! My Mid-Year exams are finally over. Coming up next is the GCE Ordinary Level Mother Tongue Paper. Things are getting fast isn't it? Real fast.
Catholic church aren't engage in illegitimate proselytism. That i agree. Look at the world around us. So many "vulnerable" people, getting influenced by some society using unacceptable tactics. I said some.
After days of mugging. This my dad say i'm doing last minute work. No i'm not doing last minute work. Am i? Can you ever imagine someone doing like 20 over school papers and still failing additional mathematics?
Im now left with ONE charcoal. Wanna get some higher grade Frankincense. Anyone can buy me a thurible?
I remembered some time ago. When we were making noise and the Principal walks past and scolded us for being inconsiderate. But true. Why tit for tat? Why compare. However logically it is unfair to us in someways. Comeon. Mrs Oh, if you are reading this, email me! :) .
Anyway back to the topic on amathematics. I realise in the past year(s), Junyuan secondary sets the toughest paper on earth. Weird. Why? Probably we have good teachers previously coming from good schools?
Its now the 2nd hour of the day and i am still not yawning. Body needs rest now. Thats for now.
"TO JESUS THRU MARY"
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Me blogged @ | 1:03 am
*.* Happy Birthday Papa! *.*
Tomorrow, 16th April 2007, marks the 80th Birthday of Pope Benedict XVI. In the week, 19th of April is also the Second anniversary of his Papacy. According to "TIMES" magazine, he is expected in the coming weeks, to release document(s) regarding the approval of the Traditional Latin Mass, celebrated in the Tridentine rite. I'm getting real excited over this. But i am now thinking, how will the church be reshaped so as to make way for the Tridentine rite. Will the Archdiocese of Singapore celebrate the Tridentine rite?
Although i have never attended a Tradition Latin Mass, but based on the many videos; many images; many stories, i can say that it is REAL beautiful.
**THE IMAGES ABOVE ARE IMAGES OBTAINED FROM
http://latin-mass-society.org
http://thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com/
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Me blogged @ | 7:10 pm
