Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: sandrock@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Mark T. Sandrock) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: One of the best kept secrets in the Catholic Church Message-ID: Date: 3 Oct 90 07:26:38 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: School of Chemical Sciences, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Lines: 46 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article bralick@finglas.entmoot.cs.psu.edu (Will Bralick) writes: >In article ames!ultra!!spetter@uunet.uu.net (Scott Spetter) writes: >> >>At one point in the discussion, it was pointed out that if we, as >>Roman Catholics, feel a serious conflict between something mandated >>by the Church, and what we feel in our hearts, we should pray about >>the issue. The Bible should be consulted, and we would be wise to also >>seek the advice of some people more versed in the mandate and the >>rationale behind it. If these steps are sincerely followed, and we >>still feel the conflict, we MUST listen to the words that come from >>our own hearts. > >Sorry. If your conscience is properly formed then you will not >experience any conlict between the words of your heart and the >teaching of the Church. That is not to say that you will _like_ >or _prefer_ what the Church teaches. You are obliged to properly >form your conscience. > Sorry, but this could not be more wrong! We do not "form" our conscience, rather we *follow* our conscience! It is only through our conscience, our intuitive perception, that we are able to perceive the Will of God, and by no other means! When someone tells you otherwise, that you must "form" your opinions or conscience in accordance with *their* teaching, they are 100% wrong! And must have some agenda in mind. Otherwise, they would only encourage you to think and to choose freely for yourself, according to your own conscience. God did not need any intermediary when He created us, and He does not need any intermediary in order to convey His Will to us. Rather, we can learn to perceive the Will of God in *everything* we experience throughout our lives! Perhaps we do not always want to bear the responsibility of having to think for ourselves, but then this is our own free will to surrender this function to others, and we must thus bear the consequences of our spiritual indolence. Regards, Mark Sandrock -- BITNET: sandrock@uiucscs Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Internet: sandrock@aries.scs.uiuc.edu Chemical Sciences Computing Services Voice: 217-244-0561 505 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801