LOL......"The Angel of the Lord" = Jesus??
Jesus is not an angel, He is not "the" angel of the Lord. He is not any type of angel. Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin.
Aside from theological confusion about the distinction between angels and Jesus the God-man, there is also chronological confusion. The OT predates Jesus.
Where do you get the idea that "The Angel of the Lord" is Jesus? Not novel??? May not be very novel in you religion but it's very novel in the word of God...Weird...You apparently are trying to correct me with scripture but the second time now you have to 'change' the scripture to get it to mean what you want it to mean... John and Peter and James did NOT converse with Moses and Elias...No one but the 'glorified' Jesus conversed with the Prophets...There goes your wild theory...
You wish.
Peter, James and John were present for the conversation with Moses and Elijah and witnessed it and irrespective of whether they conversed with the aforementioned two they were a part of the mystical experience for Peter said..."let us build three tents....".
Perhaps you think that is the only reference in the NT to the apostles having mystical experiences. Allow me to give you a few more. When Peter was in prison an angel appeared to him and led him out of prison. Paul speaks of encounters with the devil when he refers to "an angel of Satan to beat me" to keep him humble after he had undergone sublime mystical experiences. Finally, the entire last book of the Bible is a narrative of a mystical vision which John received on the island of Patmos.
Such visions didn't stop with John or the other apostles. Mysticism has been alive in the Church throughout her history to this very day.
What makes you think he's talking to me, and not you...So you apparently take that to mean that the scriptures are difficult and hard to understand so a person must be an intellectual, highly educated scholar to understand the 8th grade language, eh??? Well, I got news for ya...Bad news...The verse doesn't say the scripture is so difficult it's hard for the younger and less educated to understand...It says there are 'certain things' which are hard, not impossible to understand and since you guys always jump to that verse to prove something that isn't true, I'd say it applies to your crew...
So to summarize, Peter's caution about interpreting certain passages in Paul's letters was not addressed to you. It was addressed to my "crew" (i.e. the Catholic Church)?
You know that's just plain silly, right? It's a total stretch. A flimsy and tortured attempt to explain away Peter's admonition. When you shot off your mouth about "a 14 year old can understand it", you completely forgot about that passage in Peter. BTW, you still haven't explained the Scriptural basis for your "14 year old" idea.
We want to keep this Scriptural, right? We wouldn't want anyone to get the impression that you're just pulling this stuff out of the air, would we?
I didn't see Joseph Smith's name in there...He's every bit a mystic that your guys are...Lotsa mystics out there...One famous one was Edgar Cayce...Is he on the list??? In the scriptures, your mystics are called prophets, or Doctors of Devination...
Scripture actually tells us to "test the Spirit". That's the Church's job. That's why the Book of Revelation is in the Bible. The Fathers of the early Church decided that John's writings concerning what he saw in the cave on Patmos were truly mystical and authentically of God, rather than Satanic or the result of a bad hangover.
Over the centuries there have been false mystics who were either fakes or who were relaying messages from Satan. Then there have been true mystics who were, like John, receiving visions which conveyed authentic truth. Another reason why we need the Church to guard us against the wiles of Satan.
Naturally, if you dismiss the Church then you're left on your own to sort the wheat from the chaff. The result is that you, unable to discern true mysticism from false, dismiss all of it.
Have you figured out the difference between temptation and sin yet? I'm still waiting for you to explain how what is sinful can give rise to what is sinless.
Jesus is The Creator, Word, God, I AM.
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. – Colossians 1:15-17
And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: - Ephesians 3:9
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. – Exodus 3:14
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. – John 8:58
As soon then as he had said unto them, I am [he], they went backward, and fell to the ground. - John 18:6