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To: Forest Keeper; MarkBsnr; kosta50; P-Marlowe; Dr. Eckleburg; blue-duncan; hosepipe
Mark: I will preach the Gospels to you; what do you give me? Why do so many people try to build theology upon other than the Gospels? Man is not equal to God; nothing in Christian Catholic theology even hints at it.

FK: I give you scriptures and my theology is built on the totality of God's inspired word. Scriptures should be interpreted through other scriptures, rather than anyone declaring that favored sections are right and disfavored sections are wrong

He also quotes from the Old Testament to show that it has been misinterpreted. And the author of Hebrews tells us that the Old Covenant has been rendered obsolete because Israel corrupted it.

St. Paul's entire ministry is based on demonstrating the incomplete understanding of what saves (grace, not the law). No one is saying other parts are "wrong," FK. Christ said He came to fulfill, and not to abolish. The New Covenant expressed in the Gospels is not a replacement but a perfection of the Old. Christ re-interprets (in the correct spirit) the sabbath, eye-for-an-eye, etc.  and other laws.

It is in the spirit of the Gospels that we must interpret the rest because the Gospels reflect Christ's  full revelation of God to men in the divine economy.

Our Christian faith is meaningless without the Gospels. The Gospels define Christianity. The same cannot be said of any other section of the Bible. The Gospels are the mind and the heart of Jesus.

5,856 posted on 09/11/2007 5:34:14 AM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: kosta50; MarkBsnr; P-Marlowe; Dr. Eckleburg; blue-duncan; hosepipe
[MarkBsnr] also quotes from the Old Testament to show that it has been misinterpreted. And the author of Hebrews tells us that the Old Covenant has been rendered obsolete because Israel corrupted it.

But that doesn't make the Old Testament obsolete. If I quote from the OT, a valid response from you could be "that's no longer applicable because Jesus fulfilled it" (such as sacrificing animals). Outside of that, I would say that everything stands as is.

St. Paul's entire ministry is based on demonstrating the incomplete understanding of what saves (grace, not the law). No one is saying other parts are "wrong," FK.

As far as I can tell, you just did within the same thought. :) If Paul had an incomplete understanding and was personally taught everything he knew by Christ Himself, then he was either wrong, or Christ intentionally wanted Paul's writings to be incomplete. Neither makes any sense to me. If God's intended revelation to us was fully contained in the Gospels, then our Bibles today would consist of 4 books.

It is in the spirit of the Gospels that we must interpret the rest because the Gospels reflect Christ's full revelation of God to men in the divine economy.

But Jesus quotes liberally from the OT, thus affirming that it is still in force. He says:

Matt 22:29 : Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

Jesus, knowing that the NT is on the way, says that NOT knowing the OT leads to error.

Our Christian faith is meaningless without the Gospels. The Gospels define Christianity. The same cannot be said of any other section of the Bible. The Gospels are the mind and the heart of Jesus.

All true, BUT this does NOT mean that any other part of the Bible is "less" true. What you said makes the Gospels rightfully and critically important, but not to the exclusion of the fullness of God's revelation to us. Within the Bible, one CANNOT have the full and intended understanding of God by reading ONLY the Gospels.

6,030 posted on 09/12/2007 3:53:46 AM PDT by Forest Keeper (It is a joy to me to know that God had my number, before He created numbers.)
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