You are equating what many Jews THOUGHT with what the OT actually SAYS. Yet, at the same time you do not equate what heretics think with what the NT actually SAYS. Why is that? Many Jews were just plain wrong. Humans do that. That is no reflection on the truth of what the OT teaches.
Heretics, by definition, teach that which the Church doesn't teach, never taught and never will teach.
Then why don't you just declare these Jews you are talking about to be heretics instead of using them to discredit God's word in the OT?
The Church teaches that +John the Baptist is not Elijah.
The Church is correct, and so is Matthew, properly interpreted.
I am sure you will come up with some convoluted "explanation" to this clear-cut contradiction, but then that's how every sect and cult can quote scriptures and be "right."
Well, I wouldn't want to be like a cult member, so I'll pass. :)
Jesus would have you follow His examples, FK. Unless you have an authenticated direct connection to Him and receive His text messages every day, it's you making up what Jesus would have you do (based on those inner "voices" that could be anything, including insanity).
David, Joshua, and others DID have a direct connection to Him and did what Jesus would not have done. But I guess you throw all that out since it's OT. Since you only accept selected portions of the Gospels I guess there's not much to compare. :)
I have news for you: Christ, as we know Him in the catholic and apostolic Church, would never tell [some woman who killed her 5 children] to do that! In fact, 'what Christ would have ME do' is a dangerous belief that opens oneself to all sorts of satanic attacks because, as the Bible says which you believe to be true, even Satan can appear as the Angel of Light. Stick to the Gospels, imitating Christ, and you will never believe God wants you to kill anyone.
What this tells me is that you are closed to receiving God's personal leading for fear that it might be satan instead, etc. That is an unfortunate loss. I depend on God leading me personally. The Holy Spirit has made a big difference in my life. I am sorry He has (apparently) not for you.
P.S. - God has apparently issued a moratorium on ordering any of us to kill anyone. Therefore, I'm not looking for it. :)
I never said that faith is baseless. Every belief, no matter how extreme or weird is based on something, whether that something is objective or subjective.
That's true, you have never said that, but I have inferred it from the totality of your statements. Therefore, and SPECIFICALLY, on what do you base your faith? And, if appropriate, how would you distinguish it from the proverbial "thin air" (which is what I call "baseless")?
You are confusing confidence of salvation with faith. Because they tell you that they don't know if they will be saved (neither do you, because no one knows if he is elect or not), you believe that their faith is "weak." That is patently false.
It is not their belief itself that I say is weak, but rather what that belief is IN that is weak, i.e. a weak God. A weak God can't give assurance because who winds up saved is beyond His control. I know perfectly well that I happen to be of the elect, through no merit of my own, because I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. Others may not believe me, but I don't need them to. God knows what God knows, and I know what God tells me through scripture and on my heart.
Your side, unfortunately, believes that just because you "accept" Christ you are saved no matter what you do or how Christ-like you are.
My side has NEVER claimed that, it is only your side that does.
Not really, FK. Does Jesus not say "the Father is greater than I" [Jn 14:28]? Arians and Gnostics must love that verse. The NT also says that God [sic] raised Christ on at least 15 occasions. Ebionites and Jehova's Witnesses must love those verses because they deny Christ's divinity.
Then why don't you just declare these Jews you are talking about to be heretics instead of using them to discredit God's word in the OT?
The Jews are not Christians. They reject Christ. The OT is what it is: foreshadowing of Christianity. It is not Christianity. Without the OT, you would still have Christianity if all you had were the NT. Without the NT you wold never come to Christianity. The two Testaments are not equivalent, and the NT without the Gospels would be meaningless.
David, Joshua, and others DID have a direct connection to Him and did what Jesus would not have done.
David, Joshua, and others DID have a direct connection to Him and did what Jesus would not have done. But I guess you throw all that out since it's OT
No, FK, it's what the OT says God did, such as kill David's child. Now we have God doing what Jesus would not have done! Obviously, the authors of the OT did not see Christ in their visions; they saw something closer to Zeus or Allah. That connection wasn't completely noise-free.
Therefore, and SPECIFICALLY, on what do you base your faith? And, if appropriate, how would you distinguish it from the proverbial "thin air" (which is what I call "baseless")?
FK, something caused all this to exist. That something had to pre-exist all this. We really have no way of knowing what that "something" is, but some call it "God." Since we cannot prove that it is God, one must simply choose to believe that it is. It's not baseless. But it's a leap no matter which choice you take.
I know perfectly well that I happen to be of the elect, through no merit of my own, because I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.
I don't mean to make any direct comparison or suggest similitude, but this is the same argument the leader of this new apocalyptic cult recently arrested might have used to "prove" that he is the messiah, which he claims he is. What's even more important, he