tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513199068907090344.post4786683569399036668..comments2024-03-26T16:24:34.218+00:00Comments on Meeting The Masters: The State of Sin and the State of GraceWilliam Wildbloodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13231219533755925897noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513199068907090344.post-22593630435289761562020-11-02T11:04:37.179+00:002020-11-02T11:04:37.179+00:00Yes, religion is fine as long as it doesn't ta...Yes, religion is fine as long as it doesn't take priority over anything.William Wildbloodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231219533755925897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513199068907090344.post-20234457834886935952020-11-02T03:36:00.906+00:002020-11-02T03:36:00.906+00:00I really enjoyed the phrasing of your first senten...I really enjoyed the phrasing of your first sentence. I think it describes what modern people refer to as "really religious", a term which I despise. Oh, you're super religious? As in you actually believe in God and try to live a Christian life? How dare you take the Bible that literally!David Earlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06090067437261800696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513199068907090344.post-85531636082039205042020-11-01T12:44:36.747+00:002020-11-01T12:44:36.747+00:00Exactly so. This is the whole problem with modern ...Exactly so. This is the whole problem with modern idea of welfare, that what should be a medicine in a few extreme cases has become a daily diet for many people. Jesus didn't go around multiplying loaves and fishes every day.William Wildbloodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231219533755925897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513199068907090344.post-74544572380694014092020-11-01T12:36:10.272+00:002020-11-01T12:36:10.272+00:00Once basic needs are met, we should probably be in...Once basic needs are met, we should probably be indifferent to our own material conditions and those of others. I am probably giving the word spiritual a broader meaning than you are, but a man should begin to seek beauty and truth as soon as he has scraped together a very few shekels. The Bible commands concern for the absolutely poor--widows, orphans, cripples--not for every dumb ass who has no money. And it certainly doesn't command us to lend a hand in the greedy status striving of people in the lower classes. Most churches have forgotten that charity is like medicine. Beyond a certain low dosage, more is not better. JMSmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14502377102987849260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513199068907090344.post-33070058445992838502020-10-29T17:53:44.120+00:002020-10-29T17:53:44.120+00:00Pre-Vatican II Catholics were taught that we are a...Pre-Vatican II Catholics were taught that we are all individually either in state of grace or a state of sin. Unfortunately, these states were too often defined in an external and legalistic manner rather than in a deeper spiritual sense. But people had generally an overarching awareness of their orientation and the actions that led them toward a state of sin. Confess, repent, make resolutions to amend, start again was the formula. An examination of conscience was considered a good daily practice. Now, to the extent that sin is considered by the Catholic and other mainstream churches, it is defined in terms of political correctness. We have environmental sins, racist sins, mask-flouting sins, etc. I wonder from what source young people might learn what sin really means? Not from the pope, certainly, nor from the archbishop of Canterbury or the orthodox patriarchs or the mainline Protestant denominations. The traditional line of transmission of spiritual knowledge appears to have been irreparably broken. Those who still recognize the distinction between sin and grace are seldom able to communicate to anyone else, or, if we attempt to do so, risk being regarded as feeble-minded or lunatic or colorfully quaint. We seem to have more in common with the Desert Fathers than with the churches that once formed our culture. edwin faustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513199068907090344.post-83448756881652092962020-10-29T10:42:40.317+00:002020-10-29T10:42:40.317+00:00"Is the task to make us happy in our state of..."Is the task to make us happy in our state of sin, as material beings? "<br /><br />That statement hit home - it reminded me of many years in which I was on the wrong path, and expended great effort in trying to be happy despite this - which (fortunately) did not work. Unhappiness is sometimes (not always) what we most need. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.com