Christ did not establish multiple brides but one Bride.
Amen.
You may perceive my faith in a certain light and I may perceive yours in a certain light, yet if we really want to have dialogue or share our faith, it makes no sense to speak as bluntly as "robot calvingods" or your statement
All I'm asking for is a civil tone -- not conciliation or "kumbaya" -- we can disagree or argue in a way that it respects the other person
it's difficult -- not the least for me, but it's possible and it bears fruit. I talk to my Eastern Orthodox friends here and we used to have bitter arguments in 2004-2007, but what happened was that near the end we (all of us) realised we were accusing each other of stuff that happened centuries before or of things that were not true, just what we thought.
Now we actually have a dialogue -- we recognise our differences but we also know that there are many points that we taught of the other that are just not true.
Net result is that we share more and more of our faith and beliefs. We're not one communion yet, but we are able to see ourselves as brethern with disagreements rather than hated enemies
I consider that the focus should be on the entire bible, not just the Pauline Epistles, but still, some focus is a starting point.
The 3 points that I strongly cannot reconcile with are double pre-d, lack of belief in the true presence and baptism for the remission of sins. I know you would disagree with these, and so be it, but these are the three points that I cannot see reconciled with scripture and what we have always believed
For that reason I see communion between us in orthodoxy and the Lutherans and traditional anglicans.
I have put it crudely with c-g but I do see the entire double p-d and zero free-will as indicating just that and that does not square with what I know of scripture. My Lutheran friends, who are on that border have given much more detailed responses on why this is incorrect
Predestination. Most Presbyterian churches teach a "double predestination," i.e., that some people are predestined by God from eternity to be saved and others are predestined by God from eternity to be damned.Lutherans believe that while God, in his grace in Christ Jesus, has indeed chosen from eternity to save those who trust in Jesus Christ, He has not predestined anyone to damnation.
Those who are saved are saved by grace alone; those who are damned are damned not by God's choice but because of their own sin and stubbornness. This is a mystery that is incomprehensible to human reason (as are all true Scriptural articles of faith).
I honestly do believe that Presbyterianism while trying to distance itself from orthodoxy stripped away too much of the mystery that is God and led to puritanism. The adverse reaction of this is pentecostalism which is the 180 degree opposite -- more reliance on feelings etc.