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To: HarleyD

So you believe that man has no free will? That one has no ability to choose good or evil? So you believe that man cannot either accept God or reject Him? Please explain?

One can either accept the grace of God or not accept that same grace.

Yes, we need the graces that come to us from God in the Sacraments in order to do God’s will. God’s graces are a gift to us that leads to salvation, yet God does not force us to accept them.

Selected Heresies:
Pelagianism (5th Century)

Pelagius denied that we inherit original sin from Adam’s sin in the Garden and claimed that we become sinful only through the bad example of the sinful community into which we are born. Conversely, he denied that we inherit righteousness as a result of Christ’s death on the cross and said that we become personally righteous by instruction and imitation in the Christian community, following the example of Christ. Pelagius stated that man is born morally neutral and can achieve heaven under his own powers. According to him, God’s grace is not truly necessary, but merely makes easier an otherwise difficult task.

Semi-Pelagianism (5th Century)

After Augustine refuted the teachings of Pelagius, some tried a modified version of his system. This, too, ended in heresy by claiming that humans can reach out to God under their own power, without God’s grace; that once a person has entered a state of grace, one can retain it through one’s efforts, without further grace from God; and that natural human effort alone can give one some claim to receiving grace, though not strictly merit it.

Protestantism (16th Century)

Protestant groups display a wide variety of different doctrines. However, virtually all claim to believe in the teachings of sola scriptura (”by Scripture alone”—the idea that we must use only the Bible when forming our theology) and sola fide (”by faith alone”— the idea that we are justified by faith only).

The great diversity of Protestant doctrines stems from the doctrine of private judgment, which denies the infallible authority of the Church and claims that each individual is to interpret Scripture for himself. This idea is rejected in 2 Peter 1:20, where we are told the first rule of Bible interpretation: “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.” A significant feature of this heresy is the attempt to pit the Church “against” the Bible, denying that the magisterium has any infallible authority to teach and interpret Scripture.

The doctrine of private judgment has resulted in an enormous number of different denominations. According to The Christian Sourcebook, there are approximately 20-30,000 denominations, with 270 new ones being formed each year. Virtually all of these are Protestant.


109 posted on 09/03/2017 8:22:08 PM PDT by ADSUM
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To: ADSUM
So you believe that man has no free will? That one has no ability to choose good or evil?

Do you believe that YOU have the ability to choose between good or evil? I only state this as a rhetorical question because the ONLY correct response is no. The term "free will" never appears in scripture (except to say a "free will offering"). There is God's will and there is man's will. We are either slaves to sin or slave to God. We don't pick and choose.

So you believe that man cannot either accept God or reject Him? Please explain?

Did Paul picked to be an apostle? Samuel? Samson? Moses? David? etc. The list goes on. Did Israel choose to become God's nation? Did any other?

There are the elected of God chosen before the foundations of the world and then there are all the others. The scriptures are very clear on this. Don't ask me why this is, it simply is.

Protestant groups display a wide variety of different doctrines.

So does Catholic doctrine. Compare the Council of Trent version of "free will" to the Council of Orange and you'll see a complete change. Look up "atonement" on New Advent and you'll see that they unabashedly have changed the doctrine of atonement from what the early fathers held. All things become distorted. That is why God gave us the scriptures to ensure that we have a measuring stick for correct doctrine.

119 posted on 09/04/2017 4:13:49 AM PDT by HarleyD (Ecc 10:2 A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left.)
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