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asaris · 03-15-2004, 11:21 AM

1. Aquinas was never condemned by the Catholic Church -- it was some local organization, perhaps a council at Paris, maybe the University of Paris, maybe the bishop of Paris, I can't remember which. Just a minor point, for the sake of nitpicking.

2. While it is true that all Christians hold that God is neither male nor female, and most Christian hold that he is neither masculine or feminine, rather he transcends all of these categories, nevertheless a couple points need to be made. First of all, the merely linguistic one that he/she/it is awfully cumbersome, and merely using 'it' would, according to the conventions of the english language, imply that God was not a person. Secondly, and I'm not sure what the Catholic church teaches, my denomination teaches that it is most right and fitting to refer to God as masculine, since this is how scripture universally refers to scripture -- in the passages where feminine imagery appears, it is always used in a simile, never a metaphor, and whenever he is referred to directly, it is as masculine. One example -- when Christ teaches us how to pray, it is to "Our Father".

3. While the Catholic church (and any church with any merit, for that matter) holds that there are some truths in other religions, this does not refute the fact that the Catholic church teaches that there is no salvation outside of Christ. That is, the central truth of salvation, that the path to salvation is through Christ, is one only found in the Christian faith. So while we can find wisdom in other faiths, wisdom that may have been disregarded to some extent by the Christian tradition, there is only salvation through Christ.

03-15-2004, 11:21 AM	#61 (permalink)
asaris Mad Philosopher Location: Washington, DC	1. Aquinas was never condemned by the Catholic Church -- it was some local organization, perhaps a council at Paris, maybe the University of Paris, maybe the bishop of Paris, I can't remember which. Just a minor point, for the sake of nitpicking. 2. While it is true that all Christians hold that God is neither male nor female, and most Christian hold that he is neither masculine or feminine, rather he transcends all of these categories, nevertheless a couple points need to be made. First of all, the merely linguistic one that he/she/it is awfully cumbersome, and merely using 'it' would, according to the conventions of the english language, imply that God was not a person. Secondly, and I'm not sure what the Catholic church teaches, my denomination teaches that it is most right and fitting to refer to God as masculine, since this is how scripture universally refers to scripture -- in the passages where feminine imagery appears, it is always used in a simile, never a metaphor, and whenever he is referred to directly, it is as masculine. One example -- when Christ teaches us how to pray, it is to "Our Father". 3. While the Catholic church (and any church with any merit, for that matter) holds that there are some truths in other religions, this does not refute the fact that the Catholic church teaches that there is no salvation outside of Christ. That is, the central truth of salvation, that the path to salvation is through Christ, is one only found in the Christian faith. So while we can find wisdom in other faiths, wisdom that may have been disregarded to some extent by the Christian tradition, there is only salvation through Christ. __________________ "Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht." "The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm." -- Friedrich Nietzsche