Gerard Manley Firmness

@Jim_Gorman_2001 No, I am right. If I weren't, you would have a better response.

People who never knew Jesus Christ • Muhammad
• Joseph Smith
• Martin Luther
• John Calvin
• Huldrych Zwingli
• King Henry VIII
• John Knox • John Wesley • Charles Spurgeon • R.C Sproul • John MacArthur People who did know Jesus Christ: • St. Peter
• St. Andrew
• St. John
• St. James the Great
• St. Philip
• St. Bartholomew
• St. Thomas
• St. Matthew
• St. James the Less
• St. Jude Thaddeus
• St. Simon the Zealot
• St. Matthias Why would any Christian trust the Protestant Reformers over the men who walked with Christ, ate with Him, witnessed His Resurrection, were sent by Him to preach the Gospel, and became the first bishops of His Church?

@Naffetstterrag @hardee_ty @TedJoy71 You're really not making sense. I told you that I independently read the Bible, then the Church Fathers, right? You asked me what was troublesome, and I told you the things for which I saw little or no support. That hasn't changed since. No one has provided satisfactory answers.

@gmanfirmness @hardee_ty @TedJoy71 So did you ask anyone about these issues or did you just find them and think that through almost 2 thousand years of study, no one had thought to answer those questions and walk away?

Every ex-Catholic that I know who has become Protestant has done so for one of two reasons. Either they didn't like some priest; or, Being Catholic made too many demands upon them and how they lived their lives. Every Protestant that I know who has become Catholic has done so for one - and only one - reason. They had decided that Catholicism was the One, True, and Holy Church.

@InHocSigno312 @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles No, it doesn't. That was patently incorrect, and you are ignorant.

@gmanfirmness @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles No, but a quick Google summary helps show the idea in one brief image.

This has been my exact and consistent experience. I’ve met many Catholics who are now protestant, and vice versa. But what’s notable isn’t the numbers: it’s the quality. Invariably, whenever I inquire into the knowledge these ex-Catholics had about the Catholic Faith, it is shockingly bad, and most of them rarely even took the time to learn what the Church actually taught in any serious way. On the other hand, I’ve met and known of many protestant converts who were deeply formed in their faith, took it seriously, were constantly diving deep, and in that process discovered they had to become Catholic, for that was the only way all the true things they learned as a protestant could find fulfillment.

@InHocSigno312 @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles Irenaeus of Lyons: He maintained that the Scriptures are "perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit," referring to them as the ground and pillar of faith.

@InHocSigno312 @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles No, they didn't. At all. Google searches are not sources. You should know better than that.

@InHocSigno312 @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles Augustine of Hippo: He placed canonical Scripture in a unique category free from error, writing to Jerome that he had "learned to yield this respect and honor only to the canonical books of Scripture".

@InHocSigno312 @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles Cyril of Jerusalem: He instructed catechumens that even his own teachings were not to be blindly trusted without biblical proof, stating, "not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures".

@InHocSigno312 @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles Athanasius of Alexandria: In his fight against Arianism, he declared that the "sacred and inspired Scriptures are sufficient to declare the truth".

@Jim_Gorman_2001 No, it's correct. I can explain how, too.

@VerbumCatholic @InHocSigno312 @JoshuaTCharles Is it a common challenge? I am making my challenges on a theological basis. Why are you obsessed with the timeline?

@gmanfirmness @InHocSigno312 @JoshuaTCharles Eastern Catholics have Orthodox theology on the nature of sin and man. St. Palamas is celebrated in our Church. Precise for theological terminology, but why so vague on the history? Isn't it a common challenge that Papal Infallibility wasn't defined until 1870 (well past 1517)?

@VerbumCatholic @InHocSigno312 @JoshuaTCharles They are less good on iconodulia. Also, they were right to protest the filioque insertion, but their theological arguments against it are mostly weak. I think the current Western text of the Creed is muddy but not heretical.

@gmanfirmness @InHocSigno312 @JoshuaTCharles If you can't tell when something went bad, how can you tell if it was ever good - or what good is? You mentioned the East deviated less - how much less?

@VerbumCatholic @InHocSigno312 @JoshuaTCharles "What year did this happen?" Over the course of centuries.

@gmanfirmness @InHocSigno312 @JoshuaTCharles What year did this happen, and why?

@bryan_johnson Autoimmune diseases will be exponentially more common as we live longer. You have am opportunity to extend life truly, not by raising the ceiling but the floor.

The world wants me to die. My incurable disease diagnosis became global news. It was omnipresent on social media and 1,900 articles were written in a matter of days. Many were saddened. However, joy dominated the commentary. People pointed to schadenfreude, the pleasure of another's failure. Yes, there’s that. There is a special place in people’s hearts that loves to see others fail, especially when that person’s presence threatens their own psychological stability in some way or helps them feel better about themselves. But, if you look over the social media commentary about me, you’ll see that pattern: “he deserved it.” I deserved it because I challenged death. The crowd was running a deeply rooted psychological script that represents the oldest, most deeply embedded stories of human culture. This was the first story ever written down, 4,000 years ago. Gilgamesh sought eternal life after losing someone he loved, only to have the plant of youth stolen by a serpent as he bathed. Leaving him to accept his mortality. Asclepius became so skilled at rejuvenation that he raised the dead. As punishment, Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt to enforce life and death authority. This is the story of Jesus. Pontius Pilate offered a choice between a thief and the immortalist, and the crowd demanded the execution. People need this story conclusion to keep themselves sane. The challenger must lose and the loss must appear deserved. It’s a shield of self preservation. For if death is inevitable, their existence and that of their loved ones is justified and unavoidable. If death is not inevitable, nothing about their reality is safe. I occupy the same philosophical and archetypal position as Gilgamesh, Asclepius and Jesus. This statement will draw outrage and accusations of blasphemy, hubris and narcissism. Nevertheless, it’s the pattern that has repeated itself for thousands of years. Death has been the omnipresent concern of the human race. It encapsulates our greatest fears, joy and curiosities. The discourse around it changes over time; however, the fundamentals remain unchanged. What’s different about this moment, that is unlike any other moment, is that physical death may no longer be inevitable. What if I didn’t deserve it? And what if I am your ally, and not a threat?

@Aaronaeus Just the opposite.

They were also called Nestorians, Pelagians, Albigensians, etc.

@JamesDueck Nope

The early Church was the Catholic Church.

@InHocSigno312 @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles It very much was.

@gmanfirmness @VerbumCatholic @JoshuaTCharles The faith once for all delivered to the saints was not Classical Protestantism.

@CatholicDrip___ Catholics: come back to the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Christ founded a Church, not isolated believers. Christians have called the Catholic Church home for 2,000 years. Protestants……Come Home 💒💧

@Naffetstterrag @hardee_ty @TedJoy71 Papal infallibility, transubstantiation, the Immaculate Conception, Purgatory, the necessity of confessing sins to a priest, equating Scripture and Tradition. . .

@gmanfirmness @hardee_ty @TedJoy71 Something that you couldn't square with Catholic teaching.