5 out of 33,000 Saved

[Hamilton88]

Apparently, an archdeacon known to Saint Vincent Ferrer died at the same hour as saint Bernard. The archdeacon appeared to Vincent and stated that as he and St. Bernard died, so did 33,000 others. According to this vision, the deacon and the saint went to heaven, three went to purgatory, and the rest went to hell. :sigh:

Where do we even begin? I think it was a hoax generated by men with questionable intentions or it is possible that it was demonically influenced. A demon would have every reason to report this, since this idea slanders God beyond belief.

You can read about it in this post on Catholic.com

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=485547

Perhaps, some of use should sign up for this website and offer our views.

[Lazarus Short]

So the dead archbishop appeared to the saint?  The idea of the immortality of the soul is first step to hell, in my opinion ( :2c:).  I realized on my own that if you go off to heaven, why and how do you get resurrected?  It's absurd.  Most Christians never see it. 

If anyone is going to register over at that site, they will have to plant seeds quietly, like a colporteur in the night.

Edit:  Well, I registered, and it has an overlay, making it hard to read.  I did see a thread begun by an SDA member, pushing the Sabbath issue as ever.  I tried to post a reply, but don't know if it stuck.

[Warhawk17]

This is the kind of stuff that turned me away from Catholicism. Everyone in that forum seems terrified of going to Hell and feels so guilty about their sins. I feel sympathy for them because I have been in the same position.

[Deena]

Sympathy seems to be the right response. Although the premise of the archbishop is absurd and reads like a bad joke, those who fear hell are tormented with fear and condemnation. That in itself is its own "hell". That is one of the reasons why I want to speak out about the all inclusive victorious gospel-- I know what that torment is like. So far, most people I attempt to share hope with think I am a little crazy to believe such a gospel.

[Hamilton88]

Sympathy seems to be the right response. Although the premise of the archbishop is absurd and reads like a bad joke, those who fear hell are tormented with fear and condemnation. That in itself is its own "hell". That is one of the reasons why I want to speak out about the all inclusive victorious gospel-- I know what that torment is like. So far, most people I attempt to share hope with think I am a little crazy to believe such a gospel.

I know what you mean. I have to ask: How on God's green earth is the Roman Gospel "good news"? It is not just bad news, it is probably the worst news imaginable.

As for this vision, I also think it was simply Rome up to her usual antics of using fear into gaining the obediance of the masses.

[lastpost]

Also, when something is made up by the minds of humans who genuinely think that they are right, stating they are chosen to reveal God's Truth becomes accepted by millions of people over centuries, then it becomes traditional truth even if it is not true.

[Wayfaring Stranger]

This is the kind of stuff that turned me away from Catholicism. Everyone in that forum seems terrified of going to Hell and feels so guilty about their sins. I feel sympathy for them because I have been in the same position.

Oh trust me I know it all too well.  I wasn't a "cradle Catholic," I converted my senior year of high school and was only a faithfully practicing Catholic for about two years but it didn't take long for that infamous "Catholic guilt" to hook me in.  Catholicism, at least from my experience of on-again, off-again practice for roughly 5-6 years is a giant guilt trap.  At some point during the day you did something worthy of feeling guilty and it made me feel horrible.  The worst was when I got married but I didn't get married in the church.  That was the whip with which to flog me with for a while.  Then when I wanted to get my marriage "blessed" by the church there were numerous hoops you had to leap through to get it done. 

At some point I just got fed up and left.  God put me with my wife and men were trying wedge in on it.  I don't believe Our Father needs the approval of the church to bless marriages.

[Warhawk17]

This is the kind of stuff that turned me away from Catholicism. Everyone in that forum seems terrified of going to Hell and feels so guilty about their sins. I feel sympathy for them because I have been in the same position.

Oh trust me I know it all too well.  I wasn't a "cradle Catholic," I converted my senior year of high school and was only a faithfully practicing Catholic for about two years but it didn't take long for that infamous "Catholic guilt" to hook me in.  Catholicism, at least from my experience of on-again, off-again practice for roughly 5-6 years is a giant guilt trap.  At some point during the day you did something worthy of feeling guilty and it made me feel horrible.  The worst was when I got married but I didn't get married in the church.  That was the whip with which to flog me with for a while.  Then when I wanted to get my marriage "blessed" by the church there were numerous hoops you had to leap through to get it done. 

At some point I just got fed up and left.  God put me with my wife and men were trying wedge in on it.  I don't believe Our Father needs the approval of the church to bless marriages.

Yeah I know what you mean. They can be very judgmental if you believe differently than them or go against the traditional customs. That discussion though is filled with the stereotypical overly pious Catholics. A lot of those people idolize the pope, the "saints", Mother Mary, the Eucharist, Mass, Confession, etc. I was happy to see a few reasonable Catholics in there though who realized what a load of bs that was. Not all Catholics are that bad. I'd say the Vatican and a lot of the clergy are the ones that give the church a bad name. It's the loving, generous, and compassionate Catholic families that have kept the church alive imo.

