MikeLigalig.com

Quote from: hubag bohol on May 31, 2012, 02:57:14 PM



Mas lami ni nga klase...

wow, lami na jud.

a plane trip from chicago, illinois to newark, new jersey will cost me $300 (roughly around 13,200 pesos).

Quote from: LanggamTamsi2 on June 13, 2012, 02:23:40 PM
Atsara sa ato dong..papaya pickles ba.

ah okay, thanks for the clarification, Tita Sol.

Quote from: insurectus on June 14, 2012, 12:20:58 AM
excluding taxes, fuel, terminal fee og uban pa

pila man diay if all the feels are added on? if it is less than $100, then i'm okay with that!

He he he, ah, yes! I thought Charlize was hot in the movie. I couldn't help but have sympathy for her situation; she had a lot of intrapsychic tension in the movie. Troubled past, definitely...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_km0dOJAKHY#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwozQ7yf1WI#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfBsEUdEevU#ws

today is a good day to have investments in emerging markets, diay....

Quote from: chicogon on June 13, 2012, 12:30:35 PM
Ngek kani nuon maoy dato kay mamaligya ug gatas daghan ug halin,,, ang surplus imnon... then mang chicks kay himsog naman... kung way makit-an chick, aw, uso ra ba sa ila pod: balik sa kanding. Ooops!   

bwahahaha, in ader werds, "no money , then no honey..."

he he he, kuyaw kaayo noh? who was your favorite character in the movie, Father?

he he he german shepherd eh

wise kaayo ang bata!

Quote from: islander on June 12, 2012, 11:57:00 PM
hanggaw!  manimaho man sad tang kanding ani...

he he he mao ba, isles? in my honest opinion, canding is good when it is made into menudo or sugbahon ang karne.

Quote from: hubag bohol on June 12, 2012, 08:21:27 PM

cute lagi si inday.

Quote from: chicogon on June 03, 2012, 12:55:36 AM
Harvest For The Day: June 2, 2012



Sibuyas Dahon

he he he, lami ni i-sagol sa kinilaw, Father !

What is this?

lol ha ha ha ha! kinsa man ang GRO beh?

Yes she is

ha ha ha!

To believe in God alone

150 Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature.17

To believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God

151 For a Christian, believing in God cannot be separated from believing in the One he sent, his "beloved Son", in whom the Father is "well pleased"; God tells us to listen to him.18 The Lord himself said to his disciples: "Believe in God, believe also in me."19 We can believe in Jesus Christ because he is himself God, the Word made flesh: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known."20 Because he "has seen the Father", Jesus Christ is the only one who knows him and can reveal him.21

To believe in the Holy Spirit

152 One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without sharing in his Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to men who Jesus is. For "no one can say "Jesus is Lord", except by the Holy Spirit",22 who "searches everything, even the depths of God. . No one comprehends the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God."23 Only God knows God completely: we believe in the Holy Spirit because he is God.

The Church never ceases to proclaim her faith in one only God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I BELIEVE

I. The Obedience of Faith



144 To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to "hear or listen to") in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. the Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.

Abraham - "father of all who believe"

145 The Letter to the Hebrews, in its great eulogy of the faith of Israel's ancestors, lays special emphasis on Abraham's faith: "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go."4 By faith, he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in the promised land.5 By faith, Sarah was given to conceive the son of the promise. and by faith Abraham offered his only son in sacrifice.6

146 Abraham thus fulfils the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen":7 "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."8 Because he was "strong in his faith", Abraham became the "father of all who believe".9

147 The Old Testament is rich in witnesses to this faith. the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims its eulogy of the exemplary faith of the ancestors who "received divine approval".10 Yet "God had foreseen something better for us": the grace of believing in his Son Jesus, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith".11

Mary - "Blessed is she who believed"

148 The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that "with God nothing will be impossible" and so giving her assent: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word."12 Elizabeth greeted her: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."13 It is for this faith that all generations have called Mary blessed.14

149 Throughout her life and until her last ordeal15 when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary's faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfilment of God's word. and so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith.

I. Christ - The Unique Word of Sacred Scripture

101 In order to reveal himself to men, in the condescension of his goodness God speaks to them in human words: "Indeed the words of God, expressed in the words of men, are in every way like human language, just as the Word of the eternal Father, when he took on himself the flesh of human weakness, became like men."

102 Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely:64

You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for he is not subject to time.

103 For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body.66

104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, "but as what it really is, the word of God".67 "In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them."68

She was very 'hot' in Prometheus and also in Snow White.

ha ha ha! na gutom sigoro ang iring.

dili pod, cute meets persuasive businessman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfH2BY5pdLw#ws

Tsk tsk ts! Bali si Mistir, what goes around comes around man diay.

ha ha ha! black vs white diay.

Is she pinay ? She looks Latina / Spanish.

lazy sunday or a fishy sunday?

kuyawa pod...

Very compelling raba si Sir Way Nada, og very cute pod si Isles.

Environmentalism meets Capitalism   

Quote from: chicogon on June 12, 2012, 02:01:40 PM
Predictable sad kaayo life of an American: work, work, work, vacation, spending-spree... then back to reality: work, work, work... vacation na pod hehehehe. Maayo na lang kay naay work ug naay opportunities. In between though... lami pa sa Pilipinas: chika, chika, bahal-bahal, chika, chika, ligog dagat, pyesta dire, oyesta didto, chika, chika, hubog, bwahahaha!!!   Mao ni kinabuhi, pre, hayahay!!! Bisag gamay o jamoy kwarta 

bwahahahaha! you forgot the fun times sa bojol grill og sa karaoke bar sa sulud.

