3 more tests and im a senior.....that is insane
so its finals week. i had my econ 4 test tomorrow.... piece of cake. unfortunately the next 3 will not be such smooth sailing. i studied at abba java for a few hours today for my art history final coming up on wednesday. i thik that is going to be the worst one.
so saturday night i went to see my book your sandwich with craig. id never heard em before, but i know a couple of guys in the band so i went to check it out. they were bangin i tell ya. i didnt get to stay for the whole second set but i really enjoyed the show. karl plays mandolin! and banjo and guitar. and the one dude even played pedal steel guitar.... twas phat. i bought their cd and its real tight too... lots of good, original Christian diddies. they have a real sweet sound that reminds me of early Strangefolk. theyre goin on a nationwide tour this summer and doin some service work along the way, so theyre gonna go spread the good Word.
Later that night i went to the Orthodox Pascha service (their Easter.... theyre on a different calendar), and it was pretty darn sweet. It started off around 11 with 3 ppl reading through Acts (im not sure if they read the whole book, but Im pretty sure thats what they were reading). then the actual service started at 1130 and the whole church was dark, representing the sadness of Christ being dead. There was the normal chants and liturgical readings and what not. Then at about 12 everyone went outside, carrying lit candles and circled the church 3 times, singing a line about Christ and angels. there was a crapload of ppl so this took a long time. then we went back and the whole church was lit up, signifying that Christ is risen again, and the church was decorated with candles and what not. oh yeah, the incense at the church smells darn good. the rest of the service was all focused on Christs resurrection and we would randomly burst out into song, singing "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by dead, and upon those in the graves, bestowing life". it segued into the normal St. Chrysostom liturgy with the Eucharist (communion) and all, which i cant take part in cause im not orthodox, but us heathen protestants can still eat of the blessed bread that is set aside from the Eucharist. after the service there was the most massive feast i have ever seen in my life. the orthodox hadnt had meat or cheese for 40 days before that service so they went nuts with the meat.... lamb, chicken, burgers, hot dogs, steak, pork i think... there was soooo much food. there was also a plethora of non-meat foo... my personal fave being the chocolate covered strawberries and some super cheesy potato and bacon thing. i was there till like 5 in the morning, hanging out with good peeps and eating. twas a very interesting and awesome time overall.
so this leads me back to some questions about protestantism vs orthodoxy. for yall protestants out there, try to help me out here. im not trying to jump ship here, but the orthodox have brought up questions and points that i cant respond to, but this doesnt mean the answers arent there. so let me know what yall think.
1. protestants say the Bible is the sole authority of Christianity (sola scriptura). well my question is: says who? that is written nowhere in the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works". Meanwhile, 1 Timothy 3:15 says "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth". Those are both Paul writing, and he basically says the Bible lays out the truth and is profitable in becoming a man or woman of God, but it is the Church that ultimately upholds the truth. Furthermore, the books that are contained in the New Testament are estimated to have been written at the earliest, 20 yrs after Pentecost. so how did the churches of the first 20 yrs know what they believed if the Bible is the sole authority of Christianity? furthermore, the Bible was not officially compiled until the late 4th century, and was done so at councils of church leaders, and it certainly wasnt until much later that the entire Bible became fully circulated among the churches--again, how did they know what they believed? So all scriptures are inspired by God, but church leaders decided WHICH scriptures. protestants accept the compilation of the Bible (minus those deleted by Luther... he wanted to remove even more books, such as Hebrews and James too), so they by default accept the authority of early church fathers.
heres a good webpage that gets into this issue in the comments section. the actual article is about the supremacy of the pope, which i dont agree with, but theres a good debate over the sola scriptura issue.
http://www.deoomnisgloria.com/mt/archives/000104.html
2. if the Bible is the sole authority of Christianity, then whos interpretation is correct? Protestantism has literally 1000s of denominations. in the early days of the Church, departures from accepted doctrine were labeled heresies and those espousing such views were seperated from the Church. nowadays, if you have a differing view you just start your own church. while we all have the same central truth of Jesus Christ being our Savior as He died and rose again to forgive our sins, many denominations share little else in common. this idea of core truths and secondary truths is also nowhere in the Bible. ppl can say that the Bible is open to interpretations, but when it comes to that, many ppl are going to be wrong. when theres differences, only 1 or none can be right. for instance, predestination is a topic i posted on earlier. either God predestined or He didnt, but both views are held by different Protestant denominations. someone is making statements about God that arent true, and that is definitely not a good thing. even the Mormons and Jehovas Witnesses will quote scripture to support their argument. God is how He is, not how we interpret Him, so whos right?
3. while predestination may not affect the salvation of a dedicated Christian, issues such as Baptism and the Eucharist and confession are certainly important ones to figure out. Catholics and Orthodox and some Protestants would say that Baptism is essential (see http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2546). Acts 2:38 reads "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" and 1 Peter 3:21 reads "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ".
Concerning communion, some would say the bread and wine IS the body and blood of Christ through a mystery of God's grace, while some would say its just a symbol in which Christians recall Christ's sacrifice for us. Luke 22:19-20 reads "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This IS my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup IS the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you" and John 6:53 reads "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you". Furthermore, 1 Cor. 11:27-30 says that taking communion unworthily led to the death of many. and if these things are just symbols, is there really a point to them? do we really need communion to remember calvary?
and as far as confession, John 20:21-23 reads "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained" and in 2 Cor. 2:10 Paul states, "To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ". Also in Matthew 16:19 Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, and says what Peter binds or looses on earth, He'll do in Heaven, and in Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus says the same thing to the rest of the Apostles. the Apostles went on to be Bishops of the original churches and what not, and this power probably played a big role in the early churches, as sinners were called on to confess in front of the whole congregation when churches were still small. Catholics and Orthodox would say that this power is handed down to their successors, as the Holy Spirit is passed on to believers after Baptism with the laying on of hands. and it really wouldnt make sense for spiritual gifts endowed to the Apostles to just disappear from the Church with their deaths.
4. protestants are mostly adverse to the traditions of the Church, saying we have freedom in Christ and that the sacraments of the Catholic and Orthodox churches are man-made traditions, much like those that caused the Jews to lose spirituality. however, the traditions of the Church do have scriptural backing (as discussed above), and can be seen to be part of early Church worship through early Church fathers' writings. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 reads "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" and 2 Thess 3:6 reads "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us". This doesnt say unify with other varying denominations for special services.... it says FLEE from them. The worship style of doing the liturgy every Sunday is disputed by Protestants as well, but this liturgical style can be seen as part of the early Church in such early writings as the Didache (possibly as early as AD 50) and writings of St. Justin Martyr and St. Hippoloytus. the original Christians were basically either converted Jews or pagan Gentiles, and they adopted the worship of the Jewish Temple that they had known, and adapted it to the new covenant of Christ, incorporating the Eucharist in every Sunday service as remembrance of Passover. God revealed and commanded a style of worship to the Jews, including Holy garments, water, incense, etc, and basically, a very ritualistic and traditional style of worship. now some would say that Christians are not under the Law and we have freedom in Christ, which is true, but Christ also said in Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil". Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law, but this does not mean we have freedom to do whatever we want. rather, we have freedom from our sins and to live life as it is intended. I used to think that the rituals and traditions surely would not be pleasing to God, but they pleased Him in the Old Testament, so why would He suddenly hate them in the New?
so if the traditions of Orthodoxy are indeed the traditions Paul speaks of (which im not taking for granted.... i intend to do more research), then who are we to go changing them? we know that the Apostles had the Holy Spirit and were sent out by Jesus, but we cant undoubtedly say the same for Luther.
5. in Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, following Peter's confession of faith, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it". This is some Biblical reasoning the Catholics give for the Pope, and the Bishop of Rome (Peter was the first) was always viewed as the head of the Bishops, for unifying purposes (first among equals, if you will), but the Church split in 1054 over the issue of the power of the Roman Bishop (He wasnt historically viewed the way the Pope is now... in fact an early Church council anathematized a Pope, and Rome signed and agreed to it) and some other issues. but anyhoo, the point here is that the gates of Hell wont prevail against the Church. now the Protestants would say the Church is the body of believers and that this means the Church will be around till the end... but most world religions are older than Christianity and will be there till the end too. the gates of Hell wont prevail seems to me to mean that the Church wont be deceived and thus not changed from the way the Holy Spirit-endowed Apostles set it up (and when this was written there were no denominations... there was just the Church). Catholics changed the faith, including giving more power to the Pope, and changing the Nicene Creed, and from there have changed other things, and Protestants broke off from the Catholics, changing the faith even further (if they intended to revert back to the original why did they not look to Orthodoxy?). If a denomination changes the faith, can it really claim to be "The Church", which Jesus promised the fullness of His grace to? I dont know about this. It seems to me the fulness of His grace would be endowed where the fullness of His truth thrives, not just the "core truths". Protestantism seems to be based on the idea that the Church changed, and thus Jesus did not really keep His word.... big problem.
