Point taken, though evangelicals should expect to get quizzed back too and not get all browned off about it. The only real answer to such quizzing is to be versed enough in the person of Christ, and how that is reflected in scriptures and in the life of the saved, that you don’t get caught up in lines of human theologizing. There are some paradoxes that have to be embraced (says this Calminian).
I can and have defended my beliefs and I don’t think you’ve seen me getting “browned off.” Certain adherents of the Roman religion either won’t or can’t defend anything. What’s unclear to me is why you occasionally jump in to seemingly defend them. Do you believe they have a saving gospel? Regardless, I know there are a lot of lost FReepers who need to hear the gospel and I know they won’t find it in Rome. I have lost Catholic relatives, so this matter is very personal and Important to me. It’s wicked to tell them they have peace with God when there is no peace. I won’t discount the possibility tha some Catholics are saved, but if so they have been saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, not through their Roman system.
Yes, I’m an unabashed Calvinist, but I almost never delve into that topic here because I see it as an in-house discussion for the saints. It’s a position many believers are certain they don’t agree with even though they don’t understand enough to discuss it. For that reason I don’t see it as profitable to have an ongoing battle over the five points, which are just the starting point of what the Reformed believe. However, since it’s often difficult to know where you are coming from or why you make some the comments you make, I’ll say this: Reformed theology does focus on the person and finished work of Christ. It’s all about Him. And it’s the Calvinist who embraces the seemingly contradictory truths (an antinomy) of human responsibility and God’s sovereignty, so I’m good with paradox.