Quote from: islander on June 12, 2012, 09:38:45 AM

i now baptize you... brad pitt.

he he he, cute bitaw ni siya. lami kusion!

Quote from: islander on June 12, 2012, 12:52:40 PM
beauty treatment na, morag sideline ug medical doctor tingali...

hahahaha! in that case, hilig diay ning iroa sa manicure og pedicure pod eh?

Quote from: chicogon on June 12, 2012, 01:49:23 PM
Quote me on this: I buried more people who died of clinical depression in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina than as a direct result of the hurricane/flood itself 

truly, it is understandable. hurricane katrina was devastating. the stress level placed on the elderly or those with immunodeficient states would cause them to be extremely vulnerable .

the thing is, clinical depression is really a disease. it's quite interesting that in the philippines, or people in the philippines don't really like to talk about depression as its bears some kind of negative connotation. people usually refer to people with said condition as "na bu-ang na shya...", but in the united states, there is a more liberal understanding of the condition. and as what Father R said, he buried a lot of people who died because of clinical depression. Clinical depression affects one's mood, can cause stress, which influences cardiovascular health and can increase a patient's disposition towards coronary artery disease, infarction, and a poor quality of life, which in turn reduces the life expectancy.

i admit that i do not know much about barang , except form your postings on the subject, isles. thanks for sharing information on this tho. i always learn something new here.

he he he mo tuo lang ta ang Power sa Ginoong Hesu Kristo who is Supreme,  who makes the concept of 'barang' absolutely insignificant.

i also believe there is nothing wrong with environmentalism, one must take care to maintain the health of the ecology of one's nation. the absence of government's policy in protecting environment will lead to unregulated eutrophication of rivers, streams and kettle lakes.

one example of eutrophication as a result of a lack of governmental interest in environmental health is in china. the rivers and lakes of china have experienced devastating eutrophication because of the unregulation of industrial companies who merely dump waste onto rivers, streams, and lakes. one specific example is Lake Tai, Dianchi Lake.

it's actually quite sad when government adopts a purely capitalistic policy without any environmental policy. i believe there should be a balance; its all about maintaining the homeostasis of : 1) the nation's economy and 2) the nation's natural environment.


Lake Dianchi in Kunming, China. EUTROPHICATION.

Quote from: islander on June 12, 2012, 12:23:47 PM

'Just relax and clear your mind'

da kuyawa ! gi panuhot diay ning iroa?

Quote from: chicogon on June 12, 2012, 12:15:23 PM
Hmmm, kung businessman pako ako man gyong ibaligya ang perlas ba... 

ay sus, ka priestly gajod nimo uy!  you're just simply a very priestly kind of man, Father. R.    

Quote from: islander on June 12, 2012, 11:32:58 AM
not depression in the u.s. sense.  remember that devastating typhoon that flooded manila?  u.s. soldiers who were around to help were struck over how people went about retrieving what was left of their lives, smiling.  had this been in the u.s., the stress would have been unbearable with people complaining just about anything (i can't quote directly, but the sense is there... it would take me ages to retrieve the exact quote).  in adversity, the heroes in us come out.  those words are not mine either.

yes, isles, an example of the latter was hurricane katrina. as for the filipino's ability to bear hardships with a smile, it is because the pinoys are probably used to an environment where need is common theme. poverty is quite common in the philippines, and the people have developed almost a tolerance , an increased threshold to such instances. in the united states, however, if walay kwarta, if walay trabaho, dali ra mo depend ni uncle sammy kai tagaan ra'g unemployment / welfare checks og food stamps. sa pilipinas itawn, the concept of a federally mandated welfare system does not exist in the sense that it exists in the united states.

Quote from: islander on June 12, 2012, 11:18:13 AM
so, lorenz, was this frivolous spending a leftist ideology imposed by a leftist president?  or is this one more showcase of american spending spree? 

actually, the environmentalism seen in california was not because of obama, but because of the policies enacted by past presidents such as bush sr, clinton, and even bush jr. the total and complete blame should not be placed on obama, who actually inherited a devastated american economy.

you're right tho, isles, american overconsumerism is a pivotoral reason for the financial catastrophe of '08; one contributing factor were the sub prime mortgages on homes, the uncontrolled loaning to home-owners, as well as student loans. the problem was that there was a lack of regulation. when the economy tanked, considering how the US economy is linked with the global economy, the waves was felt worldwide.

i believe that we are learning from our mistakes ; a better fiscal policy should be enacted if the united states wishes to evade similar incidents later on. but only time will tell.

Quote from: statesville on June 12, 2012, 10:29:35 AM
Lisod gyud kon ang sweldo kuwang pa ibayad sa utang, overdraft pirme, paet ang life labi na sa bayan kon sinilangan 

lisod gajod bitaw ug ing ana ang life sa tawo, pero, mao gajod na mag trabaho ang tawo so if naa shya sa anang situwasyon, work hard gajod so mo gawas sa anang situwasyon. the proverbial saying holds true gajod, "becareful what you sow today, because you will reap it tomorrow...make sure to sow hard work, so you will reap success' rewards."

Quote from: chicogon on June 10, 2012, 01:47:28 PM
... and that's the other part of me that keeps wishing Philippine stays the same - progressive but not progressive enough like the U.S.A. or other first world countries - because I want us to keep our sanity to a safe level. Progress has its price!!! 80-90 % of our people (no academic evidence though) don't even have a clue what I'm insinuating about. Too na alng god aron madali, bwahahaha!!! 

he he he he! truly, there is beauty in simplicity. in simplicity, there is perfection. the moment one becomes complex, dali ra kaayo ma apektahan ang tawo og ang processes. mao na daghan kaayo ang level of depression sa industrialized nations. sa america, itawn, daghan kaayo mga patyente nga gi suffer of clinical depression! i would like to compare the depression levels of first world countries to that of developing countries; a quantitative and qualitative analysis would be good , actually.

depression-associated with over work is usually common theme sa mga patients nako. i wonder if depression is even as common in the philippines as it is here in the u.s.a.

