Posted on 03/30/2023 6:43:37 PM PDT by ADSUM
It's not sola scriptura. It's not sola fide. It's a doctrine most people don't even know by name.
Do you believe that you are a sinner and you have no hope to be with God on your own efforts?
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?
Do you believe that Jesus came to earth and willingly died in your place and that His sacrifice paid the penalty for your sins?
If you believe this, you believe the Truth.
Throwing in being Catholic or Protestant is a human created distraction if you believe the Truth.
See my response to kinsman redeemer .
I would say the same to you .
You two need to lace up some boxing gloves and get in the ring.
I will provide water for both of you.
You are an honest man. Life is hard.
In the west, those who could read could read Latin, and those who couldn’t read Latin couldn’t read. The University of Toronto, not exactly a bastion of Catholicism, still had Latin as part of its entrance exam in the 1920’s, and maybe even for a while after that.
Coplaining about things being written Latin between 500 and 1900 is like complaining about things being found only in newswpapers between about 1820 and 1990. Iphones and emojis were kind of scarce.
Preach it, mom!
Those five are all good. But where do baptism and the eucharist fit in?
If you believe that, then go ahead and defend your beliefs here, and stop telling everyone to read the RC catechism.
I dated a Catholic man once. Eventually the conversation turned to the value of marital fidelity. He told me that "a friend of his" believes that it's okay for him to cheat on his wife, because he "always goes to confession afterward." Oh, please.
Protestant or evangelical Christianity is a harder road than Catholicism. We must take personal responsibility for our fidelity to Christ—our knowlege of the Word, our behavior, showing up for the two Biblical sacraments, our confessions in the privacy of our "prayer closets", our awareness of the sins we should atone for, our humility before the Sovereign Triune God, and of course, being able to assume the Great Commission. We are not super fans of a church as if it were our sports team or our fraternity/sorority house. We may participate in a denomination, but cannot "boast" of it as Catholics do about theirs, because ours are living organisms; and if our human leaders go astray, we can and must correct/eject them or leave and find a truer church community. We cannot excuse our ever-present responsibility by going through the motions of liturgical ritual without true belief, any more than reciting memorized prayers robotically or bringing everyone's favorite casserole to the church supper could sanctify us. The responsibility is ours, to seek and learn and accept the extraordinary gift of grace.
The message of salvation is plain in the reading of the Scriptures. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be obscured by those who seek to undermine the authority of God’s Word contained in His God-breathed Scriptures. However, any person can be saved by reading the Holy Scriptures and placing their faith and belief in the risen Lord Jesus.
Further, I would argue that the Roman community claims that they alone hold the exclusive right to interpret Scripture places them in a large group of organizations that also claim this right. The Eastern Orthodox churches, for example, also hold vigorously to this same claim. Any number of other groups—Landmark Baptists, the Church of Christ, and so forth, have made this claim. So, at the end of the day, when a convert decides to place their faith in Roman authority, they are just kicking the “can of trust” another step down the road. Unfortunately, by doing so, the convert is placing himself further AWAY from Scripture.
Look, I won’t argue that Scripture is easy-peasy. However, God calls us to wrestle with His Word, and it is all part of the faith journey. His saints (and I mean this in the biblical sense of the word) can disagree on certain issues and still be part of the community of true faith. As an aside, let me also say that the Roman community has a wide divergence of belief among several issues. For example, why are those who clearly oppose Roman AND Biblical doctrine allowed to continue in positions of authority within the organization?
These are just my thoughts. However, I would urge those who call themselves Roman Catholic to open their hearts to Scripture for themselves. Seek the Holy Spirit and TEST that which you are told. May the God of all grace and peace illuminate your hearts with His truth.
Sounds like the end of a beautiful friendship.
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (direct question)
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (direct answer)
It looks like this is another thread of the same people saying the same things. I assume that yours was a sincere question so I’d like to try for an answer. Disclosure, I am a Fundamentalist Baptist pastor in ministry for approximately fifty years.
The OP seems to think there is something obviously wrong with the idea of the perspicuity of Scripture. To a person of his mindset it is inconceivable that the Bible could mean what it says.
Contradictions? If one assumes there are any in the Bible then perspicuity is falsified. Spent some years studying every single supposed contradiction and many other so-called discrepancies alleged in the Bible. It is God’s inerrant word! Furthermore, many of the men making those allegations know they are lying.
Creation? If science falsely so-called has proven evolution and millions of years and the stories of Genesis 1-11 are myths, then the doctrine of the perspicuity of the Word is falsified. Whatever tricks you use to explain away six day creation can be used to explain away any doctrine including if you wish, the bodily resurrection of Jesus. If someone really wants to know about this subject, God has provided a wealth of resources verifying Genesis. Most people just sneer and say “Fundamentalists are anti-science” and let it go at that. The notion that Genesis chapter five has some “spiritual” “metaphorical” meaning is silly, but that is what you must say if you insist that the earth is millions of years old. If perspicuity is untrue, then anybody can make up anything so there has to be some church claiming to have the final say. All the comments in support of the OP make this very assumption.
Calvinism? The plain reading of Scripture is that Jesus died for everyone. The Calvinist doctrine of the limited atonement is the most obviously unscriptural of the five points of tulip Calvinism, and when Presbyterians define perspicuity of Scripture they are always careful to point out that the Bible doesn’t “always” mean what it seems to mean. I became a Baptist though I was saved and raised a Presbyterian, by reading Lorraine Boettner’s classic book, “The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination”. I could see for myself his folly in trying to explain away the clear meaning of 1 John 2:2.
Not only did God write the Bible, He did a good job of it!
So propagation of 'odd' and 'unbiblical' beliefs are ok with you?
Dang it!!!
That is very common thinking among Catholics. I have heard it MANY times out of the mouths of Catholics throughout my life.
Additionally, it is easier to go to confession and do *penance* than to go and apologize or make restitution to someone you have wronged, and that is something I have NEVER heard nor heard of from people I know personally that the priest has ever directed someone to do.
Usually it’s a set of rote prayers to Mary, and Our Father or three, or if you were really bad a couple trips around the rosary. Hardly making things right by personally going to someone and righting a wrong.
If you believe this, you believe the Truth.
Do you believe that you are a sinner and you have no hope to be with God without help along the way from Mary?
If you believe this, you believe what Rome has added to Christianity.
If you believe this, you believe the Truth.
Do you believe that Jesus came to earth and willingly died in your place and that His sacrifice paid the penalty for your sins but you STILL aren't clean enough to enter Heaven?
If you believe this, you believe what Rome has taught you about Purgatory.
.
That's okay. You must have forgotten what you wrote and now you are adding, ...if you belief this (the gospel) and acting like something else happened.
And lest you forget: Jews who receive Christ are also 'brothers and sisters in Christ'.
And I'll add this tid-bit: I have known some "RCC'ers" who are saved. I have also known some protestants who (I think) are not saved (I am not their judge). I know a lot of people. The portion of RCC Catholics I know who are saved is a very small number, very small indeed.
One asks, "How do you know that?" The answer is in their profession of faith - their "religion" - what they put their hope in -- it is not exclusively Jesus Christ. It is also their "works". They are like whitewashed tombs.
What???
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