Posted on 12/10/2014 6:32:20 AM PST by marshmallow
"Christian unity" is one of those terms that stir up a whole spectrum of—sometimes emotional—opinions.
On the one hand, we know that Jesus prayed to the Father concerning future believers "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you" (John 17:21a, NIV).
On the other hand, charismatics know it is almost pointless to discuss the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12, 14) with Baptists or most anyone else from a mainline denomination. And Protestants of just about any stripe get riled up when they hear Catholics talking about papal infallibility or their adoration of the Virgin Mary.
It's on this latter point that Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and successful author, has waded into a hornet's nest of controversy by telling a Catholic News Service interviewer that Protestants and Catholics "have far more in common than what divides us" and that Catholics do not "worship Mary like she's another god."
Regarding Warren's view that Catholics do not worship Mary, Matt Slick, writing on the website of the Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry, goes into great detail with material from Roman Catholic sources that say Mary is "the all holy one," is to be prayed to, worshipped, that she "brings us the gifts of eternal life" and she "made atonement for the sins of man."
If that's not putting her in the place of Christ as a god-like figure to be worshipped, then what is it?
"We believe in Trinity, the Bible, the resurrection, and that salvation is through Jesus Christ. These are the big issues," Warren says. "But the most important thing is if you love Jesus, we're on the same team."
To Warren's point about being on the same team, Slick.....
(Excerpt) Read more at charismanews.com ...
We are in agreement.
They say they are "preaching the word of God". All of them. Each one of them.
And who are you to contradict them?
God does not demand doctrinal or congregational unity for salvation.
So we're free to embrace falsehood? There is one God, one Gospel, one truth and one salvation.
Jesus came to give witness to the truth and he prayed that all his followers might be one.
....”As a Catholic, I consider protestant Christians to be my brothers and sisters in Christ. But the anti-Catholic nastiness on this thread does not come across as very Christian.”.....
Perhaps you need to refresh yourself on what the Lord requires of us in opposing false doctrines and traditions taught by men.
As A Follower of Jesus Christ I do not assume any are fellow Christians as the Holy Spirit is faithful to bear witness of who they are....some mask as so but are not. Others know scripture but use it to justify their position rather than what it clearly states. We should always be under the influence of the Holy Spirit in discerning what is true and what is false....not what our church necessarily says.
As for nastiness...throughout History believers have engaged in debate which can and does get heated...that’s natural and it will always be so.
However...there are other threads you might be more comfortable in that do not get so heated. I find these always teach and learn and strengthen my faith in what is truth and falsehood.
A higher honor could not be imagined. "He who is mighty has done great things for me!"
"Great things" is not a synonym for "No big deal."
And yet Catholics deny!
And just how do you feel about the anti-Protestant nastiness that we see in the RF?
And you call her a lot less!
And as always, when you apparently can’t make an argument that actually sticks, you start citing other folks positions and explanations; and then make a genral assertion without basis.
That seems to work for the Low Info Voters; too.
chuckle...
Eeny, Meeny, miny, moe...
True; your choisen religion has THAT one nailed down!
There are only two in scripture that it called "full of grace". That was Jesus and Stephen. Scripture does NOT say Mary was full of grace. Mary was favored with grace but NOT full of grace like Jesus and Stephen were.
Nope.
Embrace.
Nope.
I call the Bible's Mary just what it says: Blessed.
I call your chosen religion's 'mary' a non-biblical image.
If you like your albatross, you may keep your albatross.
I’ll say an Amen to that.
The safeguarding of the Gospel and the transmission of truth was not entrusted to the individual. It was revealed by Christ and handed on to the Apostles who passed it on to their successors. The Church, in other words. The task of the Church and the Pope in particular, is simply to pass it on, intact, without monkeying with it.
"Individualism" is not synonymous with disagreeing with the current Pope. "Individualism" and subjectivism refer to the personal, subjective interpretation of Scripture, divorced from apostolic tradition and the rejection of the Church's authority.
The issues which Catholics have with the current Pope stem from precisely his own "individualism" in certain contexts. The Pope is a servant of the Church and a 2,000 year Catholic tradition and ensuring that he is faithful to this tradition does not constitute "individualism".
It is not at all unheard-of for a person to receive the Holy Spirit and be saved in their mother's womb (John the Baptist did; Isaiah and Jeremiah too, since they were made prophets in their mothers' wombs, and the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets.) In this manner, they foreshadowed or paralleled her. Did they or did they not receive the Holy Spirit as embryos and fetuses?
Like them, Mary was saved in the womb. And, as is fitting, to an even more wonderful degree: she was free from sin from her very conception, from when she was a zygote.
Prenatal reception of God's grace is a pro-life Biblical theme, my friend!
We say this because of the wonderful and unparalleled title the very angel of God gave her: Kecharitomene. The angel didn't call her "full of sin". He called her "full of grace". So Biblically, he did not address her as a sinner, but quite the contrary as one full of grace. And this was before she even became pregnant with God's Baby.
All glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, her Savior and ours.
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