Quote from: islander on June 12, 2012, 09:16:09 AM
this predictable filipino life is just as american.  i mean, aren't credit cards gateways to debts?

yes they are, isles. the phenomenon that pinoys back in the fatherland have to endure in order to survive is the same for the americans here. trust me, not all americans are "rich", a lot of them have to work hard, and i mean work really hard to survive in this country.

i'm talking about some people who work 6 days a week, and even do side jobs just in order to make the bills on time. dili gajod tinuod nga kai naa ang tawo diri immediately datu na sila. dili intawn. there are americans who are without jobs because of the economy. it is estimated that 8% of the american population are without jobs. that's some 24-25 million people, out of the 310 million american population.

poverty is a universal phenomenon, and so is the need to work to survive. be it in zimbabwe, india, philippines, or even Sweden. the most important thing is for us not to hold bias towards those who are in poverty, or suffering from poverty. kai luoy baya intawn ang mga tawo nga gi affektahan sa aning situwasyon.

Quote from: islander on June 12, 2012, 09:10:26 AM
lami tuod asinan ug himoong ginamos ang atong balimbing politicians.

bwahahaha! pariho ni renato corona...

Quote from: Way Nada on June 10, 2012, 10:26:34 AM
Islander says:

[in 2010, yes, along with 29 other states, according to one data.  we all know the role of wall street in the world of finance.  well, wall st. isn't exactly leftist, huh?

Deleted..............]

Reply:

Walay "role" ang wall street sa akong boot pasabot. Imo mang gikutlo "out of context" ang akong gisulti. Ug di gani wa lang jud masabti ang ahong gisuwat. Mao ni ahong gisuwat;

"This is also the reason why California, New York, Ohio and other American states are bankrupt because of the leftist union in America. Wisconsin is trying to recover through the reform programs of Gov. Scott Walker."

Kana ako nang gisuwat dugtong mahitungod sa mga leftist nga ang gusto i-bangkarote ang mga negosyo.

Ang akong boot pasabot sa akong gisuwat ug pananglitan ang California ug nganong na-bangkarote? Tungod sa sobra ng abuso sa "government union" sa ilang "entitlement" nga dili na sayon ihatag ang ilang entitlement tungod sa kataas. Niadtong nagpakanaog ang gobierno ug mga balaod aron buhisan ang mga kapitalista wa sila [kapitalista] mosugot nga taasan ang ilang buhis mao kining mga kapitalista sa California nanglayas ngadto sa Texas, Florida, South Carolina ug sa uban pang mga estado diin sila maka negosyo nga gamay ra ang bayronon sa buhis. Mao na nga na-bangkarote karon ang California.

Sir,

You're very accurate in regards to the situation in the states, especially that of California. One of the problems with states with liberal policies and liberal fiscal policies is that the priority is put in social services sector while not accounting for or the provisions in government to pay for said services. These past 2 years, the State of California had to actually cut down teaching positions in the state, as well as closing some mental health facilities because of the pragmatism as well as the inefficiency of the state to handle the indebtedness of the state.

While I am in no ways against social services sector, per say, especially human services profession, however, I believe that there should be a responsibility within the government to monitor the expenditure in regards to the state's income, accounting for GDP of the state. There should be a balanced view of environmentalism as well as human services agencies, but all within the ability for the state to afford said programs.

Going "all out" and spending frivolously in environmentalism as well as human services sector as what the State of California had done in years past was the catalyst for the situation the state was placed in during the 2008-2011 years. I would also say that the same phenomena is occurring in other states in the mainland.

Sir Way Nada as well as Ms. Isles present very valid points and present to the table the two sides of the coin in regards to this issue regarding the Panglao Reclamation Project. We all value the intelligence and the maturity in their postings, as well as the beauty of intellectual discourse that they present for us all to share in. Let's all continue to share in the topic and respect differences in opinion. Thanks, guys.

Ning joke back pod ko ni Scott, "I'm sure, Scott you enjoyed your time in the Philippines. Now, please don't tell me you went to the GRO bars when you were there, eh? I hope you used protection."

Ning katawa raba si Scott, "Oh, Doc, come on! I was young back then."

yataps !

i have a friend at the hospital, who is an E.R technician who used to serve in the US Navy for 18 years. The guy's name is Scott. Anyways, one time we were talking about his experience in the US Navy and he was talking about his experiences as a Naval Corpman when he was stationed in Subic Bay. He mentioned one time when the platoon that he was with was forced to march 10 miles in full military gear in the heat of the Philippine Jungles. He remembered these old Filipina women who would follow them and sell iced water to the US soldiers. They were amazed at how these old ladies could keep up pace with the soldiers. The soldiers bought everything the ladies were selling and gave them tips. But my friend Scott told me how amazed he was how hard working these ladies were just to sell some ice water. lol.

Scott said to me, "You see, Doc, that's how hard working and resilient those Philippine gals are!" ha ha ha!

a plane trip for less than $ 20? wow!

what is the difference when a person says, "pwera bujag" and "pwera gaba" ?

ha ha ha! pwera bujag!