I went to a Catholic school for the first 10 or so years of formal education, and now I have a summer maintenance job there now that I'm home for the summer. That is a nice, loving environment with great caring teachers and staff. I still have many good friends from that little class, but I still have issues being in that school and seeing pictures of the Pope, Saints, Mother Mary, etc all around the school and seeing the Ten Commandments posted in every room. If they ever asked me to teach Sunday school, I would probably respectfully decline because I would be worried they would excommunicate me for what I was teaching those children lol. I was fine with it all for most of my childhood though, but 8th grade is when I started feeling a lot of guilt, and I kind of experienced that on and off throughout high school.

[Wayfaring Stranger]

This is the kind of stuff that turned me away from Catholicism. Everyone in that forum seems terrified of going to Hell and feels so guilty about their sins. I feel sympathy for them because I have been in the same position.

Oh trust me I know it all too well.  I wasn't a "cradle Catholic," I converted my senior year of high school and was only a faithfully practicing Catholic for about two years but it didn't take long for that infamous "Catholic guilt" to hook me in.  Catholicism, at least from my experience of on-again, off-again practice for roughly 5-6 years is a giant guilt trap.  At some point during the day you did something worthy of feeling guilty and it made me feel horrible.  The worst was when I got married but I didn't get married in the church.  That was the whip with which to flog me with for a while.  Then when I wanted to get my marriage "blessed" by the church there were numerous hoops you had to leap through to get it done. 

At some point I just got fed up and left.  God put me with my wife and men were trying wedge in on it.  I don't believe Our Father needs the approval of the church to bless marriages.

Yeah I know what you mean. They can be very judgmental if you believe differently than them or go against the traditional customs. That discussion though is filled with the stereotypical overly pious Catholics. A lot of those people idolize the pope, the "saints", Mother Mary, the Eucharist, Mass, Confession, etc. I was happy to see a few reasonable Catholics in there though who realized what a load of bs that was. Not all Catholics are that bad. I'd say the Vatican and a lot of the clergy are the ones that give the church a bad name.

Ain't it always that way?  The ones at the top giving the rest of their organization a bad name.  There are around a billion professed "Catholics" in the world so obviously a lot of them are nice decent people and I don't mean to generalize.  I met some good people at the churches I've been to and I don't want to slander their name and I can't speak for everybody.  I even met some decent priests too.  One priest in particular, a Father Gabe, was a really nice man and very patient and kind.  It's just the suffocating soul stifling set up of the Catholic Church that makes it so unbearable.

When I look at the Catholic Church, as a whole organization I see exactly what Christ preached against and got so angry about.  And it makes me angry.  But I'm not better than anyone else, I'm no different than anyone else.  I didn't come out of the Babylonian cult of institutionalized Christianity on my own accord, it was the Lord who called me out.  He had to drag me out kicking and screaming at one point because I had an adulterous heart that loved the traditions of men more than the way of the Lord.

I pray that the Lord gives me the humility to let go of my anger and realize that where it not for His grace I would be stuck in that system myself or floating adrift rudderlessly with no anchor in the foggy mist of atheism/agnosticism from which He recently rescued me.  I cannot boast I have done nothing to boast about.  God guides me and God moves where He wants me.  That same thing holds true for all of humanity and those stuck in the rut of organized religion are there because that's where God wants them at the moment. 

[jbertonbounds]

Apparently, an archdeacon known to Saint Vincent Ferrer died at the same hour as saint Bernard. The archdeacon appeared to Vincent and stated that as he and St. Bernard died, so did 33,000 others. According to this vision, the deacon and the saint went to heaven, three went to purgatory, and the rest went to hell. :sigh:

Where do we even begin? I think it was a hoax generated by men with questionable intentions or it is possible that it was demonically influenced. A demon would have every reason to report this, since this idea slanders God beyond belief.

You can read about it in this post on Catholic.com

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=485547

Perhaps, some of use should sign up for this website and offer our views.

Really?  Let me see if I have this information correct:  2 went to heaven, 3 went to purgatory, and 32,997 went to hell.  Right?  Someone please verify this.  Surely someone has gotten confirmation on these facts.  My, my!  Someone sure has some privileged information here.  They must be mighty special to have been given such information.  I suppose someone must really be in the know on these things, really high up on God's "Privileged Character" list.  Well, well, well.  I am SO impressed! :laugh:

[Lazarus Short]

You might begin to wonder if the Book of Life is squirreled away deep in the vaults of the Vatican Library... :dontknow:

[micah7:9]

 :laugh: :laugh:

[eaglesway]

 :LH: