It is pure assumption to say that the red letters of the Gospels were intended to be the complete written revelation of God. An assumption, that is, that requires that God is a liar elsewhere in scripture. The teachings of every major church in Christianity, including your own, must be thrown out to hold this view. I accept that Paul's teachings are true because they are scripture, and they do not conflict with Christ.
FK: Christ was not a salesman. The predestined elect were always going to be saved, and the lost will always be lost. Christ completed the revelation God wanted us to have.
That's nonsense, with all due respect, FK. Then what was His preaching all about? He never said what you wrote above.
Jesus said this:
Matt 5:17-18 : 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
That is what I said above. As far as the predestination, Jesus speaks of never losing one that the Father has previously given Him.
Everything before were mere foreshadowing of what was to come. In the eyes of the Protestant world, mostly the Reformed, the Gospels are but a small cog in the big wheel that completes the 360 degrees needed for a full circle.
Without the Gospels, there is no Christianity, that much is certain, and the writings of Paul and Peter would be in vain.
The teachings of every major church in Christianity, including your own, must be thrown out to hold this view
The Eastern Orthodox Church has a very clear teaching on what the Bible is and I have posted it to you specifically on more than one occasion.
FK: Christ was not a salesman. The predestined elect were always going to be saved, and the lost will always be lost. Christ completed the revelation God wanted us to have.
Kosta: That's nonsense, with all due respect, FK. Then what was His preaching all about? He never said what you wrote above.
FK: Jesus said this: Matt 5:17-18 : 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
F:: That is what I said above. As far as the predestination, Jesus speaks of never losing one that the Father has previously given Him.
Well, He said on the Cross "It is accomplished." If He spoke if God's revelation then all subsequent revelations (i.e. Paul, John of Patmos, etc.) were false. He was speaking of God's economy of our salvation. Christ fulfilled the task by dying for our sins so that we may be free again to choose God and live, and not be subject to death's hold. Two different things.
And when His mission was accomplished, the full revelation of God's message was made known, the humanity was saved, and the New Covenant was established, which—as The Book of Hebrews reminds us—made the Old Covenant obsolete.
No, but they are the key that unlocks the mystery of the God's revelation as it should be interpreted. That's the meaning of being a Christian, FK—it is the belief in Christ as our Lord and God; that He is the true visible representation of God, as God wanted us to perceive Him all along.
God does not change, FK, as someone here recently suggested, and you agreed. Human perception of God changed.
I accept that Paul's teachings are true because they are scripture, and they do not conflict with Christ.
Well, sure, St. Paul's teachings are true so long they do not conflict with Christ's teaching. They are not scirpture just because; they are scripture because they agree with Christ's teachings (Gospels) even though some people's interpretation of St. Paul don't.