Observe the inscription on the cruciform, "ο ΩΝ". That means "the [only] Existence". The created world exists secondarily. God exists and that is all He does. He is existence itself.
Posted on 07/02/2010 6:56:08 PM PDT by Desdemona
There was a point there, somewhere — you missed it...
Truly it seems that everything else in nature proceeds as it is supposed to do .... and then there's man, willful and defiant.
How could any word of man be more powerful than a Name of God?
“There was a point there, somewhere — you missed it...”
Really? How so?
Alamo-Girl "got it"...
Namely, the use of the phrase Ayn Sof to describe God the Creator. Literally, it means "no thing."
But the meaning is that no word of men can describe God the Creator, e.g. time, space, form, matter, energy do not apply to the Creator of them.
The insight is that once we mortals attach a word to an object, we limit our awareness of the object to the meaning of that word.
“How could any word of man be more powerful than a Name of God?”
“Alamo-Girl “got it”...”
Perhaps Isaiah didn’t get it either.
Isa. 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy;”
Ex. 3:14 “Yahweh” in ancient Hebrew is a causative in the third person that has been shortened in biblical Hebrew. In its original form it reads “Yahweh asher yihweh”, “He causes to be what comes into Existence”.
This particular one is a sermon to the unconverted. In the Protestant mindset, once the Grand Getting Saved occurs, the gospel ceases to matter.
Actually, you are. Or at least I am now that I am in Missouri.
I could observe the round pond out my window and the fact that is has a water pipe in the center for a fountain, and so conclude that not me but the water pipe is the center, but I would be deceived by appearances.
God gave you eternal soul, and He took on human body, so yes, man is pretty much the center of the creation.
Yes, good post.
Observe the inscription on the cruciform, "ο ΩΝ". That means "the [only] Existence". The created world exists secondarily. God exists and that is all He does. He is existence itself.
We might discern those Names of God as first cause and final cause of "all that there is."
And God's Name is I AM.
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. – John 8:58
As soon then as he had said unto them, I am [he], they went backward, and fell to the ground. – John 18:6
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. – Revelation 1:8
To God be the glory, not man, never man.
But if you don't have proper faith and practice, you do not get salvation.
Who is the "we" in [Eph. 2]verse 10? The context says it refers to the saved only
Yes, that passage does speak of the Elect, and it urges THEM to do good works as well as have faith. This is precisely why salvation is both through faith and works.
Or is it your contention that the unconverted do not have to dogood works? Quite the opposite, see the quote Kosta just reminded us of, "to them first that are at Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and unto all the country of Judea, and to the Gentiles did I preach, that they should do penance, and turn to God, doing works worthy of penance" (Acts 26:20)
relies also on works as a separate and independent requirement for salvation
It is not "separate and independent", it is jsut a requirement that Protestantism misses and so it becomes the focus of debate. One should not separate faith and works. Faith is what we do.
we see sanctification very differently, with Catholics seeing it as growth toward salvation
Yes, because nothing impure can enter heaven -- you have to become a saint if you want to be saved. This is why St. Paul called those of whom he approved "saints".
Our focus is only on Christ
Obviously not, because Christ gave you the gospel that tells you to do good works, and told you that He will judge you by them. You focus is on your preacher who scatters the flock away from Christ.
As I understand Catholicism declared faith IS real until forfeited by failure to pass the test
Faith is not salvific until it is matured through works. It is potentially real, but it is not mature.
curse
Anathema is not a curse. It is a declaration that a doctrine is false and leads away from Christ.
you: Actually, you are. Or at least I am now that I am in Missouri.
Truly, though, Alamo-Girl is not the center of the universe.
I use this example to remind myself of where I am in this universe (quoting myself.)
But your car is speeding down the road at 65 mph. So for the guy watching you from the roadside table, that fly is going 70 mph.
But the road you have taken is on the equator and the circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,901.55 miles and the earth rotates once every 24 hours. So that fly is now going 1,100 mph + 70 mph = 1,170 mph.
