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To: Kolokotronis

A lot of wisdom in your words.

However,

EITHER THE ESSENTIAL TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL

ARE TRANSCENDENT

or they aren't.

If they aren't, nothing else matters.

If they are, language is a relatively minor issue when Holy Spirit is heard and reasonably reliable translations are available.

GOD IS ABLE TO INSURE HIS TRANSCENDENT WORD REACHES THROUGH.


11,963 posted on 03/24/2007 7:57:11 PM PDT by Quix (GOD ALONE IS WORTHY; PAID THE PRICE; IS ABLE; LOVE GOD WHOLLY, HIM & HIS KINGDOM 1ST)
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To: Quix; Forest Keeper; annalex; jo kus; kosta50
"If they are, language is a relatively minor issue when Holy Spirit is heard and reasonably reliable translations are available.

GOD IS ABLE TO INSURE HIS TRANSCENDENT WORD REACHES THROUGH."

There is no doubt that God's Word is there to be discerned, but it is also absolutely necessary to understand that that Word may not be particularly obvious. The history of the first 1000 years of The Church makes that clear. Today people recite the Creed, believe in the Trinity, believe that Christ is True God and True Man etc, etc. as if these concepts were as plain as the nose on one's face. But the truth of the matter is that these concepts were not at all obvious early on nor were they established by any sort of individual revelation. They were established by the "consensus" of Ecumenical Councils operating prayerfully under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

What the Council Fathers were blessed with was "discernment", the ability as a group to tell the difference between dross and real gold. Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit and not one which everyone receives. The writings of the Desert Fathers especially are filled with examples of people, apparently holy, faithful people, who lived their lives in league with demons without even knowing it. We needn't look to the distant past for examples of this; its all around us. Regard the actions of the Episcopal Church or the UCC. They sincerely believe that the Holy Spirit is doing a "new thing" with all this gay, sin is not sin stuff. They find scriptural justification for their actions and are firmly convinced that the Holy Spirit has given them the ability to discern what the Gospels "really mean" or really mean to accomplish, in this case that the church must put aside any sort of judgment on lifestyles and embrace and celebrate lifestyles which are otherwise contrary to scripture to the greater end that unrepentant sinners be saved. Q, these people are as convinced that the Holy Spirit has lead them to this point and that it is God's will that they lead the rest of us there as you are that the Holy Spirit guides individuals to proper interpretation of scripture.

Q, I don't doubt for one minute that it is the Evil One and his demons, one of the greatest of which is the Spirit of the Age, who are leading these people into apostasy and spiritual death as surely as those same demons lead undiscerning Christians 1000+ years ago to destruction. For Orthodox Christians, Latins and certain Anglicans and Lutherans, Holy Tradition, the Fathers and the Liturgies are an assurance of "orthodoxy" of belief for those of us who may well not have been given the great and relatively rare spiritual gift of discernment.

So, I agree with everything you say, but point out that human experience seems to indicate that our ability to perceive and better yet understand God's Word is rather more limited than you might believe.
11,965 posted on 03/25/2007 5:51:33 AM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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