[Apologetics] Purgatory is key issue

[Bret Bellamy]

"for many Protestants and Eastern Orthodoxers, there is a lot of emotional investment in being anti-Catholic"

Ain't it the truth, Art!

-----Original Message-----
>From: Art Kelly <arthurkelly at yahoo.com>
>Sent: Apr 10, 2008 12:33 PM
>To: Apologetics Group <apologetics at gathman.org>, Jim Murphy <jmurf80 at bellsouth.net>
>Subject: Re: [Apologetics] Purgatory is key issue
>
>Karl Keating has mentioned that almost all of the
>Christian denominations consider Catholicism their #1
>rival.
>
>He thinks that is because they know that, if their own
>variation of Christianity is not valid, then it
>follows that the Catholic Church must be the true
>church established by Jesus for the salvation of the
>world.
>
>Hence, for many Protestants and Eastern Orthodoxers,
>there is a lot of emotional investment in being
>anti-Catholic.
>
>Art
>
>--- Bret Bellamy <bbellamy at mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>> "They really believe that "all Catholic doctrines
>> are unbiblical - even the ones I agree with". 
>> Pressing on the contradiction tends to make them
>> prefer heresy (God never disciplines true believers)
>> to admitting that they might agree with Catholics on
>> just a few points."
>> 
>> I've noticed the same things, even back when I was
>> still Anglican and on Dave Armstrong's old lise
>> serve some ten years ago.  That list serve had a mix
>> of Catholics, different Protestants and some Eastern
>> Orthodox (who were sadly so ugly that I turned off
>> crossing the Bosphorous as an option).  There were
>> cases where some (but not all) Protestant agreed
>> with a Catholic doctrine, but because it was
>> Catholic, they had all sorts of issues and hangups
>> about it.  
>> 
>> Bret
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> >From: "Stuart D. Gathman" <stuart at gathman.org>
>> >Sent: Apr 10, 2008 10:57 AM
>> >To: apologetics at gathman.org
>> >Subject: [Apologetics] Purgatory is key issue
>> >
>> >I think the purgatory issue is the key to ending
>> the Catholic and 
>> >Evangelical straw-man massacre.  Evangelicals will
>> repeat the doctrine of 
>> >purgatory over and over again in their own words,
>> but continue to denounce 
>> >the Catholic doctrine - even when presented with
>> the same vocabulary! 
>> >There really is a suspension of reason.  They could
>> reasonably claim that 
>> >I am mis-representing the Catholic position (and I
>> have gotten that on 
>> >occasion - those Catholics are tricky, they pretend
>> to use words in a 
>> >different way just to deceive you!).  But instead
>> there is a cognitive 
>> >dissonance with affirming a doctrine when
>> attributed to Evangelicals, but 
>> >denouncing the same doctrine with same words and
>> same scriptures when 
>> >attributed to Catholics.  Amazing.  They really
>> believe that "all Catholic 
>> >doctrines are unbiblical - even the ones I agree
>> with".  Pressing on the 
>> >contradiction tends to make them prefer heresy (God
>> never disciplines true 
>> >believers) to admitting that they might agree with
>> Catholics on just a few 
>> >points.
>> >
>> >Sugarman just hit me a slow high return just asking
>> for a slam dunk:
>> >"The bottom line is if no doctrine can be back up
>> by scripture then its 
>> >not true."  Boy could I have fun with that.  But
>> I'll restrain myself. 
>> >I'll just lament with the Professor in Narnia:
>> "Logic!  What do they teach 
>> >in schools these days?"  It may be that apologetics
>> is useless without an 
>> >introductory logic course first.  It may be better
>> to just quote a few 
>> >scriptures and leave it alone.
>> >
>> >-- 
>> > 	      Stuart D. Gathman <stuart at bmsi.com>
>> >Business Management Systems Inc.  Phone: 703
>> 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
>> >"Confutatis maledictis, flamis acribus addictis" -
>> background song for
>> >a Microsoft sponsored "Where do you want to go from
>> here?" commercial.
>> >_______________________________________________
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>
>
>ART KELLY, ATM-S
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