Five minutes ought to do it. Then you can become atheist if you wanna.

OK thanks, cool.

I'll be back in a bit, I got a hammer round here somewhere.

I think it's a bit like smoking. I'd really like to give it up, but I'd have to start first. It just doesn't seem worth it.

(December 27, 2014 at 12:14 pm)Stimbo Wrote: I think it's a bit like smoking. I'd really like to give it up, but I'd have to start first. It just doesn't seem worth it.

If you're going to quit something, why not something more pressing like Crack cocaine?

(December 27, 2014 at 12:14 pm)Stimbo Wrote: I think it's a bit like smoking. I'd really like to give it up, but I'd have to start first. It just doesn't seem worth it.

Real life you? Then I absolutely feel the same way.

Yep, real life me. Never had the need to quit smoking or drugs for precisely the reason I never needed to quit being a believer.

(December 27, 2014 at 9:10 am)pocaracas Wrote:

(December 26, 2014 at 12:45 pm)Lambert Wrote: Sorry Orthodox Christians? Pre-protestant Christians?

Orthodoxy is without paradox as that is what orthodox means . . . to say that they are not saved-sinner for sure.

Christian is without paradox as that is what Christian means = freedom from the law of slavery to sin.

That must have been a protestant Wiki, you think?

It's so nice that they split this thread up!

Orthodox christianity.
You seem confused as to what "orthodox" means... Here are a few dictionary entries.
Orthodox:
adjective
1. of, relating to, or conforming to the approved form of any doctrine, philosophy, ideology, etc.
2. of, relating to, or conforming to beliefs, attitudes, or modes of conduct that are generally approved.
3. customary or conventional, as a means or method; established.
4. sound or correct in opinion or doctrine, especially theological or religious doctrine.
5. conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early church.


So, I'd say it's following the pre-established order of things.
If their claim is true, then the orthodox are the ones who follow the true teachings of christ... or something along those lines.
While catholics follow the "building" initiated by Peter, the stone. A different interpretation of the "original" teachings of the one they called the christ... so they're also christians.


also...

Quote:The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This first ecumenical council was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.[5]

Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the nature of the Son of God and his relationship to God the Father,[3] the construction of the first part of the Creed of Nicaea, establishing uniform observance of the date of Easter,[6] and promulgation of early canon law.[4][7]

oh, the wiki is protestant... woe to the wiki!


Perhaps we can look into those CoE protestants:

Quote:Council of Nicaea, (325), the first ecumenical council of the Christian church, meeting in ancient Nicaea (now İznik, Tur.). It was called by the emperor Constantine I, an unbaptized catechumen, or neophyte, who presided over the opening session and took part in the discussions. He hoped a general council of the church would solve the problem created in the Eastern church by Arianism, a heresy first proposed by Arius of Alexandria that affirmed that Christ is not divine but a created being. Pope Sylvester I did not attend the council but was represented by legates.

Hi pocaracas, you are a good sport, and thank you for your reply.

My point was that a pair of opposites cannot be conceived to exist without the other and so it is not possible to be an atheist without denying to be a theist first.

And so then you can be a Catholic but you cannot be an acatholic without understanding what it means to be a Catholic. Of course you can be other than Catholic as generic protestant similar to those who walked away from the bread of life in John 6:66 as presented to them in John 6:56.

From here they gather and scatter in all directions such as Mennonites and Lutherites and Torkelites, Martenites and Grahamites all of whom claim to have seen a little 'lite' of sort and have been throwing stones ever since at those damn Catholics who built their Church on the rock of truth that therefore stands and will not fail for them.

That simply is true and must be true as Christ-with-us and remain the envy of them all, in perpetuity by those who are deprived in the privation that they see.

You bring up too many things here for me to respond to in one post. For one, it is not possible for a Christian to have faith and have the mind of Christ as Christian. That is just a paradox and cannot be true.

Then Christ never taught us anything because he left the scene soon after he was set free to go, either up or back to Galilee again and that is where we as Catholic do not want to go and are actually shielded from that destiny as Catholic.

And don't worry about my use of capitals. English is my second language and I use capitals for proper names.

Ok, and I was born in the South of Netherland where it likely still is against the law to put a wagon wheel on a post to attract a stork.

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(December 27, 2014 at 12:14 pm)Stimbo Wrote: I think it's a bit like smoking. I'd really like to give it up, but I'd have to start first. It just doesn't seem worth it.

Sure, and you can sure be anti-theism but that does not make you an atheist or an ex Buddhist would be one too.

But I'm not an anti-theist; I'm just not a theist. Hence a-theist. By the same token I'm not an anti-female simply because I happen to be male. You're ascribing to me positions I don't claim to hold. That's astonishingly dishonest.

And unnecessary. There must be plenty of nits to pick without challenging the label. All any atheist is saying is no, so far as I can tell, I don't believe in whatever it is you're calling gods.

(December 26, 2014 at 12:32 pm)Lambert Wrote: Oh sorry, but Catholics are Catholics and not Christian.

I have yet to get through this thread and this may already have been brought to your attention, but ...

Chris·tian noun \ˈkris-chən, ˈkrish-\
: a person who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ

And

the·ism noun \ˈthē-ˌi-zəm\
: the belief that God exists or that many gods exist
: belief in the existence of a god or gods; specifically : belief in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world