6. Is just believing in Jesus's sacrifice sufficient for salvation? in Catholicism and Orthodoxy salvation is a process that begins with faith and the remission of sins at Baptism, but faith must be augmented by works. James 2:17 reads "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone". Likewise, works without faith are dead. This does not say faith without works is not faith, but that it is dead faith. Matthew 7:21 reads "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven". Romans 13:11 reads "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.". If salvation occurs immediately at the moment of acceptance, how could it get closer? according to Protestantism its already happened. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 reads "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth". This statement makes it pretty clear that belief alone is not sufficient. see also 1 Peter 1:2, Phil. 2:12 (work out your own salvation), Matthew 10:22.
Furthermore, even after we accept Christ as our savior we continue to sin. so when is it that we quit sinning? Heaven is a place without sin, so our sin needs to be overcome before we enter Heaven. Because God loves us He gives us free will, so its not like we will lose it once were in Heaven and be sinless by compulsion, as God will always love us. Orthodoxy places emphasis on sanctification as well as faith and thus we overcome sin, as Christ did in His life as a man. It could be that once we see Jesus, His glory will inspire us to not sin bc His glory is something so amazing that we cannot imagine in our minds, which makes sense to me, but the scripture certainly emphasizes sanctification. Futhermore, Christ's love is free. We are not bound to it, so I dont know if the case is that we see Jesus and no longer desire to sin. that seems like a compulsion to me on one hand, but i can see both sides of this. also, if Jesus' love for us is free, is it really the case that once were saved we cant lose our salvation? this is almost like a contract that we enter, that we cant break. this seems to take away from our free will. if we choose to leave God's presence, is He going to say, nope sorry? is this really glorifying to Him? Hebrews 6:4-6 talks about those who fall away from the faith and cant come back. also, if we are instantaneoulsy saved, do we have a need for Jesus afterwards? is there really a need to do good works? I know we'll be rewarded for them, but someone could just say that Heaven is reward enough. in Orthodoxy, there is still the need for Jesus bc He came as our example and perfected human nature, as we need to work to do. Jesus paid the consequence of our sins so that we could be free from the punishment, but is faith alone going to do it? even Satan believes in Jesus. and God is not the one who punishes us for our sins, we send ourselves to Hell by sinning, so i dont know if its like God worked out a deal where He exacted the proverbial pound of flesh from Jesus instead of from us, bc God isnt the punisher. the power of death was overcome bc Christ, as a man, died sinless, and experienced Hell even though He didnt deserve it. In 1 Cor. 15:55 Paul says "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?". Perhaps Jesus came and led the way by conquering death bc man bc of his sins would never be able to, and thus we are able to overcome the sting of death. I dont know if this very last part is reflective of Orthodoxy, but its something i thought about the other day.
7. Ephesians 4:4-6 reads "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all". see also romans 12:16, 15:6, 2 cor. 13:11, Philippians 1:27, 2:2, 1 Peter 3:8 etc etc etc. with 1000s of denominations is there really one faith of one mind and one body? the answer is pretty obviously no.
8. Christianity is an ascetical religion... we are called to deny the world and ourselves and pick up our cross and follow Jesus. Early Christianity is filled with Saints, and those who became wholly dedicated to the Lord. We dont see this in Protestantism. There are strong Christians but we dont see the ascetical Saint types. Orthodoxy would say this is because Protestantism does not have the fullness of grace, endowed in the sacraments, and thus they do not have the proper resources for becoming sanctified, and thus Christ-like. Furthermore, many Protestant churces worship with rock music. this is an embracement of the world rather than denial of it. Spirituality should attract believers and not the party music of the day. i believe many ppl have come to worship the emotion of music and think the emotion is a spiritual experience. ive had ppl tell me they had spiritual experiences at Phish concerts too, but its just the emotion of the music. emotions change and are deceptive (The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9). spirituality is much more than a fleeting emotion, as evidenced by Galatians 1:11-12 "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" and John 14:21 which reads "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him". Paul explains that Christ revealed Himself to Him, and Jesus says He will manifest Himself to those who love Him. this is much more than an emotional feeling that one has at any given time, but an unmistakable understanding of God. It is pretty hard to be ascetical in many churches today.
