Posted on 06/24/2014 7:35:21 AM PDT by Faith Presses On
“Regarding the debate about faith and works: It’s like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important.”
“Regarding the debate about faith and works: It’s like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important.”
~C.S. Lewis
That comment was removed before I even saw it. And as a follower of Christ, and knowing He will judge my works, I don’t want to post anything to hurt people and possibly even drive them from Christ, or further away. What this Catholic man David Anders wrote in his articles, which is considerably long, seems to be hundreds of claims about evangelicalism and Catholicism, but a few really stuck out. His claim was that because of evangelicalism, he stopped caring about trying to do right as a teenager, and he says that’s fundamental to evangelicalism. But that’s an utter lie. He’s made out his own experience as a teen “the truth” about evangelicals, even though he must know that there are many who believe that what they do is just as important as belief.
The man was talking about his conversion. He wasn’t trying to be divisive. He was just telling the details of his story.
I'm not worried.
Likewise.
I read the article yesterday as it was posted on FR. As a Catholic it gave me a lot of insights into the differences between Catholics and Protestants. It also had a lot of early church history.
That being said, I always bristle when over arching statements are made about large groups which seem to force all into a single specific frame of mind. I do not believe that all evangelicals feel the way that the title of this thread indicates.
Evangelicals can no more be put into boxes than Catholics can.
The subject of being saved by faith alone is indeed a difficult one to discuss. It is sort of like what comes first? “The chicken or the egg?” Are we saved by faith and then we do good works? Probably true. However, if one is ‘saved’ does that mean we can go through life superficially and never worry about the well-being of others, because Jesus has saved us? I don’t think so. A failure to live the life of a follower of Jesus, would indicate that we are not actually believers in His message and mercy. We are merely hitchhiking along for the ride.
We are called to witness to Jesus by our actions, and that means doing good works in imitation of the Savior. It is an obligation, not a way the ‘earn’ salvation. We are saved through the blood of Jesus on the cross.
If you don’t have works, then is your screename an oxymoron?
You can’t have faith without works.
Thank you. God bless you, too. From what I recall, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re Catholic, so I’m not sure of what your response to this is specifically, but I do thank you for the kind words of support.
I really disagree. People need to talk about this stuff. It’s how we learn - if we are teachable.
I’ve changed many of my opinions regarding Christianity as I learn more and bounce it off other people. A friend of mine once said that many Christians spend their first six months as a Christian forming their opinions on what Christianity means and then the rest of their life defending those opinions, many of which are easily destroyed via logic and a simple reading of scripture.
Having moved to the bible belt three years ago from Seattle, I’ve seen it in spades here. If it were not so serious it would be funny.
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