If the reason there can't be any understanding about it is because priests are people who are guessing about what pleases The God then I shall secede the argument to you all. Thank you for talking to me!
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organized religion
- Thread starter syo
- Start date
Thank you for listening. It wasn't obvious.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
Neither are true, but what I'm picking up from you is that you want to just argue, so I don't really get the impression that you have any interest whatsoever in what I'm posting that goes beyond just that. I taught Catholic theology to adults for 14 years, and all I'm trying to do here is to answer your questions as if I still belonged to the church and believe in what they teach.
I do not think the thread is about only Catholic priests. I think the term was used for any religious leader that people put their trust in to teach them about God. @syo
But, I have been wrong before and will be wrong again.
You misunderstood my question.
I was asking how/why people may find knowledge in theology actually useful.
Are they? That sounds foolish.
Can you not imagine that a person goes to a priest to get a good conscience in front of God?
I am sure that is a very real phenomenon.
Real, quite possibly.
But such a personal matter can't in good conscience be presented as if it were somehow "certifiable" or something.
Yes, so you and I agree that the world might be better off without them. True?
"Them" being people who claim to speak on behalf of God (as opposed to Priests)? Sure.
You're an atheist. Right? What is a priest but someone who people believe speak about God's way?
According to you, there is no God so no God's way. Correct? If so, then they are all fakers. And, fakers are alright by you? They are not alright by me.
Yet, it is through the theology of the Evangelists who penned Mt and Lk that we believe and celebrate His birth 2000+ years later!
Your point being?
arthra
Baha'i
I think you've touched on an area that relates to a degree with my experience...
Of course most of us I think in exploring religion happen to search from an independent perhaps solitary vantage. We are independent in our search and exploration of a given religion or spiritual truth.
I would recognize though the value of "organized" religion being more capable of preserving spiritual explorations and discoveries over time. Given that there are records preserved over centuries through some organization.
If religion is solely solitary who will discover the truths?
As to priests I think certainly priests being part of the church have had a historical role in preserving truths. Consider the origin of the term "cleric":
1615-25; < Late Latin clēricus priest < Greek klērikós, equivalent to klêr(os) lot, allotment + -ikos -ic
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/-ic
and "clerical"
1425-75 for sense “learned”; 1585-95 for def 3; late Middle English < Late Latin clēricālis, equivalent to clēric(us) cleric + -ālis -al1
the definition of clerical
But there are "organized" religions that do not have "clerics" or priests. In my Faith there are no priests but we have an elective body that is recognized among us as fulfilling some of roles commonly attributed to clerics such as overseeing marriages, divorces, burials and other functions.
Jedster
Well-Known Member
Indeed. If they really believe in the omni-everything God, why have any intermediaries, whether people(clergy) or books.
Jumi
Well-Known Member
Books can be useful to gain access to certain experiences, like having some passwords on some files you'd rather not spend all your time learning to crack. Too bad the books are mostly encrypted too, so either way you're going to spend time if you want to go into deeper waters.