Quote from: hubag bohol on June 10, 2012, 08:09:02 AM
Daghan ang naay trabaho, can live decently, pero ang nakaparat kay di mao ang gigastohan...

mao gayod na. lisod lagi kaayo og mo kubut ta sa kwarta og hilig ang tawo mo gastogasto.

Quote from: cujo on June 12, 2012, 03:45:05 AM
Yeah ! I think so too.Regards.

Regards to you too, Cujo!

It's so hot today. I just got back from duty, and trying to organize everything in my scheduler so that all is well this week. I'm also planning everything so that I have at least 5 days off on the end of June. I'm excited because my family is coming to visit me here in Chicago. My mom, dad, brothers Don and Andre as well as our doggies, Kaiser and Pippa, will be driving from New Jersey to Illinois this June. I'm so excited to see them. He he he, mingaw mingaw na ko ni mommy og ni daddy . As for my baby bros, i'm planning to give them a tour around downtown Chicago. Hapit na raba ang birthday sa ahong youngest brother, si Andre. So , am trying to shop for his b-day presents.

Happy Independence Day, Philippines ! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas ! 

In the Republic of the Philippines, Independence Day (Filipino: Araw ng Kasarinlán; also Araw ng Kalayaan, lit. "Day of Freedom") is an annual national holiday observed on 12 June, commemorating the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain on 12 June 1898. It is the country's National Day.

source: wikipedia

i love starfruit. lami na i sagul og salt.

The Holy Spirit is the Giver of this peace, and He dispenses it as a gift. Galatians 5:22 says one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is peace. You might ask, if it was Christ's peace, why is the Holy Spirit giving it? The answer is in John 16:14, which says, "He will glorify Me; for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you." The Holy Spirit's ministry is to take the things of Christ and give them us.

Notice that every promise Jesus made to His troubled disciples on the night before His death was rooted in the coming of the Holy Spirit. Christ promised life, union with deity, full understanding, and peace to those who are His disciples, but it is the Spirit of God who takes the things of Christ and gives them to us.

The New Testament speaks of two kinds of peace--the objective peace that has to do with your relationship to God, and the subjective peace that has to do with your experience in life.

The natural man lacks peace with God. We all come into the world fighting against God, because we are a part of the rebellion that started with Adam and Eve. Romans 5:10 says we were enemies of God. We fought against God, and everything we did militated against His principles.

But when we receive Jesus Christ, we cease being enemies of God--we make a truce with Him. We come over to His side, and the hostility is ended. Jesus Christ wrote the treaty with the blood of His cross. That treaty, that bond, that covenant of peace declares the objective fact that we now are at peace with Him.

That's what Paul means in Ephesians 6:15, when he calls the good news of salvation "the preparation of the gospel of peace." The gospel is that which makes a man who was at war with God to be at peace with Him. This peace is objective--that is, it has nothing to do with how we feel or what we think. It is an accomplished fact.

Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God." We who trust Christ are redeemed and declared righteous by faith. Our sins are forgiven, rebellion ceases, the war is over, and we have peace with God. That was God's wonderful purpose in salvation.

Colossians 1:20-22 says that Christ "made peace through the blood of His cross.... And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach."

A sinful, vile, wicked person cannot come into the presence of a holy God. Something must make that unholy person righteous before he can be at peace with God. And that's exactly what Christ did, dying for sin, imputing His righteousness to sinners. So Paul says we are no longer enemies but are at peace because we are reconciled.

It is as if God were on one side, we were on the other side, then Christ filled the gap, taking the hand of God and the hand of man and placing them together into the same grip. We have now been brought together through the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ.

Whereas God and man were once estranged, they have now been reconciled. That is the heart of the gospel message, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19. But Jesus is not talking about objective peace in John 14:27. The peace He speaks of here is a subjective, experiential peace. It is tranquility of the soul, a settled, positive peace that affects the circumstances of life. It is peace that is aggressive; rather than being victimized by events, it attacks them and gobbles them up. It is a supernatural, permanent, positive, no-side-effects, divine tranquilizer. This peace is the heart's calm after Calvary's storm. It is the firm conviction that He who spared not His own Son will also along with Him freely give us all things (cf. Romans 8:32).

This is the peace that Paul speaks about in Philippians 4:7: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." The peace of God is not based on circumstances like the world's peace, so it doesn't always make sense to the carnal mind; Paul says it is a peace that surpasses comprehension. It doesn't seem reasonable that such peace could exist in the midst of the problems and troubles Christians go through. But this is divine, supernatural peace; it cannot be figured out on a human level.

The word for "guard" in Philippians 4:7 is not the word that means to "watch," or "keep imprisoned." It is a word that is often used in a military sense, meaning "to stand at a post and guard against the aggression of an enemy." When peace is on guard, the Christian has entered an impregnable citadel from which nothing can dislodge him. The name of the fortress is Christ, and the guard is peace. The peace of God stands guard and keeps worry from the corroding our hearts, and unworthy thoughts from tearing up our minds.

This is the kind of peace men really want: They want a peace that deals with the past, one where no strings of conscience dipped in the poison of past sins tear at them and torture them hour by hour. They want a peace that governs the present, with no unsatisfied desires gnawing at their hearts. They want a peace that holds promise for the future, where no foreboding fear of the unknown and dark tomorrow threatens them. And that is exactly the peace through which the guilt of the past is forgiven; by which the trials of the present are overcome; and in which our destiny in the future is secured eternally.


http://www.gty.org/resources/positions/P21/the-gift-of-peace

No idea is more politically incorrect among today's new-style evangelicals than the old fundamentalist notion that truth is worth fighting for--including the essential propositions of Christian doctrine. In fact, many believe that arguments over religious beliefs are the most pointless and arrogant of all conflicts. That can be true--and is true in cases where human opinions are the only thing at stake. But where God's Word speaks clearly, we have a duty to obey, defend, and proclaim the truth He has given us, and we should do that with an authority that reflects our conviction that God has spoken with clarity and finality. This is particularly curcial in contexts where cardinal doctrines of biblical Christianity are under attack.