well i think that is everything. someone see if they can help me out. later on ya'll.
so saturday night i went to see my book your sandwich with craig. id never heard em before, but i know a couple of guys in the band so i went to check it out. they were bangin i tell ya. i didnt get to stay for the whole second set but i really enjoyed the show. karl plays mandolin! and banjo and guitar. and the one dude even played pedal steel guitar.... twas phat. i bought their cd and its real tight too... lots of good, original Christian diddies. they have a real sweet sound that reminds me of early Strangefolk. theyre goin on a nationwide tour this summer and doin some service work along the way, so theyre gonna go spread the good Word.
Later that night i went to the Orthodox Pascha service (their Easter.... theyre on a different calendar), and it was pretty darn sweet. It started off around 11 with 3 ppl reading through Acts (im not sure if they read the whole book, but Im pretty sure thats what they were reading). then the actual service started at 1130 and the whole church was dark, representing the sadness of Christ being dead. There was the normal chants and liturgical readings and what not. Then at about 12 everyone went outside, carrying lit candles and circled the church 3 times, singing a line about Christ and angels. there was a crapload of ppl so this took a long time. then we went back and the whole church was lit up, signifying that Christ is risen again, and the church was decorated with candles and what not. oh yeah, the incense at the church smells darn good. the rest of the service was all focused on Christs resurrection and we would randomly burst out into song, singing "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by dead, and upon those in the graves, bestowing life". it segued into the normal St. Chrysostom liturgy with the Eucharist (communion) and all, which i cant take part in cause im not orthodox, but us heathen protestants can still eat of the blessed bread that is set aside from the Eucharist. after the service there was the most massive feast i have ever seen in my life. the orthodox hadnt had meat or cheese for 40 days before that service so they went nuts with the meat.... lamb, chicken, burgers, hot dogs, steak, pork i think... there was soooo much food. there was also a plethora of non-meat foo... my personal fave being the chocolate covered strawberries and some super cheesy potato and bacon thing. i was there till like 5 in the morning, hanging out with good peeps and eating. twas a very interesting and awesome time overall.
so this leads me back to some questions about protestantism vs orthodoxy. for yall protestants out there, try to help me out here. im not trying to jump ship here, but the orthodox have brought up questions and points that i cant respond to, but this doesnt mean the answers arent there. so let me know what yall think.
1. protestants say the Bible is the sole authority of Christianity (sola scriptura). well my question is: says who? that is written nowhere in the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works". Meanwhile, 1 Timothy 3:15 says "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth". Those are both Paul writing, and he basically says the Bible lays out the truth and is profitable in becoming a man or woman of God, but it is the Church that ultimately upholds the truth. Furthermore, the books that are contained in the New Testament are estimated to have been written at the earliest, 20 yrs after Pentecost. so how did the churches of the first 20 yrs know what they believed if the Bible is the sole authority of Christianity? furthermore, the Bible was not officially compiled until the late 4th century, and was done so at councils of church leaders, and it certainly wasnt until much later that the entire Bible became fully circulated among the churches--again, how did they know what they believed? So all scriptures are inspired by God, but church leaders decided WHICH scriptures. protestants accept the compilation of the Bible (minus those deleted by Luther... he wanted to remove even more books, such as Hebrews and James too), so they by default accept the authority of early church fathers.
heres a good webpage that gets into this issue in the comments section. the actual article is about the supremacy of the pope, which i dont agree with, but theres a good debate over the sola scriptura issue.
http://www.deoomnisgloria.com/mt/archives/000104.html
2. if the Bible is the sole authority of Christianity, then whos interpretation is correct? Protestantism has literally 1000s of denominations. in the early days of the Church, departures from accepted doctrine were labeled heresies and those espousing such views were seperated from the Church. nowadays, if you have a differing view you just start your own church. while we all have the same central truth of Jesus Christ being our Savior as He died and rose again to forgive our sins, many denominations share little else in common. this idea of core truths and secondary truths is also nowhere in the Bible. ppl can say that the Bible is open to interpretations, but when it comes to that, many ppl are going to be wrong. when theres differences, only 1 or none can be right. for instance, predestination is a topic i posted on earlier. either God predestined or He didnt, but both views are held by different Protestant denominations. someone is making statements about God that arent true, and that is definitely not a good thing. even the Mormons and Jehovas Witnesses will quote scripture to support their argument. God is how He is, not how we interpret Him, so whos right?
