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To: Quester

While the author of the piece has a laudable goal--disabusing Mormons of their heresy (I am being charitable here in regarding Mormons as heretical Christians)--good goals cannot be attained by shoddy means. Another poster pointed to one false dichotomy, I would suggest that the author's entire approach to Scripture is based on a false dichotomy. Either the Bible is 'given' to man by God, or it's merely a human product?

No Christian authority until the reformation approached the Scriptures as a Christian Koran, which is what the first alternative of the false dichotomy would make the Bible out to be. Likewise no Christian until modern flourishing of heresies and apostacies (think Jack Spong) thought the Scriptures were merely human products.

What then? The Scriptures are indeed inspired of God, but written, editted, translated and interpreted by man. We Orthodox regard all grace as a matter of synergia or cooperation between God and man (hardly surprising since Our Savior is fully God and fully Man), and the Scriptures are no different. If you remember the selection process by which the modern Bible came into being, you are quite aware of the human hand--indeed for protestants, I would argue that the last step in the creation of their canon of Scripture (what is printed in most Bibles in America) *was* purely human: Luther decided to toss out some books because the Christ-denying Jews at the Council of Jamnia hadn't included them in their canon, in the process tossing out the only Old Covenant testimonies to the general resurrection and the only Scriptural testimony to creation *ex nihilo* (as distinct from creation from pre-existing material). (Protestants tell the lie that the Latin church 'added' those books at the Council of Trent. I know this is a lie because we Orthodox whom the Roman Patriarchate left in the 11th century have all those books, and have since the canon was fixed by the Council of Carthage and the 6th Ecumenical Council.)


16 posted on 01/09/2006 5:17:06 AM PST by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: The_Reader_David

The water in which we swim, would appear to be murky indeed. One must have faith of some kind, to navigate all the currents and counter-currents created by those who are "correct" in their interpretations of the scriptures.


17 posted on 01/09/2006 6:20:41 AM PST by David Isaac
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To: The_Reader_David

>No Christian authority until the reformation approached the Scriptures as a Christian Koran,<

Not exactly sure what you are implying but Peter (remember him)said scripture was more reliable than a audible voice from God.


22 posted on 01/09/2006 11:50:30 AM PST by Blessed
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