Incidentally, the core truths of Scripture are always under attack. Scripture itself clearly teaches that the main battleground where Satan wages his cosmic struggle against God is ideological. In other words, the spiritual warfare every Christian is engaged in is first of all a conflict between truth and error, not merely a competition between good and wicked deeds. The chief aim of Satan's strategy is to confuse, deny, and corrupt the truth with as much fallacy as possible, and that means the battle for truth is very serious. Being able to distinguish between sound doctrine and error should be one of the highest priorities for every Christian--as should defending the truth against false teaching.

Take such a stand today, however, and you will be scolded by a cacophony of voices telling you that you are out of line and you need to be quiet. The "war" metaphor simply doesn't work in a postmodern culture, they insist. Postmodern epistemologies start and end with the presupposition that any question of what's true or false is merely academic. Our differences are ultimately trivial. Only the tone of our discussion is not trivial. Every hint of militancy is considered inappropriate in these sophisticated times.

Taking a stand for the truth was equally unpopular in the first century. But that didn't stop the apostles from confronting error head on.

Take the apostle Paul for example. Paul was certainly fair with his opponents in the sense that he never misrepresented what they taught or told lies about them. But Paul plainly recognized their errors for what they were and labeled them appropriately. He spoke the truth. In his everyday teaching style, Paul spoke the truth gently and with the patience of a tender father. But when circumstances warranted a stronger type of candor, Paul could speak very bluntly--sometimes even with raw sarcasm (1 Corinthians 4:8-10). Like Elijah (1 Kings 18:27), John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7-10), and even Jesus (Matthew 23:24), he could also employ derision effectively and appropriately, to highlight the ridiculousness of serious error (Galatians 5:12). He was a sacred-cow tipper in the mold of Moses or Nehemiah.

Paul didn't seem to suffer from the same overscrupulous angst that causes so many people today to whitewash every error as much as language permits; to grant even the grossest of false teachers the benefit of every doubt;and to impute the best possible intentions even to the rankest of heretics. The apostle's idea of "gentleness" was not the sort of faux benevolence and artificial politeness people today sometimes think is the true essence of charity. We never once see him inviting false teachers or casual dabblers in religious error to dialogue, nor did he approve of that strategy even when someone of Peter's stature succumbed to the fear of what others might think and showed undue deference to false teachers (Galatians 2:11-14).

Paul understood that truth is worth fighting for. He stood for the truth even when it was unpopular to do so.

http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/A383

Forgive me all if I digress from the topic question, however, I would like to make another point that is rather unique in medicine. In medicine, as a medical clinician, we are trained in ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) procedure. ACLS procedure is that if a patient undergoes a code blue (the patient experiences syncope, and the EKG monitor reveals a lack of a regular sinus rhythm and that of a ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, or asystole) the following procedures are supposed to be initiated immediately:


1. Prepare the patient so that there are central, or peripheral IV lines available
2. administer a bolus of EPINEPHRINE , which will excite the myocardiocytes
3. administer DEFIBRILLATION , and a 5 cycles of CPR
4. observe the EKG machine if regular sinus is recovered

5. If not, continue the procedure for 5-10 minutes.
6. Consider ceasing resuscitative efforts after 10 minutes.



----

I have been in the ER floor assisting in the treating of a patient who coded on us. The team proceded with proper ACLS procedure and after 10 minutes of trial, the attending M.D decided to stop procedure and call the time of death. Myself and another medical intern protested and asked if we could continue on for another 2 cycles. He agreed. Yet he did not expect any positive results because the theory was that after 5 minutes of no heart activity, patient is going to be brain dead because after 5 minutes without oxygenated blood to the brain, the brain starts to undergoe necrosis.

After 3 cycles, the patient was revived. I remember it because I remember shouting, "Clear". On that last cycle, his ekg monitor showed a beautiful revival of sinus rhythm. I almost cried when I saw the p wave, qrs complex, and the t-wave.

We revived that man after almost 13 minutes of procedure. Had we not asked for more time, he would have been dead. It goes to show you that nothing is ever sure.

It's interesting how limited man's understanding of the cosmos, and how 'unsure' we really are. In the field of medicine, there are also some concepts that physicians term as "idiopathic" , which means "of unknown origin, reason". An example would be that every human embryo's embryonc heart begins to beat at the end of the 4th week of conception. As a physician, I and my colleagues were "taught" that the heart begins forming immediately after conception , and that the heart begins to beat at the end of the 4th week , yet, we do not know why this happens. We know the dates when it begins to beat, what the vital signs are and the specific enzymes that are used to analyze proper development, however, we do not know WHY, the heart begins to beat at the end of 4th week. It is just termed "idiopathic".


the heart begins to beat in this 5 week old embryo

It really is amazing how uncertain we really are, even in the scientific community and medical community, on supposed scientific truth. And what you say, Bai Hubag, is very true to the core. I believe that man, in all of his abilities, will never really completely understand everything there is to know.

In theory, and in paper, quantum mechanics exists and is true; in theory and in paper, theory of general relativity holds true, however, these two theories do not compliment each other in paper. Yet, in the natural world, they do. But we cannot explain how they do. Isn't it amazing? Even to this day, astrophysicists, and nuclear physicists are incapable of explaining how it works.