3. while predestination may not affect the salvation of a dedicated Christian, issues such as Baptism and the Eucharist and confession are certainly important ones to figure out. Catholics and Orthodox and some Protestants would say that Baptism is essential (see http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2546). Acts 2:38 reads "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" and 1 Peter 3:21 reads "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ".
Concerning communion, some would say the bread and wine IS the body and blood of Christ through a mystery of God's grace, while some would say its just a symbol in which Christians recall Christ's sacrifice for us. Luke 22:19-20 reads "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This IS my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup IS the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you" and John 6:53 reads "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you". Furthermore, 1 Cor. 11:27-30 says that taking communion unworthily led to the death of many. and if these things are just symbols, is there really a point to them? do we really need communion to remember calvary?
and as far as confession, John 20:21-23 reads "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained" and in 2 Cor. 2:10 Paul states, "To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ". Also in Matthew 16:19 Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, and says what Peter binds or looses on earth, He'll do in Heaven, and in Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus says the same thing to the rest of the Apostles. the Apostles went on to be Bishops of the original churches and what not, and this power probably played a big role in the early churches, as sinners were called on to confess in front of the whole congregation when churches were still small. Catholics and Orthodox would say that this power is handed down to their successors, as the Holy Spirit is passed on to believers after Baptism with the laying on of hands. and it really wouldnt make sense for spiritual gifts endowed to the Apostles to just disappear from the Church with their deaths.
4. protestants are mostly adverse to the traditions of the Church, saying we have freedom in Christ and that the sacraments of the Catholic and Orthodox churches are man-made traditions, much like those that caused the Jews to lose spirituality. however, the traditions of the Church do have scriptural backing (as discussed above), and can be seen to be part of early Church worship through early Church fathers' writings. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 reads "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" and 2 Thess 3:6 reads "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us". This doesnt say unify with other varying denominations for special services.... it says FLEE from them. The worship style of doing the liturgy every Sunday is disputed by Protestants as well, but this liturgical style can be seen as part of the early Church in such early writings as the Didache (possibly as early as AD 50) and writings of St. Justin Martyr and St. Hippoloytus. the original Christians were basically either converted Jews or pagan Gentiles, and they adopted the worship of the Jewish Temple that they had known, and adapted it to the new covenant of Christ, incorporating the Eucharist in every Sunday service as remembrance of Passover. God revealed and commanded a style of worship to the Jews, including Holy garments, water, incense, etc, and basically, a very ritualistic and traditional style of worship. now some would say that Christians are not under the Law and we have freedom in Christ, which is true, but Christ also said in Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil". Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law, but this does not mean we have freedom to do whatever we want. rather, we have freedom from our sins and to live life as it is intended. I used to think that the rituals and traditions surely would not be pleasing to God, but they pleased Him in the Old Testament, so why would He suddenly hate them in the New?
so if the traditions of Orthodoxy are indeed the traditions Paul speaks of (which im not taking for granted.... i intend to do more research), then who are we to go changing them? we know that the Apostles had the Holy Spirit and were sent out by Jesus, but we cant undoubtedly say the same for Luther.
5. in Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, following Peter's confession of faith, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it". This is some Biblical reasoning the Catholics give for the Pope, and the Bishop of Rome (Peter was the first) was always viewed as the head of the Bishops, for unifying purposes (first among equals, if you will), but the Church split in 1054 over the issue of the power of the Roman Bishop (He wasnt historically viewed the way the Pope is now... in fact an early Church council anathematized a Pope, and Rome signed and agreed to it) and some other issues. but anyhoo, the point here is that the gates of Hell wont prevail against the Church. now the Protestants would say the Church is the body of believers and that this means the Church will be around till the end... but most world religions are older than Christianity and will be there till the end too. the gates of Hell wont prevail seems to me to mean that the Church wont be deceived and thus not changed from the way the Holy Spirit-endowed Apostles set it up (and when this was written there were no denominations... there was just the Church). Catholics changed the faith, including giving more power to the Pope, and changing the Nicene Creed, and from there have changed other things, and Protestants broke off from the Catholics, changing the faith even further (if they intended to revert back to the original why did they not look to Orthodoxy?). If a denomination changes the faith, can it really claim to be "The Church", which Jesus promised the fullness of His grace to? I dont know about this. It seems to me the fulness of His grace would be endowed where the fullness of His truth thrives, not just the "core truths". Protestantism seems to be based on the idea that the Church changed, and thus Jesus did not really keep His word.... big problem.
