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To: AzaleaCity5691
Here's a thought: We believers (of every stripe) don't live by a book; we live by the Life of Christ, embedded in our hearts by union with His Spirit who indwells our spirit. The Apostle Paul points out that the "Law" (i.e., much of the written word) is a tutor that leads one to Christ. The book is important, as Paul points out in 2 Tim. 3:16-17, in that "Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action), so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work." The written word of scripture is to be respected and adhered to, but the word is a crushing burden if we try to apply its teachings to ourselves without the empowerment, and the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. (A.W. Tozer called adherence to the written scriptures in a Spiritless Christianity as the "dead letter of textualism.")

Wouldn't you agree?

And as to the Protestant vs. the Catholic Bible, they are identical in regard to the New Testament, which is the fulfillment of the Old. Both point to Christ in their essential teachings.

55 posted on 06/28/2005 10:09:58 AM PDT by My2Cents ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." - George Orwell)
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To: My2Cents
Right back at ya...well stated on your Heres a Thought!!
62 posted on 06/28/2005 10:13:24 AM PDT by PaulaB (God Bless Texas...)
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To: My2Cents

The New Testament is identical, but the emphasis is placed on different parts of the NT.

Catholic and Episcopal/Anglican influence is stressed primarily on the Gospel of Matthew, Protestant Christianity in large part, draws heavily from a different gospel (I think Mark) and it also has a heavy emphasis on the Letters of Paul and Pauline theology, which is not something that the aforementioned denominations do

The most basic Christian theological division is Matthaic v Pauline.


66 posted on 06/28/2005 10:14:29 AM PDT by AzaleaCity5691 (The enemy lies in the heart of Gadsden)
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To: My2Cents

How do you know about the life of Christ except by the pages of a book?


110 posted on 06/28/2005 10:46:32 AM PDT by Free Baptist
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