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What do you think of this conversation I had with a priest?
I'm guessing these aren't the typical answers you get from a preist. Maybe that varies on the culture he was raised in though. It was like a mix of an interview and a search for intuition. So the conversation pretty much went like this...
Me: ''Do you believe in God?''
Priest: ''I'd like to. But I don't have certainty. No one really can. They can believe but it doesn't mean they'll know.''
Me: ''Aren't priests supposed to definitively believe in God if they became priests?''
Priest: ''Ideally. We're not cattle though. The human mind is open to all thoughts and each priest is their own person.''
Me: ''Have you always felt like this?''
Priest: ''I'd say so.'' Me: ''Why do you continue to be a priest then?''
Priest: ''To help people.''
Me: ''Wouldn't you be telling things you don't believe?''
Priest: ''Catholic churches act more traditionally then religiously.People can read that from the Bible themselves. My words aren't going significantly change their perspectives. I continue to do my job to help people. It isn't about the exact sermon you deliver. It is about helping people outside the church. It is a duty of mine to help orphanages, guide people who are struggling and to help educate.''
Me: ''You don't need to necessarily be a priest to do all those things though.''
Priest: ''That is true. I do not think of myself as ''a priest'' though. I think of myself as me. It just happens the social stratification out our society has lead me to the position I am today. Perhaps if I were from India, I'd be a monk.''
Me: ''So if died and found out God didn't exist, how would you feel?''
Priest: ''If my soul still had the acknowledgement to know that after I died, then it'd mean that God or a force exist. Otherwise, I wouldn't ever have the chance to know.
Me: ''Do you do your good works as an act of God thinking that it may be best to do what God would want.''
Priest: ''It is hard to know exactly what God would want though. How is one to read the Bible? And are there not things in it that wouldn't seem genuine to our comprehension? We act in accordance to a human perception of what we want God to be. This perception is usually the same thing we know is the right thing to do.''
Yeah, it is a real priest. I asked him if he expressed his views to other priests. He said somewhat, but in bits. He is originally from Brazil but lives in the US now. He is in his late-40s. I also asked him if he thought women should have the right to become priests and he said ''Why shouldn't they.'' He just expressed fear that there still may be too many discriminative people that'd compromise the attention of helping people.
I also asked him why the church would allow him to keep being a priest if he had these feelings. He said because there is a shortage of priest and it is too political to boot someone in the gray territory.
11 Answers
- ?Lv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Phillip, I think that this conversation you had, just says it all about priests etc. How can one say they are a christian if they do not think that they believe? This just does not make sense! I take it, this man gives confessions and sermons? If so, he must be quoting from God's Word, the bible? So to not believe IS living a lie.
It is funny, because if you had asked a similar question to Jehovah's Witnesses, I guarantee the answer would be vastly different!
The bible talks of those who claim to be christians, will not be heard by the God. Why should our Creator listen to someone who does not believe or goes contrary to what He wants? First, christians should not get involved in politics and second, women should not be priests and I am a woman saying this! Our Creator has set man in place to do this work, but that does not mean we are belittled - on the contrary, we are highly honoured.
It is most certainly not hard to know what our Creator wants, when He says all in His Word!
Phillip, thank you for quoting this because it just proves to me even more how glad I am to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah is the personal name of God.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
This man is a freaking disgrace! He is living a lie. The Catholic church discretely says the views they wish for their priests to hold. Those who don't have it shouldn't join. Or if their views change you can quit! He got the education to do well in the real world and he might just enjoy getting some vagina while they are at it. Come on. You said he is from Brazil for crying out loud.
God will judge this man negatively though. As he will all who didn't believe in him. It really isn't even a thing about Jesus or Mohammed to me. All of Christians, Muslims and Jews have the same God. We just have a different messenger. Simply believing in God and knowing his powers simply is not a lot to ask for. Those who don't are in denial. They fight to prove how God doesn't exist. Or look for reasons to support it. What a shame! I will be smiling down from heaven while that priest lives a thousand years in purgatory. His good deeds will spare him from hell.
Source(s): American Theist teÃsta americano - Fiery PhoenixLv 61 decade ago
I think he is an awesome, and rare priest. If more priests were like this, I might have stayed with Christianity. I met an Anglican priest who has similar views not too long ago. I like priests who don't think of people as sheep.
- Slap HappyLv 71 decade ago
I had a similar conversation once with an Anglican Bishop.
What got me was that he honestly regarded the question of whether God existed or not as a moot question.
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- 1 decade ago
If that is real, then that means you found one of the few intelligent priests out there.
