Hi Everyone,
Please read this whole page and think about it before you respond
I wanted to start a thread on the Gifts of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor 12, Is 11:2-3) because of the negative reaction I received against private Prophecy. Specifically I’m thinking about the Marian Apparitions and the Blessed Mother’s messages. These contain private prophecies. At first, I thought the negative reaction was due to the source, the Blessed Mother, but then, it seemed to be just a denial of the Gifts. Maybe I’m wrong and that’s what I want to find out. I ask myself why, when scripture teaches that private prophecies are genuine and acceptable? (1 Cor 12). “Preaching” is a Gift (1 Cor 12:28 - Apostles). Scripture says you have to test or discern the spirits (1 Cor 12:10). “Discernment” is a Gift. Some end up being true and some do not. “Miracles” are a Gift (1 Cor 12:28, Gal 3:5). Do you believe in Miracles? I read online that there is something among Baptists called the “Cessationist Doctrine”. I saw where one person online quoted 1 Cor 13:9-10 on this. This means that all the Gifts ceased with the apostolic age. I think this was probably where the negative response came from that I received because they quoted these verses. I understand this thinking and, as Catholics, we basically agree with this in practice. We simply say that you have a choice to believe in them or not. The church discerns these prophecies and makes a judgement on them. If they determine that they won’t hurt your faith or contradict Church teaching then they are worthy of belief. If these prophecies are being manifested in some way, don’t you think we need to deal with them? In other words, what if God is manifesting Himself prophetically through people, shouldn’t we discern this and approve it? The Catholic Church has discerned those with the Gift of Prophecy for 2,000 years. We have had the Speaking of Tongues for 2,000 years too but not manifested in the same way as in the Charismatic Movement which has happened recently. I personally don’t think we need Tongues or Prophecy in the normal way of thinking about them. They are considered the lesser Gifts. But again, if the Holy Ghost is manifesting Himself in some way, do we ignore it? I say we don’t need Tongues or Prophecy in the normal way of thinking because Aquinas says Moses was the greatest of the prophets (Deut 34:10)(STh., II-II q.174 a.4) and what did he prophecy? SCRIPTURE! The First 5 Books of the OT. Matter of fact, half of the OT is Prophecy. So if you don’t like prophecy you don’t like scripture. So, in this way, we do need Prophecy. This is all food for thought. I would like to hear from you and try and understand the way you interpret verses concerning the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. Let’s have a discussion and I will try to persuade you that they can still occur today and it’s ok to believe.
Please read this whole page and think about it before you respond
I wanted to start a thread on the Gifts of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor 12, Is 11:2-3) because of the negative reaction I received against private Prophecy. Specifically I’m thinking about the Marian Apparitions and the Blessed Mother’s messages. These contain private prophecies. At first, I thought the negative reaction was due to the source, the Blessed Mother, but then, it seemed to be just a denial of the Gifts. Maybe I’m wrong and that’s what I want to find out. I ask myself why, when scripture teaches that private prophecies are genuine and acceptable? (1 Cor 12). “Preaching” is a Gift (1 Cor 12:28 - Apostles). Scripture says you have to test or discern the spirits (1 Cor 12:10). “Discernment” is a Gift. Some end up being true and some do not. “Miracles” are a Gift (1 Cor 12:28, Gal 3:5). Do you believe in Miracles? I read online that there is something among Baptists called the “Cessationist Doctrine”. I saw where one person online quoted 1 Cor 13:9-10 on this. This means that all the Gifts ceased with the apostolic age. I think this was probably where the negative response came from that I received because they quoted these verses. I understand this thinking and, as Catholics, we basically agree with this in practice. We simply say that you have a choice to believe in them or not. The church discerns these prophecies and makes a judgement on them. If they determine that they won’t hurt your faith or contradict Church teaching then they are worthy of belief. If these prophecies are being manifested in some way, don’t you think we need to deal with them? In other words, what if God is manifesting Himself prophetically through people, shouldn’t we discern this and approve it? The Catholic Church has discerned those with the Gift of Prophecy for 2,000 years. We have had the Speaking of Tongues for 2,000 years too but not manifested in the same way as in the Charismatic Movement which has happened recently. I personally don’t think we need Tongues or Prophecy in the normal way of thinking about them. They are considered the lesser Gifts. But again, if the Holy Ghost is manifesting Himself in some way, do we ignore it? I say we don’t need Tongues or Prophecy in the normal way of thinking because Aquinas says Moses was the greatest of the prophets (Deut 34:10)(STh., II-II q.174 a.4) and what did he prophecy? SCRIPTURE! The First 5 Books of the OT. Matter of fact, half of the OT is Prophecy. So if you don’t like prophecy you don’t like scripture. So, in this way, we do need Prophecy. This is all food for thought. I would like to hear from you and try and understand the way you interpret verses concerning the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. Let’s have a discussion and I will try to persuade you that they can still occur today and it’s ok to believe.
