Posted on 09/02/2017 7:03:37 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
About half of Protestants in the U.S. now agree with the "historically Catholic belief" that both faith and good deeds are needed for salvation, rather than faith alone, a Pew Research Center survey shows.
White Evangelicals stood out as the strongest believers in faith alone, however.
Pew, which released the survey to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, explored different questions, though one of the main focuses was on the requirements for salvation.
Fifty-two percent of U.S. Protestants said both good deeds and faith in God are needed to get into heaven; 46 percent said faith alone (sola fide) is needed. Among Catholics, 81 percent agreed that both good deeds and faith are necessary. Meanwhile, two-thirds of white evangelicals said they believe faith alone is needed for salvation.
(Catholics argue that "faith and works" is a misleading oversimplification of their beliefs.)
Protestants were similarly split on the Reformation principle of sola scriptura (which means that Scripture alone is authoritative for the faith and practice of the Christian), with 46 percent saying the Bible provides all the religious guidance Christians need and 52 percent saying Christians need guidance from church teachings and traditions in addition to the Bible. Among white evangelicals, nearly 60 percent agreed with the principle of sola sciptura.
Overall, only 30 percent of Protestants, 7 percent of Catholics and 44 percent of white evangelicals believe in both sola fide and sola scriptura.
The data for the poll was collected between May 30 and August 9, sampling 5,198 respondents, with the questions split in two forms. Pew noted that the margin of sampling error for both halves of respondents was plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
Some respondents were asked to answer the question of what is needed to get into heaven in their own words. Common responses to this open-ended question included belief in Jesus and being born again (32 percent); being a good person, moral values and doing good works (19 percent of all Christians); repentance and asking forgiveness for sins (12 percent); and belief in God (11 percent).
In other findings, Christians were largely split on the topic of purgatory, which some believe to be a place where souls go to be cleansed of their sins before they can enter Heaven.
Overall, 54 percent of U.S. Christians rejected the existence of such a place, while 33 percent said that they believed in it. White evangelicals were most likely to say it is a false belief, with 72 percent rejecting it. Catholics found themselves at the opposite end of the scale, with 70 percent stating that purgatory is a real place. While a majority (65 percent) of Protestants overall said purgatory does not exist, black Protestants were split on the belief, with 47 percent saying it exists and 48 percent saying it doesn't.
Notably, a majority of U.S. adults were familiar with the Reformation as the time Protestants broke away from the Catholic Church and correctly named Martin Luther as the person who inspired it.
Protestants this year are commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany on Oct. 31, 1517.
According to Ligonier Ministries, while the Reformation is largely described as a movement that revolved around sola fide and sola scriptura, "the 'protest' of Protestantism went far beyond the issue of justification by faith alone, challenging many dogmas that emerged in Rome, especially during the Middle Ages."
Pew noted, "[T]he issues at the heart of the Reformation were not merely doctrinal. Disputes also arose over religious practices, ecclesiastical structures, the sale of indulgences, the expensive construction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and more. Political and other factors also played an important role."
The Reformation swept through Germany in the 16th century, spread throughout Europe and then to the new world.
Thank you for your edifying post.
Well stated, the only Alone that one can 100% affirm by Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition (as expressed via Councils and Fathers) is Grace Alone. It is God’s Grace by which Humanity is saved. Faith is a Theological virtue which is connected to Grace, but so is Love and Hope, which are along with Faith are lived virtues to also be lived out.
However, as several posters noted, it is clear that many Americans who profess Catholicism on one hand or Protestant Confessions on the other are totally confused as to what their respective Traditions teach.
I don't recall in scripture where God gave Samuel a choice to follow Him. Same with John the Baptist who was chosen before he was born. David stated that he was chosen before he was born (Psalms 71:6) as well as Paul (Gal 1:15). Do you see a pattern? These are "special" people singled out by God. Rather they are just like every other believer, chosen by the grace of God:
Joh 1:13 who were born, not of blood (not a Jew) nor of the will of the flesh (can't make a choice) nor of the will of man (can't do good works), but of God.
There is nowhere in scripture where a person called by God refused to go. The closes one can come to is Jonah and we know how well that worked out for him.
... and others chose selectively what teachings they accept and believe.
Joh 10:25-29 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
Amen.
**Your view is in error and not supported by a complete view of the subject. You hang on a few verses but the totality of scripture supports my position so you will not change my position on this. Im done. Good-bye.**
It would have been fine for you to say that you strongly disagree, and end the conversation, but you think that you can make an accusation like that and then declare the conversation over? Tell me you’re not a fan of Algore.
I hang on a few verses? I can give you the long version, and will if asked.
Let’s look at the few verses you refer to:
Jn 3:16
That verse is great, but no greater than the ones that precede it. For before it, the Lord gives critical details on HOW to believe. A man must be born of the water and the Spirit or he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. There is a sound, the origin whereabouts unknown, that is heard whenever someone is born of the Spirit. Do you believe what the Lord taught concerning how to believe?
Acts 16:31
There is a “rest of the story”.
32 “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were IN his house”.
They were all at the prison keeper’s house at that point.
33 “And he took them the SAME HOUR of the night, washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his straightway.”
They left the house, obviously to a place with an ample source of water. Then after that, they return to the house:
34 “ And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.”
