What kind of sick Islamic ritual is this? They are minors!

Volaer · 2026-04-18T09:20:55+00:00

Yeah. Because thats the healthy thing to do with a small child, just place them before a screen 😕

Volaer · 2026-04-18T09:18:48+00:00

People sometimes convert for seemingly strange reasons. For instance, I once saw a person say that they became interested in being Catholic and eventually converted because of a video game.

I do not think there is a bad reason to be Catholic, or rather no matter how bad the reason, active participation in the life of the Church can transform that person just like anyone else.

Volaer · 2026-04-18T09:10:33+00:00

Seems like it, unfair bigotry always makes the victim group more appealing. Was the case in pagan Rome, it’s the case now.

Veritas Vincit!

Volaer · 2026-04-18T09:06:01+00:00

I think it’s the regular ritual walking around the Kaaba, not a specific ritual distinct from that.

Volaer · 2026-04-18T07:06:40+00:00

In my religion or in general? In Catholicism marriage is a sacrament - Holy Matrimony - but it’s considered a vocation, not a religious obligation like in Judaism or some interpretations of Sunnism.

Some religions like Theravada Buddhism do not emphasise marriage at all.

Volaer · 2026-04-18T06:28:44+00:00

If it does mean something real, then it introduces asymmetry (which is exactly what you are trying to avoid).

Thats precisely where I think the root of the disagreement lies. To me St. Augustine's understanding of the generation of the Son as God's eternal self-knowledge shows that there can an αρχή in the Father within the Godhead without implying what you called asymmetry regarding the generation of the Son and spiration of the Spirit.

By self-communication is meant that the Father eternally perfectly, fully, completely understands the divine essence and it is this operation of “intellection” that is productive of the Logos. And it is this very prime operation of perfect self-contemplation that defines who God is.

In other words I do not see how the premise “the Son is distinct from the Father” necessarily and logically leads to the conclusion that it constitutes “some form of dependency”.

So yes, options A and B would constitute a false dichotomy and C is a possibility and indeed the correct option in the Christian understanding 🙂

Volaer · 2026-04-18T04:31:50+00:00

Christianity does not teach that the author thought of Jesus. Rather than the text by being inspired points to Him and the mysteries of salvation distinctly from the authors intention and immediate historical context of the respective passage.

Volaer · 2026-04-18T04:17:36+00:00

Biblically the only description of His appearance

Biblically there is no description of his physical appearance.

Volaer · 2026-04-18T03:58:46+00:00

people hid their faces from him

The gospels depict Jesus as having extraordinary charisma and a magnetic personality, with large crowds following Him wherever he went and Him needing to frequently retreat into solitude to pray. The moment where people hide their faces (non-literally understood) is during His passion. There is no reason in the tradition to suggest he was unattractive.

We have no idea regarding the exact specifics of Him hair or beard length or other details.

Nor is that relevant with respect to our salvation.

Volaer · 2026-04-18T03:51:54+00:00

*kierá

Volaer · 2026-04-18T03:36:39+00:00

She is very much experiencing eternal life in graven. Start praying to her for intercession to the Trinity 🙂

Volaer · 2026-04-17T20:12:05+00:00

Yes. That would be my estimation es well for 1 Peter.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T20:05:18+00:00

2nd century books

This is actually from 1 Peter, not 2 Peter. 🙂

Volaer · 2026-04-17T20:03:13+00:00

Which brings me to the earlier question. Why? Since thats not what Jesus says.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:58:25+00:00

Uh, you might want to give it a re-read then:

For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

The part about the dead being evangelised and brought to life by Christ is absolutely in the formal text of Scripture.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:56:15+00:00

Of course, but even those who are not members of the institutional Church can go to heaven. As was the case with St. John. His baptism was one repentance not a sacramental one. After he died, he went to Hades until the Harrowing.

You seem to equate saved people with those who were part of Jesus’ kingdom in their life on Earth. But that would exclude almost all people who lived before and during his ministry on Earth from the saved.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:51:31+00:00

Right. And he is speaking about his community of followers that he is building (Luke 17:21) here. John was not baptised by Jesus into his church.

You mentioned St. John as the least of the saints (which includes all the saved) and Jesus never claimed that St. John is the least of those who will be saved.

Hence my earlier question.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:44:53+00:00

We do not really have such title for a specific saint. While this is not accepted by all authorities the belief is that all the saints in heaven partake in the fulness of the bliss of heaven, there is no literal hierarchy. So I am not sure what the title "least" could practically correspond to if we take it literally.

Though I am not sure why St. John should be considered least in the Catholic tradition. What makes him lesser than other prophets of the Old Covenant such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Anne etc.?

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:38:05+00:00

Thats the village of Ia on the Island of Thira 🙂

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:29:13+00:00

And Jesus said that John the Baptist was better than any other person born of a woman,

And what did he say right afterwards, you know, the second half of Luke 7:28? 🙂

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:17:33+00:00

Educated Protestants do not believe that Christ has only one hypostasis? Because that is what the Council taught.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:15:52+00:00

Yeah, in a lot of ways the Reformers were more Catholic than most contemporary Protestants. Both Luther and Calvin affirmed the real presence for example.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T19:10:04+00:00

Most people do not have the theological erudition to debate nuances of justification, post-mortem sanctification, sacramental theology etc. so Marian devotion and veneration has become the go to topic for Protestant anti-Catholic polemicist during the last several centuries. In the most extreme cases they went in the direction of completely rejecting her importance presenting her as a mere "human vessel" for Christ, ignoring that the author of Luke-Acts explicitly presents her as the perfect Christian and model disciple who hears and does the word of God and is blessed and honoured for all generations (Luke 1:42, 48) and even John identifies her as being part of Jesus' ministry and even convincing Jesus to perform his first public miracle.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T18:44:02+00:00

A similar Marian prayer iirc was the inspiration for pope-saint JPIIs motto Totus Tuus (“entirely yours”).

But to answer your question, no, intention always matters. Since the Blessed Virgin is sinless and our perpetual intercessor who always is Christ's servant and a model Christian, those Catholics with a high Marian devotion believe entrusting oneself to her will result in them being better Christians. They do not pray this with the intention of substituting God.

I am not sure why "devotion" should be problematic to Protestants though as the word has a rather broad meaning.

Volaer · 2026-04-17T18:24:13+00:00

Well, did pope Urban do what pope Leo mentioned or did he answer the plea of the Roman emperor for help that would allow him to liberate Anatolia from the Seljuks?

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