Quote from: Lorenzo on June 11, 2012, 04:20:46 PM
Q: How/Why are Quantum Mechanics and Relativity incompatible?


Physicist: Quantum Mechanics (QM) and relativity are both 100% accurate, so far as we have been able to measure (and our measurements are really, really good).  The incompatibility shows up when both QM effects and relativistic effects are large enough to be detected and then disagree.

Relativity comes in two flavors: special and general.  Special relativity describes how time and distance are affected by movement (especially fast movement), and it replaces Newtonian mechanics, which is only accurate at low speeds.  Einstein came up with it by looking at the mathematical repercussions of the fact that all of physics works the same way, independent of movement (constant speed is the same as no speed).  Special relativity has been exhaustively tested (relativistic effects have been verified all the way down to walking speed), and works so perfectly that it is now held up as the yardstick against which all new theories are tested.  In fact, QM would make grossly inaccurate predictions if Dirac hadn’t shown up and tied QM together with special relativity to create “relativistic QM”.

General relativity, on the other hand, describes the stretching and bending of space and time by gravity.  Einstein came up with it when he thought about what the universe would be like if inertial and gravitational acceleration were the same (turns out they are).  By the way: gravitational acceleration is what pushes you toward the ground, and inertial acceleration is what pushes you back into the car seat when you step on the gas.  It’s general relativity that causes the problems.  Here’s two (of a possible untold many):

1) Smooth vs. Chunky: General relativity needs space to be “smooth”, or at the very least continuous.  So if you have two points side by side, then no matter how close you bring them together you can still tell which one is on the right or left.  Quantum mechanically you have to deal with position uncertainty.  At very small scales you can’t tell which is right or left.  In addition (as the name implies) QM requires everything to be “quantized”, or show up in discrete pieces.  You see this clearly with atoms, photons, and even phonons (which is quantized sound!  How awesome is that!?).  Less clear is the quantization of space, which would require space to be “chopped up”.  This choppiness will never be directly measured.  The predicted “chunky scale” should be no large than 10-35 m.  For comparison, a hydrogen atom is about a million, million, million, million times larger (10-24).

2) The Information Paradox: According to general relativity when stuff falls into a blackhole everything about it’s existence (with the exception of mass, charge, and momentum) is completely erased.  That doesn’t sound so bad.  We tend to think of blackholes as being like galactic garbage disposals.  However, if all the information about something is destroyed, then you lose time-reversibility.  Time-reversal is the idea that if you run time backwards, all the basic physical laws of the universe continue to work the same.  More obscurely, you can predict the future based on what you know now, and time reversal means that you can derive what happened in the past as well.  QM requires that time-reversibility (or “unitarity”, to a professional) holds.  So QM requires that blackholes cannot destroy information.  One way around this is amazingly complicated entanglement between all of the in-falling matter, and all of the Hawking Radiation that comes out later.  Again, we’ll never be able to measure this.  To get results we would have to exactly measure at least half of all of the photons generated by Hawking radiation over the essentially infinite life time of the blackhole (every blackhole that exists today will be around long, long after the heat death of the universe).



http://www.askamathematician.com/2009/12/q-howwhy-are-quantum-mechanics-and-relativity-incompatible/

It is impossible to find it, because, black holes apparently exist in a particular state where there is infinite growth and infinite beginning, yet at the same time, does not exist in the sense of universal disposition. It is a physicist's nightmare, and it also destroys Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Even new theories such as quantum chromodynamics cannot explain it! It cannot be proven to exist, yet it does exist. How is that? Science cannot explain it, and all of the 'great' theories, including TGR (Theory of General Relativity) does not even hold true in regards to Black Holes. Interesting eh?

Q: How/Why are Quantum Mechanics and Relativity incompatible?


Physicist: Quantum Mechanics (QM) and relativity are both 100% accurate, so far as we have been able to measure (and our measurements are really, really good).  The incompatibility shows up when both QM effects and relativistic effects are large enough to be detected and then disagree.

Relativity comes in two flavors: special and general.  Special relativity describes how time and distance are affected by movement (especially fast movement), and it replaces Newtonian mechanics, which is only accurate at low speeds.  Einstein came up with it by looking at the mathematical repercussions of the fact that all of physics works the same way, independent of movement (constant speed is the same as no speed).  Special relativity has been exhaustively tested (relativistic effects have been verified all the way down to walking speed), and works so perfectly that it is now held up as the yardstick against which all new theories are tested.  In fact, QM would make grossly inaccurate predictions if Dirac hadn’t shown up and tied QM together with special relativity to create “relativistic QM”.

General relativity, on the other hand, describes the stretching and bending of space and time by gravity.  Einstein came up with it when he thought about what the universe would be like if inertial and gravitational acceleration were the same (turns out they are).  By the way: gravitational acceleration is what pushes you toward the ground, and inertial acceleration is what pushes you back into the car seat when you step on the gas.  It’s general relativity that causes the problems.  Here’s two (of a possible untold many):

1) Smooth vs. Chunky: General relativity needs space to be “smooth”, or at the very least continuous.  So if you have two points side by side, then no matter how close you bring them together you can still tell which one is on the right or left.  Quantum mechanically you have to deal with position uncertainty.  At very small scales you can’t tell which is right or left.  In addition (as the name implies) QM requires everything to be “quantized”, or show up in discrete pieces.  You see this clearly with atoms, photons, and even phonons (which is quantized sound!  How awesome is that!?).  Less clear is the quantization of space, which would require space to be “chopped up”.  This choppiness will never be directly measured.  The predicted “chunky scale” should be no large than 10-35 m.  For comparison, a hydrogen atom is about a million, million, million, million times larger (10-24).

