The unity Christians have is in this.....
John 1:10-13 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 3:14-18 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Acts 16:27-31 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Romans 10:9-13 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Ephesians 2:1-10And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Yeah, it's a lot of Scripture but the unity is of salvation by faith in Christ, but believing in His name.
There are areas that Paul refers to as *disputable matters*, areas where opinion varies but is not a salvation issue.
And Catholicism certainly has those areas where there's latitude, not only based on church teaching, but also on what we see here on the RF.
Not every Catholic here agrees on everything with each other, much less the church.
Edit...
Not: .....but believing in His name.
Rather: ....BY believing in His name.
I agree.
And Catholicism certainly has those areas where there's latitude, not only based on church teaching, but also on what we see here on the RF.
Not every Catholic here agrees on everything with each other, much less the church.
That's correct. (I even posted about this phenomena earlier, in my post #79 on this thread.
Where you and I differ (and I guess where I differ with a lot of Protestants) is in the claim that you guys disagree a lot more, on issues that are more important than what we Catholics disagree. I gave an example of the dogma (it's a dogma in the Catholic Church at least) of free will.
Apparently (correct me if I'm wrong) you don't believe that a full understanding of free will (whether it's real or not) is required for salvation. We Catholics do.
Indeed it astounds me that you (Protestants) claim that whether or not free will even exists isn't that important. Don't you think it's important to know if free will exists or not? Don't you think the existence (or lack thereof) of free will has an impact on your salvation? How can that question go unsettled in the "invisible" church and yet you claim to have "unity in everything that matters for salvation"?
Again, the issue of free will (or the lack thereof) has no bearing on the issue of salvation? Really?