6. Is just believing in Jesus's sacrifice sufficient for salvation? in Catholicism and Orthodoxy salvation is a process that begins with faith and the remission of sins at Baptism, but faith must be augmented by works. James 2:17 reads "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone". Likewise, works without faith are dead. This does not say faith without works is not faith, but that it is dead faith. Matthew 7:21 reads "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven". Romans 13:11 reads "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.". If salvation occurs immediately at the moment of acceptance, how could it get closer? according to Protestantism its already happened. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 reads "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth". This statement makes it pretty clear that belief alone is not sufficient. see also 1 Peter 1:2, Phil. 2:12 (work out your own salvation), Matthew 10:22.
Furthermore, even after we accept Christ as our savior we continue to sin. so when is it that we quit sinning? Heaven is a place without sin, so our sin needs to be overcome before we enter Heaven. Because God loves us He gives us free will, so its not like we will lose it once were in Heaven and be sinless by compulsion, as God will always love us. Orthodoxy places emphasis on sanctification as well as faith and thus we overcome sin, as Christ did in His life as a man. It could be that once we see Jesus, His glory will inspire us to not sin bc His glory is something so amazing that we cannot imagine in our minds, which makes sense to me, but the scripture certainly emphasizes sanctification. Futhermore, Christ's love is free. We are not bound to it, so I dont know if the case is that we see Jesus and no longer desire to sin. that seems like a compulsion to me on one hand, but i can see both sides of this. also, if Jesus' love for us is free, is it really the case that once were saved we cant lose our salvation? this is almost like a contract that we enter, that we cant break. this seems to take away from our free will. if we choose to leave God's presence, is He going to say, nope sorry? is this really glorifying to Him? Hebrews 6:4-6 talks about those who fall away from the faith and cant come back. also, if we are instantaneoulsy saved, do we have a need for Jesus afterwards? is there really a need to do good works? I know we'll be rewarded for them, but someone could just say that Heaven is reward enough. in Orthodoxy, there is still the need for Jesus bc He came as our example and perfected human nature, as we need to work to do. Jesus paid the consequence of our sins so that we could be free from the punishment, but is faith alone going to do it? even Satan believes in Jesus. and God is not the one who punishes us for our sins, we send ourselves to Hell by sinning, so i dont know if its like God worked out a deal where He exacted the proverbial pound of flesh from Jesus instead of from us, bc God isnt the punisher. the power of death was overcome bc Christ, as a man, died sinless, and experienced Hell even though He didnt deserve it. In 1 Cor. 15:55 Paul says "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?". Perhaps Jesus came and led the way by conquering death bc man bc of his sins would never be able to, and thus we are able to overcome the sting of death. I dont know if this very last part is reflective of Orthodoxy, but its something i thought about the other day.
7. Ephesians 4:4-6 reads "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all". see also romans 12:16, 15:6, 2 cor. 13:11, Philippians 1:27, 2:2, 1 Peter 3:8 etc etc etc. with 1000s of denominations is there really one faith of one mind and one body? the answer is pretty obviously no.
8. Christianity is an ascetical religion... we are called to deny the world and ourselves and pick up our cross and follow Jesus. Early Christianity is filled with Saints, and those who became wholly dedicated to the Lord. We dont see this in Protestantism. There are strong Christians but we dont see the ascetical Saint types. Orthodoxy would say this is because Protestantism does not have the fullness of grace, endowed in the sacraments, and thus they do not have the proper resources for becoming sanctified, and thus Christ-like. Furthermore, many Protestant churces worship with rock music. this is an embracement of the world rather than denial of it. Spirituality should attract believers and not the party music of the day. i believe many ppl have come to worship the emotion of music and think the emotion is a spiritual experience. ive had ppl tell me they had spiritual experiences at Phish concerts too, but its just the emotion of the music. emotions change and are deceptive (The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9). spirituality is much more than a fleeting emotion, as evidenced by Galatians 1:11-12 "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" and John 14:21 which reads "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him". Paul explains that Christ revealed Himself to Him, and Jesus says He will manifest Himself to those who love Him. this is much more than an emotional feeling that one has at any given time, but an unmistakable understanding of God. It is pretty hard to be ascetical in many churches today.
well i think that is everything. someone see if they can help me out. later on ya'll.