2) The Information Paradox: According to general relativity when stuff falls into a blackhole everything about it’s existence (with the exception of mass, charge, and momentum) is completely erased.  That doesn’t sound so bad.  We tend to think of blackholes as being like galactic garbage disposals.  However, if all the information about something is destroyed, then you lose time-reversibility.  Time-reversal is the idea that if you run time backwards, all the basic physical laws of the universe continue to work the same.  More obscurely, you can predict the future based on what you know now, and time reversal means that you can derive what happened in the past as well.  QM requires that time-reversibility (or “unitarity”, to a professional) holds.  So QM requires that blackholes cannot destroy information.  One way around this is amazingly complicated entanglement between all of the in-falling matter, and all of the Hawking Radiation that comes out later.  Again, we’ll never be able to measure this.  To get results we would have to exactly measure at least half of all of the photons generated by Hawking radiation over the essentially infinite life time of the blackhole (every blackhole that exists today will be around long, long after the heat death of the universe).



http://www.askamathematician.com/2009/12/q-howwhy-are-quantum-mechanics-and-relativity-incompatible/

III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith




The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church

84 The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei),45 contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practising and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful."46

The Magisterium of the Church

85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."47 This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.

86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."48

87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me",49 The faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.

The dogmas of the faith

88 The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes in a definitive way truths having a necessary connection with them.

89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.50

90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ.51 "In Catholic doctrine there exists an order or hierarchy 234 of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith."52

The supernatural sense of faith

91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them53 and guides them into all truth.54

92 "The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals."55

93 "By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),. . . receives. . . the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. . . the People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life."56

Growth in understanding the faith

94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life of the Church:
- "through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts";57 it is in particular "theological research [which] deepens knowledge of revealed truth".58
- "from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which [believers] experience",59 The sacred Scriptures "grow with the one who reads them."60
- "from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth".61

95 "It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls."62

II. The Relationship Between Tradition and Sacred Scripture



One common source. . .

80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."40 Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".41

. . . two distinct modes of transmission

81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."42

"and [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."43

82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."44

Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions

83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. the first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.

Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.

I. The Apostolic Tradition

75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."32

In the apostolic preaching. . .

76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";33
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".34

. . . continued in apostolic succession

77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."35 Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."36

78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes."37 "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."38

79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. and the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness."39

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATRBBeB184#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj4DocgaR4I#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWy3lUX6azU#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9-0lztsHhk#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvlKYCah0S8#ws

An awesome explanation by Mr. Jim Akin , who discusses Greek Philosophy and the Church Fathers. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF5NYPENhp4#ws

III. Christ Jesus -- "Mediator and Fullness of All Revelation"




God has said everything in his Word

65 "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son."26 Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.27

There will be no further Revelation

66 "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."28 Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfilment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".

II. The Stages of Revelation


In the beginning God makes himself known

54 "God, who creates and conserves all things by his Word, provides men with constant evidence of himself in created realities. and furthermore, wishing to open up the way to heavenly salvation - he manifested himself to our first parents from the very beginning."6 He invited them to intimate communion with himself and clothed them with resplendent grace and justice.

55 This revelation was not broken off by our first parents' sin. "After the fall, (God) buoyed them up with the hope of salvation, by promising redemption; and he has never ceased to show his solicitude for the human race. For he wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by patience in well-doing."7

Even when he disobeyed you and lost your friendship you did not abandon him to the power of death. . . Again and again you offered a covenant to man.8

The covenant with Noah

56 After the unity of the human race was shattered by sin God at once sought to save humanity part by part. the covenant with Noah after the flood gives expression to the principle of the divine economy toward the "nations", in other words, towards men grouped "in their lands, each with (its) own language, by their families, in their nations".9

57 This state of division into many nations, each entrusted by divine providence to the guardianship of angels, is at once cosmic, social and religious. It is intended to limit the pride of fallen humanity10 united only in its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at Babel.11 But, because of sin, both polytheism and the idolatry of the nation and of its rulers constantly threaten this provisional economy with the perversion of paganism.12

58 The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel.13 The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel the just, the king-priest Melchisedek - a figure of Christ - and the upright "Noah, Daniel, and Job".14 Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad".15

God chooses Abraham

59 In order to gather together scattered humanity God calls Abram from his country, his kindred and his father's house,16 and makes him Abraham, that is, "the father of a multitude of nations". "In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."17

60 The people descended from Abraham would be the trustee of the promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of the Church.18 They would be the root on to which the Gentiles would be grafted, once they came to believe.19

61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honoured as saints in all the Church's liturgical traditions.

God forms his people Israel

62 After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as his people by freeing them from slavery in Egypt. He established with them the covenant of Mount Sinai and, through Moses, gave them his law so that they would recognize him and serve him as the one living and true God, the provident Father and just judge, and so that they would look for the promised Saviour.20

63 Israel is the priestly people of God, "called by the name of the LORD", and "the first to hear the word of God",21 The people of "elder brethren" in the faith of Abraham.

64 Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts.22 The prophets proclaim a radical redemption of the People of God, purification from all their infidelities, a salvation which will include all the nations.23 Above all, the poor and humble of the Lord will bear this hope. Such holy women as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Judith and Esther kept alive the hope of Israel's salvation. the purest figure among them is Mary.24

I. God Reveals His "Plan of Loving Goodness"

51 "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature."2

52 God, who "dwells in unapproachable light", wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his only-begotten Son.3 By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity.

