Posted on 11/28/2004 3:42:04 PM PST by AskStPhilomena
If you accept monotheism, the belief that there is only one God, you realize that Yahweh, The God of Israel, Abba Father, the God of Jesus Christ and Allah the God of Islam is the SAME God, since there is only one God. Judaism does not have God, Christianity does not have God, Islam does not have God. If the God in whom we believe IS God, then we do not have God. God has us!
(Excerpt) Read more at lcdiocese.org ...
Since this is so "clear", it is interesting that it took the church 300 years to dogmatically declare this as orthodox Christian doctrine.
you cannot honor/worship/recognize the Father without the Son.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
I haven't sent you any hostile email. I agree with you. I'll go you one better, any religion that denies the divinity of Our Lord Jesus, that He is God the Son, the second person of the Blessed Trinity is a false religion. It cannot be of God.
I worship allah every time I stand at a urinal.
"Since this is so "clear", it is interesting that it took the church 300 years to dogmatically declare this as orthodox Christian doctrine."
To which "church" are you referring? The RCC, in its catechism, states that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
Certainly, you are entitled to your opinion. However, even though I find your theology and scriptural interpretation faulty, I will not do you the discourtesy of calling yours a false religion.
I'm referring to the generally accepted (by Christians, of course) councils of the 4th century. From the time of the apostles until the time of Nicea, there were numerous competing "christologies". The "orthodox" formulations of the divinity of Jesus and of the trinity did not come into their final form until the end of the 4th century. At which time all earlier christologies were retroactively labelled "heresies".
In England a bonnet is the hood of a car, not a hat. Is there one bonnet or many?
Your response is not a response. It is evasive and irrleevant to the point.
I don't agree that to deny this theory is to deny God, everyone has their own deep beliefs whether they follow the strict tenets of a fatih or not.
It is said that one can only fall as far as one is high, Satan (the arch-angel lucifer) was never "ultimate good" so therefore he cannot be "ultimate evil". He is the most evil being in all of creation. God is the "ultimate good" in creation, so it would stand to reason that only he would know ultimate evil.
DISCLAIMER; These are only my opinions and what I've learned as a Catholic (Roman/Byzantine/Ukranian) and in various classes at Penn State. They are not intended to cause a ruckus or stir an argument. Any similarity to a written work could have been any number of term papers I wrote, or a literary work I have read, in the past, and unintentionally recycled a previous author's sentiments unless duely noted.
It's not the response you want. It is, however, an analogy and speaks directly to the point.
To equate the Triune God of Christianity to allah of Islam, which is what you want to do, is to engage in a philosopher's method of abstraction and indifferentism. You want to leave out the details. The details are what matter most.
If you prefer a philosopher's god of universal characteristics, then please do so.
That, again is dependent upon which faith you ascribe to. Some world religions (as well as some Christian sects) believe that Heaven is a true and physical place with streets of gold and buildings of silver. Others, as you have pointed out, depict heaven as a state of mind or an ethereal goal to which one should strive. Others still depict it to be whatever one can imagine it to be.
You beat me to the punch, Broadsword. The Holy Bible these "Christians" who leave Christ's one true Church to join a heretical sect or start their own is the other point of contention they refuse to acknowledge. Making themselves "popes" by appointing themselves the highest authority in scriptural interpretation. How they know any scripture can be trusted to be accurate is beyond me because they do not possess the original - at best they have an english translation of which there are thousands of versions of which many contradict each other!
Depending on Scythian's sect, the errors of its founder are easily made evident. Why be under the shackles of the Catholic Church when we can free ourselves to do as we will? (Hmmm... isn't that how Satan tempted Adam and Eve - with the question "why obey when you can be like unto God?")
PS (Scythian) - When (what year) did Christ's Church (the Catholic Church) stop being "Christian"? Specifically, which dogma(s) is/are in error?
Well that would be true if we were speaking of preferences of colors, or flavors, I would be entitled to my opinion and you yours. Neither opinion would be right or wrong. However, what if I held the opinion that 2+2=5? Would you do me the discourtesy of calling this a false opinion? Or would you tolerate my error so we could all just get along? Suppose I was your accountant, would I still be entitled to that opinion? Would you be afraid of hurting my feelings?
However, even though I find your theology and scriptural interpretation faulty,
Since you seem put off by my dogmatic statements, (I don't recall interpreting scripture) let's try this philosophically.
Let's start with the law of non contradiction. In the words of Aristotle, "One cannot say of something that it is and that it is not in the same respect and at the same time."
For example:
1) Jesus is God the Son, second person of the Blessed Trinity
or
2) Jesus is not God the Son, he is merely a man, a prophet of Allah.
Both cannot be true. Christians accept the first statement as true, therefore the second statement must be rejected as false. A religion based a false premise would be a false religion.
I agree.
And their members are "of their father the devil."
"I'll go you one better, any religion that denies the divinity of Our Lord Jesus, that He is God the Son, the second person of the Blessed Trinity is a false religion. It cannot be of God."
So very true. Theirs is a religion of the devil as their father.
Assuming a standard algebraic system, this would be a demonstrable error. The difference between a mathematical proposition and a religious proposition is that frequently mathematical propositions can be proven or disproved.
As an aside, it is trivial to define a consistent algebraic system where, for example, 1+1=0. Different axioms, different results.
Or would you tolerate my error so we could all just get along?
I tolerate what I believe to be your religious error because I recognize that religious claims are unfalsifiable. Reason can draw conclusions from axiomatic beliefs, but reason cannot lead you into or out of belief in the axioms themselves.
I don't recall interpreting scripture
You cited specific scripture passages, presumably to support the point you were trying to make.
Christians accept the first statement as true, therefore the second statement must be rejected as false.
And as a Jew I reject your first proposition. However, I recognize that such statements are are inherently unprovable. Reason can tell me that one is true and one is false, but it cannot tell me which one is true.
Just to clarify, you are saying that Jews are children of the devil?
Look up the context yourself and you decide:
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Please show me where so I know what you are referring to?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.