The essential teachings are clear? Such as Baptism is/is not necessary for salvation; we are saved by faith alone without love/faith and works; man has free will/man does not have free will; the Eucharist is Christ's real presence/it is symbolic; I could go on and on...
Or we could look at WHY there were SEVEN Councils in the first millenium - all called because the Bible is so clear on essential items - like is Jesus the same essence as God, is the Holy Spirit God, WHO is Jesus, and so forth.
Brother, the simple fact of the matter is that even on essentials, the Scripture is not clear.
Perhaps it is 'our view' of the essentials which is lacking.
You and I have agreed before that ... Christianity is, at its essentials, a call to live a life of love ... a life immersed by and being open to the love of God ... and a life which reflects that love back to God and others (I paraphrase).
If one finds and inhabits this life ... does it really matter whether one came to it by book or by tradition ?
In such a life, ... both faith and works will be present, ... what free-will we have will be submitted to God's will, ...
It is clear that such a life ... is the goal ... the essential, ... while we all haggle about ... 'how we get there.'
The funny thing is that most of us ... know what it is God is calling us to ... in whatever way we may have come about that understanding ... but we spend more time concentrating on the methodology ... than actually 'living the life'.
If the difference in methodology makes a difference in the results, ... then an axamination of methodologies is warranted, ... but, if various methodologies yield similar results, ... then, maybe we could focus our attention on other issues (i.e. the real essentials).
BTW ... Randall's fight (for life) goes on.
Thank-you for your continued parayer in his behalf.
Brother-in-Christ ... Chuck
Good point. Thank you for bringing me back...
When I speak "essentials", I suppose they are theological issues, beliefs that one must know or have a good idea about, to enter heaven. They are meant to show that our respective communities still do not possess "one faith".
BUT, as the Church DOES teach, a person can be considered part of the Church AND NOT KNOW IT! So to enter heaven, one doesn't necessarily have to know the difference between the nuances of Baptism, but rather, to love. So, again, I thank you. I think you know how I feel on such matters - that "if I have not love, I am nothing"?
If the difference in methodology makes a difference in the results, ... then an axamination of methodologies is warranted, ... but, if various methodologies yield similar results, ... then, maybe we could focus our attention on other issues (i.e. the real essentials).
Very good points. I would suggest that to any Christian, whether Catholic or Protestant. Perhaps I should ween my self off FR a bit!
We continue to pray for him...Thanks for the update.
Brother in Christ,
Joe