53 The divine plan of Revelation is realized simultaneously "by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other"4 and shed light on each another. It involves a specific divine pedagogy: God communicates himself to man gradually. He prepares him to welcome by stages the supernatural Revelation that is to culminate in the person and mission of the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons repeatedly speaks of this divine pedagogy using the image of God and man becoming accustomed to one another: the Word of God dwelt in man and became the Son of man in order to accustom man to perceive God and to accustom God to dwell in man, according to the Father's pleasure.5

IV. How Can We Speak about God?



39 In defending the ability of human reason to know God, the Church is expressing her confidence in the possibility of speaking about him to all men and with all men, and therefore of dialogue with other religions, with philosophy and science, as well as with unbelievers and atheists.

40 Since our knowledge of God is limited, our language about him is equally so. We can name God only by taking creatures as our starting point, and in accordance with our limited human ways of knowing and thinking.

41 All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. the manifold perfections of creatures - their truth, their goodness, their beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures" perfections as our starting point, "for from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator".15

42 God transcends all creatures. We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, imagebound or imperfect, if we are not to confuse our image of God --"the inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable"-- with our human representations.16 Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God.

43 Admittedly, in speaking about God like this, our language is using human modes of expression; nevertheless it really does attain to God himself, though unable to express him in his infinite simplicity. Likewise, we must recall that "between Creator and creature no similitude can be expressed without implying an even greater dissimilitude";17 and that "concerning God, we cannot grasp what he is, but only what he is not, and how other beings stand in relation to him."18

III. The Knowledge of God According to the Church




36 "Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason."11 Without this capacity, man would not be able to welcome God's revelation. Man has this capacity because he is created "in the image of God".12

37 In the historical conditions in which he finds himself, however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by the light of reason alone:

Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, who watches over and controls the world by his providence, and of the natural law written in our hearts by the Creator; yet there are many obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty. For the truths that concern the relations between God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things, and, if they are translated into human action and influence it, they call for self-surrender and abnegation. the human mind, in its turn, is hampered in the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of original sin. So it happens that men in such matters easily persuade themselves that what they would not like to be true is false or at least doubtful.13

38 This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God's revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also "about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error".14

II. Ways of Coming to Know God

31 Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the truth. These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person.

32 The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.

As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.7



And St. Augustine issues this challenge: Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air distending and diffusing itself, question the beauty of the sky. . . question all these realities. All respond: "See, we are beautiful." Their beauty is a profession [confessio]. These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One [Pulcher] who is not subject to change?8

33 The human person: with his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's existence. In all this he discerns signs of his spiritual soul. the soul, the "seed of eternity we bear in ourselves, irreducible to the merely material",9 can have its origin only in God.

34 The world, and man, attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather that they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality "that everyone calls God".10

35 Man's faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man, and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith.(so) the proofs of God's existence, however, can predispose one to faith and help one to see that faith is not opposed to reason.

I. The Desire for God


27 The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for:

The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. For if man exists it is because God has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. He cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator.1

28 In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behaviour: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being:

From one ancestor (God) made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him - though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For "in him we live and move and have our being."2

29 But this "intimate and vital bond of man to God" (GS 19 # 1) can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by man.3 Such attitudes can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world; religious ignorance or indifference; the cares and riches of this world; the scandal of bad example on the part of believers; currents of thought hostile to religion; finally, that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God out of fear and flee his call.4

30 "Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice."5 Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness. But this search for God demands of man every effort of intellect, a sound will, "an upright heart", as well as the witness of others who teach him to seek God.

You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised: great is your power and your wisdom is without measure. and man, so small a part of your creation, wants to praise you: this man, though clothed with mortality and bearing the evidence of sin and the proof that you withstand the proud. Despite everything, man, though but a small a part of your creation, wants to praise you. You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.6

I. The life of man - to know and love God

1 God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Saviour. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.

2 So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."4 Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it."5

3 Those who with God's help have welcomed Christ's call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ's faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer

This thread will be for the study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Please join me in the study of the Catechism.

What is a brief history of the Catechism?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church originated with a recommendation made at the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in 1985. In 1986 the Holy Father appointed a Commission of Cardinals and Bishops to develop a compendium of Catholic doctrine. In 1989 the Commission sent the text to all the Bishops of the world for consultation. In 1990 the Commission examined and evaluated over 24,000 amendments suggested by the world's bishops. The final draft is considerably different from the one that was circulated in 1989. In 1991 the Commission prepared the text for the Holy Father's official approval. On June 25, 1992 the Holy Father officially approved the definitive version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. On December 8, 1992 the Holy Father promulgated the Catechism with an apostolic constitution.


What is the purpose of the Catechism?

The Catechism serves several important functions:



    a) It conveys the essential and fundamental content of Catholic faith and morals in a complete and summary way.

    b) It is a point of reference for national and diocesan catechisms.

    c) It is a positive, objective and declarative exposition of Catholic doctrine.

    d) It is intended to assist those who have the duty to catechize, namely promoters and teachers of catechesis.


For whom is the Catechism intended?

The Catechism is intended, first of all, for bishops as teachers of the faith and pastors of the Church. They have the first responsibility in catechesis. Through the bishops, the Catechism is addressed to editors of catechisms, priests, catechists and all others responsible for catechesis. It will also be useful reading for all the faithful.

While the Catechism is not intended for direct use by young people or children, the Holy Father has said that the Catechism "is offered to all the faithful who want to understand better the inexhaustible riches of salvation."



reference:
http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/catechismquestions.html

Only God knows when the end of days will happen. It is beyond our knowledge when Jesus Christ will come again.

ha ha ha ha ! what an interesting version.

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 3:18

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another,agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:11

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him,  “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

John 14:21-24

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.

Deuteronomy 7:9

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17