God rarely mediated "directly" with His people. Invariably, He did it through a prophet, a patriarch, the Apostles, and Jesus Christ - who is the fullness of God's mediation to mankind. We don't see that after the first generation, God suddenly removed His special care and coming to His people. We don't see a reason why. We don't see this in Scriptures. We don't see it in the writings of the Church Fathers. They all believed that God continued to operate through His Church - both the hierarchy on one level, and the entire Church on another level. For an individual's spiritual well-being, the Spirit came to that person. To define doctrine - what we believe - the Spirit speaks through those left to guard the faith, teaching what the Apostles taught. Is there any Scripture that says that Christ no longer gives His Church the power to continue Christ's teachings as seen in Matthew 28:20 after the first generation? This seems to be a Protestant addition to Scripture here.
I happen to believe in a young earth, and have always had trouble repelling the "scientific" arguments.
Quite frankly, it doesn't matter one way or the other to me. Currently, the evidence of science seems stacked against the young earth scenario, and God created nature, which doesn't lie. So either man is totally lost on the age of the earth, or Gen. 1-3 isn't meant to be a scientific treatise on how the earth was formed. Are we to believe that God spoke to the writer of Genesis on the concepts of quantum physics and so forth? The writers of Scripture are more worried about theology, using history as a back-drop for explaining God's love, His reason for creating us, and so forth. It doesn't change anything of our fundamental belief. As a Catholic, I can believe either scenario, as long as I understand God was behind it because He loves us...
I'm just not wild about the idea of being left out of the ministry. :) Our side feels like we participate in the Great Commission too.
I hope that I have not given you that impression! You are certainly not left out of the Great Commission. WE, as Christians, are called to be the light of the World, to evangelize to all, either by our words or actions. I have labored to explain that you are part of the Church in some manner if you follow our teachings and if Christ abides in you, proof of which is your faith working through love. We as Catholics believe we represent the fullness of Christ's VISIBLE Church. When people want to know "what did God teach us?", they are to learn that fully through the Catholic Church. But this does not exclude Protestants, our separated brothers, from the Church. Every several hundred posts, it seems I am repeating this. But please understand, we don't look at Protestants as outside of the Church or going to hell. We call you "separated brothers", outside of the visible communion of the Church, but still a part of it. You also have a responsibility to do what is within your own knowledge and what has been revealed to you, even if it is imperfect.
I think when I said this I was thinking of all the disagreements among the Fathers on various issues as have been noted on this thread. Is the answer that at the time, these issues had not been resolved infallibly?
Yes. Before a teaching is officially "defined" and declared infallible, there will be some give and take between theologians as they wrestle with what the Church has taught in the past and its current belief. Thus, a Father can disagree with what will, in time, become an infallible teaching.
What puzzled me is that I thought mortal sins were much more common than what the name sounds like, and you seemed to hint that they are relatively rare?
They are not common, especially among those who take their walk seriously. To be a mortal sin, it must be a serious offense, one must KNOW it is serious and can separate us from God, and one must DO IT ANYWAYS. How often do you think that happens among serious Christians?
Brother in Christ
I'm not talking about burning bush experiences here. :) I'm talking about everyday things like answers to prayer. You have faced tough decisions in your life and you have prayed about them. Haven't you felt "led" to do one thing over another? I see it as the same general idea with scriptural interpretation. God nudges me toward the place He wants me to be for a given time. He won't point me to error, but there are different levels of understanding that I can handle at different points in my sanctification.
Is there any Scripture that says that Christ no longer gives His Church the power to continue Christ's teachings as seen in Matthew 28:20 after the first generation? This seems to be a Protestant addition to Scripture here.
Well, the only scripture that could possibly apply isn't very nice, so I won't even go there. :) My issue is with reliability.
But please understand, we don't look at Protestants as outside of the Church or going to hell. We call you "separated brothers", outside of the visible communion of the Church, but still a part of it.
I know you have talked about this before, and you have talked about invincible ignorance. After reading a certain number of posts from multiple posters that give a growing impression over and over, I think I just need some occasional reassurance. :)
They [mortal sins] are not common, especially among those who take their walk seriously. To be a mortal sin, it must be a serious offense, one must KNOW it is serious and can separate us from God, and one must DO IT ANYWAYS. How often do you think that happens among serious Christians?
I don't know. I guess it depends on what "serious" means, and what constitutes separation from God. I vaguely remember someone posting on this a long time ago. My sketchy memory tells me it had to do with the seven deadly sins. Is there any connection?