You're entitled to your opinion. Thank goodness you are not my judge.You are on the wrong bus going in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, you will not realize that until it is to late.
Not quite. Simon the Pharisee in Luke 7:36-50 invited Jesus to his own home. And in Acts 15:5, some of the believers belonged to sect of Pharisees.The only Pharisee that showed some interest in Christ was Nikodemus.
Well, I AM Catholic. And I HAVE read Matthew 23 a number of times. Reading it doesn't influence me to renounce Catholicism, but it sure makes me think.If I was a Catholic, the 23rd chapter of Matthew would be all that I would need to renounce it.
Now, being Catholic, does that mean that I do everything the RCC says? Nope. Do I do everything my parish priests says/does? Again, nope. I may be Catholic Robert, but that doesn't mean that I'm some robot. Believe it or not, first and foremost, I consider myself to be Christian. I just happen to like certain aspects of Catholicism.
I like being able to walk into a church and seeing the Crucifix above the altar. It reminds me of why I'm there in the first place. I like seeing a statue of Mary off to the side. It reminds me of the humility she had, in order to accept her fate. Had God chosen *me* instead of Mary, would *I* have been so humble? Would *you* have been as humble as Joseph, her husband?
Sometimes, visual aids can have more of an impact on us than reading a book.
Pharisaism isn't a "religion."Pharisaism is the only religion in the Bible that resembles Catholicism. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said that the way to destruction was broad. It is broad because there are many on the way to hell.
And while Jesus DID say that the way to destruction was broad, as a Catholic, I don't claim to be on the narrow road...because of my Catholicism.
All I can do is HOPE. There is nothing in Catholicism that says, "If you do 'x,y and z' you ABSOLUTELY WILL go to heaven!"
Umm...no.