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"It will come as no surprise to you that those of us in The Church don't buy that theory"

Well, it will probably come as no surprise to you that those of us who are Christians trust what Paul, not the church fathers, has to say on the subject,

Eph 2:7 "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

Sounds simple enough even a child or the least educated could understand. After salvation comes the purpose for the salvation,

Eph 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

We never put the cart before the horse lest someone might think it was the cart that was doing the pulling.

"Well, it will probably come as no surprise to you that those of us who are Christians trust what Paul, not the church fathers, has to say on the subject."

You haven't answered my question. To say you believe what +Paul wrote is no answer at all. Why was The Church wrong? Why didn't one Father, even in speculation, believe what the Reformers came up with for an interpretation of +Paul 1500 years after the fact?

Was The Church apostate from the days of +Ignatius and +Clement? Were the Fathers deluded tools of the Evil One? You proclaim your belief in a sort of "pow, you're saved" theory of salvation and add to it a concept which says that once you get there, in this life as I understand it, you can never, ever, backslide but will simply go from one good deed to the next (history doesn't seem to bear out this theory). I don't doubt you believe this sincerely. It certainly is a comforting belief and doubtless leads to a life far easier than one of struggling with theosis. But you must have some reason for believing that the Holy Spirit abandoned The Church soon after Pentecost and went into hiding until a few priests got pissed off with Rome. Its a fair question, BD.

We never put the cart before the horse lest someone might think it was the cart that was doing the pulling.

I hadn't realized that "faith" was the cart of Ephesians 2. I had always thought it was GOD.

"it is the gift of God" Eph 2:7

Just as works, faith is a gift given to us from God to those whom He wills.

Regards