Rom 10:9
The context is critical. Paul has been expressing his sadness (in chapter 9, and continuing into chapter 10) concerning the lost state of his unbelieving Jewish brethren. He is speaking TO church brethren in Rome (1:5-7)(10:1), who he had reminded earlier of their being “buried with him by baptism unto death” (6:3,4).
He is telling them in chapter 10, that even though the Jews had rejected the Lord, they could still be saved (10:12). But, they have to hear the gospel preached by a preacher sent by God (10:13-15). God’s preachers in Acts commanded and performed water baptism in the name of Jesus, and they did so with minimal delay.
Eph 2:8,9
Do you not realize that Paul was writing to people that were already converted (1:1). He didn’t have to go into detail about it. Most of Paul’s epistles begin in like manner.
**Other times repentance alone is named (Lk 24:47, Acts 3:19, 5:31, 17:30, 2 Cor 7:10).**
Those will be addressed later, as I have family obligations for the next few hours. Remember you made the accusations, and therefore cannot expect to deny defense of those accusations.
Peace.
I. They, whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.[1]
II. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father;[2] upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ,[3] the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them,[4] and the nature of the covenant of grace:[5] from all which arises also the certainty and infallibility thereof.[6]
III. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins;[7] and, for a time, continue therein:[8] whereby they incur God's displeasure,[9] and grieve His Holy Spirit,[10] come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts,[11] have their hearts hardened,[12] and their consciences wounded;[13] hurt and scandalize others,[14] and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.[15]
Westminster Confession of Faith (scripture references at site)
Actually, the Apostle Paul claimed those to whom he wrote were Christians in the introduction to both epistles.
Of course he does. He is writing to the church at Corinth. If your priest were to go into the church wouldn't he address everyone as a Catholic? You don't start singling out people. But if you know that the church is holding all sort of drunken orgies and people are not living a Christ-like life, I would hope the priest would have a few choice words to say to them. It is not the responsibility of the priest to tell people they're not a believer. But it is his responsibility to tell them they're acting like pagans (and some of them might be). One can certainly tell them they REALLY, REALLY need to examine themselves if they are in the faith but we can't tell them they're not saved (although we might have our doubts).
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God
Do you notice anything here about the will of God???
Yes, we believe in Jesus as God, yet when shown the love from God it is natural to return that love by action (or works).
Many still do not believe the words of Jesus in John: “Jesus said to them, Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54
Whoever eats* my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. 57
Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.b 58This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.
Mary must have missed this verse when she invented the Brown Scapular.
If you do a good work with the expectation of reward, does that really make it a good work?
Didn't I say in one of my early posts that this is why the Catholics believe one can lose their salvation? Thank you for confirming this.
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a relatively modern (1646)
No more than the Council of Trent statement of faith or a number of other recent Catholic documents such as on Mary. I'm sure you would not say they are wrong. The only difference is that our Protestant forefathers referred back to early church fathers writings whereas our Catholic friends changed their theology. The things once deemed heresy is now accepted and they justify it as being "enlightened". This is nothing more than a form of Gnosticism.
They really should simply stick to the scriptures.
Uh... I don’t think that Saul is relevant here, because we were talking about him as *king*, not status of salvation.
Paul is not talking about the lost of his salvation. He is talking about being disciplined enough to run the race. If one cannot be disciplined in the things of God, we will be ineffective and useless to the cause of Christ. People will see how we are living and our witness is worthless. Moreover it bring reproach upon the body of believers. We are disqualified or castaway from the ministry of God.
How many preachers (and priests for that matter) have we witnessed this occurring? Do you think a pediophile priest (or pastor) will ever be an effective witness for the cause of Christ again? They don't endanger their salvation but they certainly endanger their ministry and the ministry of others.
adokimos: failing to pass the test Original Word: ἀδόκιμος, ον Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: adokimos Phonetic Spelling: (ad-ok'-ee-mos) Short Definition: failing to pass the test Definition: failing to pass the test, unapproved, counterfeit.
**I have not the slightest idea what your point is.**
My post was intended to show, how in the most detailed conversion account in Acts, the Lord’s supper is not even hinted to.
The money comments were to make it clear to you or RCs and Prods alike, that the gift of the Holy Ghost isn’t some warm fuzzy, “you just automatically receive it when you believe”, but with no miraculous sign. The sorcerer was totally amazed when witnessing the event; so much so, that he thought he could buy the power to give the gift of God.
I don’t believe he would have offered a penny if all he saw was people repenting and making statement of faith. That’s all I was taught for conversion at the Calvinist church I attended the first 28 yrs of my life.
Certainly: any volitional response by a person is a "work," and no one is saved while they are comatose, but when by God';s grace they believe on the Lord Jesus to save them on His account.
The issue is whether man's response to grace and by grace merits him salvation, or whether this is by his faith being counted for righteousness and made accepted in the Beloved on Christ's account, and the answer is the latter.
However, since faith and works go together then one can be promised salvation if they believe as well if they something which faith effects, such as being baptized. But God can see saving faith before it does its works, and declare one righteous, and which is vindicated when they obey.
Oh?
Just WHO were the others that were NOT chosen??
A&E were CREATED by GOD.
Besides; they did NOT 'reject' GOD; but did not BELIEVE God.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.