Moreover, the orbital length of earth traveling around the sun is 149,600,000 miles, traveled in 365.25 days. That is 67,000 miles per hour. So add that in, and the fly is going 68,170 mph.
The sun orbits the Milky Way galaxy at a speed of 486,000 miles per hour. Add that in, and the fly is now going 554,170 miles per hour.
All of this and we haven’t gotten to the accelerating expansion of the universe, i.e. space/time itself.
Space/time doesn’t pre-exist – it is created as the universe expands.
A galaxy 1 million light years away would seem to be moving away from us at a rate of 60,000 miles per hour. For every 3.26 million light years further out that we look, the galaxies seem to be moving away from us at an additional 162,000 miles per hour. In sum, the universe is currently at least 156 billion light years wide.
And that is looking at motion from the fly’s perspective.
If we go in the other direction as "observer" – the quantum – the cumulative velocities are even more mind-boggling.
It's not about me, it's about Jesus.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.
For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say], whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven.– Colossians 1:15-20
Ask yourself, 'Upon Whose integrity do the promises of God rest?'
Paul stated the way to salvation very succinctly, and it placed the responisbility to save squarely upon the 'shoulders' of the only One capable of overcoming the world and the devils. If you presume to have such ability, you are mistaken. In the 'Age of Grace', believe on Him and you will be saved is the operant condition. No instituion can edit that to any refined state for it is God's integrity which makes it so, in the Age of Grace.
To which kosta replied: I really can't disagree with you at all on this.
LOL kosta! I do believe this is the first time I've ever seen you agree (or at least not disagree) with anyone about anything.
Actually “possessed” isn't used. But I'll say he was influenced. How would Judas be guilty if he had no control or wasn't free to do otherwise than what he did?
And if free will is an “illusion” how could you conclude ANYONE had freewill?
“Okay it says so in Acts 5:31, 11:18, and 2 Tim 2:22. Still having doubts?”
No, I have no doubts that over and over the exhortation is for people to take positive action, to “repent”, something they would do, Acts 2:38, 3:19, 8:22, 17:30, 26:30, and that's just Acts.
Then what does “granted”, “give” repentance mean in the three scriptures in which it is used?
That He made it possible, provided opportunity.
Acts 14:3 says it was ‘given, granted’ to the disciples to perform “signs and portents”.
Goo’s action made it possible for them to do so. Rom 2:4 in fact says God was trying to “lead” people to repentance.
LOLOL!
Thank you ever so much, D-fendr, for the wonderful excerpt from Chesterton!
Everything that human beings know today in all fields — science, philosophy, history — is the product of human experience and reflection tracing back over millennia. The "small and arrogant" oligarchs are themselves heirs of this tradition. Yet paradoxically they are at war with it, just as evidently they are at war with God. They urge us to "forget" the achievements of our great cultural ancestors, because if we "remember" them, then they can't sell us a bill of goods that will cost us our liberty, dignity, and possibly our lives in the end. As George Weigel has written,
This historical myopia is unhappily reminiscent of the new atheists.... [R]eason detached from the Jewish and Christian sources of Western civilization — and especially from the idea that God impressed a certain rationality on creation, thus rendering it intelligible — has become the parody of reason that is postmodernism; the witches' brew of metaphysical nihilism, epistemological skepticism, and moral relativism that underwrites ... political correctness.... ["The Light of Reason," National Review, June 7, 2010, p. 42]It not only underwrites political correctness, but also sociopolitical radicalism based on pure abstractions. And if history is any guide, such radical projects simply do not work in the "real" world.
From the point of view of our would-be "controllers," human beings become better fit for the "herd" if they can be lobotomized. Since this is largely impractical (at least so far), for them to remain in ignorance of the human past is the next best strategy for controlling them....
Ultimately, that's what it's all about: A self-selected elite wants to control mankind. Or at least as much of it as they possibly can.
C. S. Lewis, of course, delves into the same issues Chesterton has raised, in The Abolition of Man....
Thank you so much for writing, D-fendr!
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