IMRight, I just ran your post #1613 through my secret catholic decoder ring, and it told me that you missed Mitch5501's whole point, he said that a man who knows his salvation is assured, lets the light from that joy and freedom shine so others see it, and want that same joy.
Mitch, correct me if I read this wrong.
IMRight, you said that you do not believe that the end of the age is necessarily near, and that a lot of the prophecy’s were already fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed, and therefore the end may not be near, but every man through his life cycle experiences the full plan of salvation by, life, sin, redemption, death, burial, and finally the resurrection, and this cycle repeats it's self with every birth, and life is kind of like a soul factory.
Is that a fair annalist of your post?
Have I been wrong in thinking you were a catholic? Because that is the exact teaching of the Prederist religion.
Please clarify this for me, are you Preterist, or Catholic, and if you are catholic, is that their belief?
Nope...you nailed it.
God bless and no arguing! 8-)
My education on that subject was a long time ago, so forgive me if I err, but I thought that the Prederists believe that all of the prophesies in scripture (or maybe just Revelation) have already been fulfilled - and that we are currently living in the kingdom. This is certainly not my (or the Church's) belief - nor do I think my post implies that.
IMRight, you said that you do not believe that the end of the age is necessarily near,
I have no way of knowing, and anyone who sees signs of the end is probably wrong. That having been said "this generation shall not pass away..." is also true for this generation. We are to be about the Lord's business - living as if today is the day.
and that a lot of the prophecy’s were already fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed, and therefore the end may not be near,
One statement does not imply the other. I said that many people see the possiblility of multiple fulfillments of certain prophesies - the final fulfillment of Revelation must be the end of times, but there is plenty of evidence that John thought he was writting to the first century church to strengthen their resolve in the struggle with Rome (and the "Nero argument" made more sense to me than the other ideas about who the beast is). This does not mean that Revelation was not intended by the Spirit to educate the church about the final days. My intent was to point out that the promises of Scripture were not solely corporate, but also had individual relevance. Christ will come again. Even if you perish before the second coming.
but every man through his life cycle experiences the full plan of salvation by, life, sin, redemption, death, burial, and finally the resurrection, and this cycle repeats it's self with every birth, and life is kind of like a soul factory. Is that a fair annalist of your post?
I always thought that you believed that in baptism we are united to Him in death,burial and resurrection? Does He go through it all again each time? Or does it just become real in us? Life and sin can be demonstrated as well. We are certainly created without having actually sinned ourselves (but with original sin - which perhaps Paul is refering to when he says "the sin that is within me, but is not my sin"). But I certainly earned my damnation pretty early with actual sins that I committed. I needed saving from more than just "original sin" when I came to Christ.
The only piece that remains is whether the scripture is applicable to the individual and we will see Christ come again. I admit that I may be wrong, and I have no idea whether it fits within the Church's teachings, but I believe it to be true ("true" with a little "t").
The "soul factory" idea is so outside of my understanding that I'm not sure what the proper response is. Is God capable of creating souls that would be in immediate communion with him in Heaven and skip the whole process here on Earth? Certainly, but that is not the way He did it. Does He intend for us to be born into sin and perish here without Him? No, we are created for this life to learn of our place with Him (ignoring any arguments either way about predestination). Does this make the Earth a "soul factory"? The concept seems too unrefined... could you be more specific?