Marmema -- In my post #26, I began by acknowledging:
I happily acknowledged all of this up front, because it's all true. I wasn't looking to pick a fight with anyone.
I went on to post some Patristic quotations from the Celtic Orthodox Fathers on their Theology. Nothing was asserted without complementary Patristic citations from the greatest of Celtic Fathers. No quotations were hacked together with ellipses, every single quotation was referenced to the original source.
I simply quoted what they wrote to their own followers.
For this -- for quoting Patristic Fathers -- in #27 and #29, my honesty and my integrity was immediately attacked, accused of "twisting history" and misrepresenting the Fathers.
This baseless attack has continued ever since, throughout this thread.
To the best of my knowledge, I have never treated ANYONE quoting a Calvinist Theologian in this manner. If the citation is mis-quoted or mis-attributed in any way, I will pull the original citation and show the error in the citation. NO attempt has ever been made to show that I mis-quoted or mis-attributed ANY of my citations in ANY way -- yet still the baseless accusations against my honesty continue (I honestly suspect that my attackers know that I haven't mis-quoted or mis-attributed my citations in any way -- and just don't care).
This is what it comes down to. Albeit with a Greek-derived origin, ecclesiology, liturgical worship, clerical practice, monastic tradition, and so forth -- all of which I happily admit -- when it comes to Theology, this is what the Celtic Fathers said:
"Man, by making an ill use of his Free-will, lost both himself and it. For, like a man who kills himself, is able, of course, to kill himself, because he lives, but by killing himself becomes unable to live, neither can raise himself again from the dead after he has killed himself; so when sin was committed by means of free-will, then, sin being the conqueror, free-will itself also was lost, for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage."
"The apostle says, 'God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world," that is, by his eternal predestination, his free calling, and his grace which was due to none.'' They teach the sovereignty not less than the eternity of God's purposes. "God," says Sedulius, " Hath mercy with great goodness, and hardeneth without any iniquity; so that neither can he who is saved glory of his own merits, nor he that is lost complain but of his own merits."
OF BAPTISM: "But if one first, dies not to sin, he cannot be buried with Christ, for no one is ever buried while yet living. Die thou first to sin that thou mayest be able to be buried with Christ, seeing that it is to the dead only we give sepulture."
OF THE EUCHARIST: "The Sacraments of the Altar are not the real Body and Blood of Christ, but only the commemoration of his Body and Blood."
And much more besides, all properly sourced and referenced above. If that's what they said, that's what they said!! If I have dishonestly quoted them in any way, just show me the mis-quotation... just show me the mis-attribution... if there are ANY, just show me, and I'll acknowledge the error!!
But if not... then for my honesty to be *immediately*, and *continually* attacked, when NOT ONE of the Patristics I've cited above has been shown to be mis-quoted in ANY way -- that is just downright vicious, from start to finish.