Posted on 04/11/2013 6:40:37 AM PDT by Vermont Crank
I am 100% biased. That’s why I’m here.
Geez, if you keep up with that kind of attitude, people will start to think that you own the place!
Allow me to relate the story of the last days of my husband's grandfather. He was the best example of a Christian I've known. He was uncompromising when it came to the Word, but you would never see him beat anyone over the head with it. He was a gentle man, and everyone loved him.
A couple of Mormons came to his door once and asked if they could speak with him. He said certainly, if they would afford him the same amount of time, and he opened his door wide. He listened to their spiel, and when they were done, he took out his Bible and showed them where everything they had said was wrong. And he did it nicely. He was always looking for an opportunity to share Christ.
He died three years ago, and those last days in the hospital were a revelation. He called each of us to his bedside individually for a final conversation, and he told us firmly that there was no reason for us to be sad....he said that Jesus was showing him what was to come, and he had no words to describe it, nor did he believe it was appropriate for him to try. He was so ready to leave and join Christ in the heaven he had been so graciously allowed to glimpse, as he hovered between both worlds. There was no fear in him at all.
That hospital room had an atmosphere I still don't know how to describe. It was almost like being in church. The doctors and nurses felt it, too. One of the doctors was in awe...he told my mother-in-law he'd never experienced anything like it. Of course, it was the Holy Spirit.
So that dear man passed soon after and joined the Lord who had come to him and eased him into heaven. To this day, I'm convinced Jesus did it to comfort us, as well.
And to think....somehow Jesus managed to get him there, even though he wasn't Catholic.
Since Wycliffe was able to make a readable translation in 1400ish, and since some of the dialects had translations of some parts earlier, there was some capability. Tyndale was forced to choose between dialects as he translated, and his translation and the ones that followed in some ways created English by giving a standard text.
Or so I’ve read. I’m NOT a scholar of medieval english or anything that came before it!
The Dutch put up with the same nonsense. The big question here is why English didn't split up into a variety of true dialects in its conquest of the world, and that's probably because it has a standardized written language with the world's largest vocabulary suitable for any purpose ~
Methinks thou presumes too much. Paul was a Jew. Peter was a Jew. Jesus was a Jew. The Apostles were Jews. Catholicism came much later.
Read a great deal of it. The narrative presented does not support the conclusion drawn. The author admits as much when he says that it is simply a tenet of faith that one believes in the overarching providence of God as ratifying the canon. That's fine, but it's like
Q: Why is the sky blue?
A. Because God made it that way.
That's true as far as it goes. But, we can go farther, using the reason endowed minds give us by God.
The Church Fathers who defended orthodoxy and refuted heresy always found orthodoxy in what had always been believed by those to whom the were joined. One and only one quote from Gregory of Nyssa in his refutation of Eunomius, who persisted in the Arian heresy
I may be counted among the least of those who are enlisted in the Church of God, but still I am not too weak to stand out as her champion against one who has broken with that Church. The very smallest member of a vigorous body would, by virtue of the unity of its life with the whole, be found stronger than one that had been cut away and was dying, however large the latter and small the former.
Though I have not read Eunomius, I would not be surprised to find out that he claimed to be led by the Holy Spirit and that he also was in concert with the mind of the church.
But, 1600 years later, it is St Gregory and his teaching which is held as orthodox - and that consciously by the Orthodox and Catholic traditions. The way Protestants handle the Fathers is always a mystery to me.
I realize that I wandered off the specific topic of the canon of scripture. Suffice it to say, the very same Church of God to which Gregory was joined, would have seen the absolute necessity of defining what it was and what it was not.
Can you subscribe to the Nicene creed?
I ask because I have not gotten a grasp on what you believe, despite a rather lengthy recent exchange.
Thank you for sharing the story of your grandfather-in-law’s homecoming. It blessed me to read it. Glory to God!
So do you support the papal sanction of use of torture and capital punishment against theological dissidents as being Scriptural?
Are you from Montpelier, Burlington or Rutland?
That is a desired but unwarranted conclusion. Invoking the fact that someone used something or even spoke truth does not mean recognizing that person has authority and defines doctrine, nor does it necessarily mean they concurred with all Rome teaches now, much less with its contrast with the NT church .
Rome herself will quote so-called church "fathers," but as there is disagreement btwn some material from such and what Rome teaches, thus she judges them more than they judge her, and the only real authority is Rome, is she does say so herself.
Just cause we don't go along with the EXTRA biblical things your church teaches and evidently requires?
That's funny!
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’[b]—
18 things known from long ago.[c]
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] [d] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
Protestantism is a collection of heresies, invented or at least approved by each individual protestant (who is his own final authority).
It is kind of funny, actually, in a sick sort of way.
Golly!
26 And the angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south unto the road that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza, which is desert.”
27 And he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28 was returning; and sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, “Go near and join thyself to this chariot.”
30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Understandest thou what thou readest?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless some man should guide me?” And he besought Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
32 The place of the Scripture from which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so opened He not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation, His judgment was taken away. And who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”
34 And the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man?”
35 Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What doth hinder me from being baptized?”
37 And Philip said, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
39 And when they had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip. And the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
40 But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he preached in all the cities until he came to Caesarea.
In a recently found scroll from a dig at Azotus; the long missing verse 41: But Philip was wroth, for he realized he'd forgotten to make sure that the eunuch knew that he was now a Catholic.
Me thinketh that thou be not thought a brother...
Protestantism is a heresy.
Protestantism is the worship of Yeshua instead of Ishtar using “Mary” as a proxy.
Now I've heard an AWFUL lot of claims about Smith's exploits; but THIS is a new one on me!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.