@philokalia saidWhat does the "Nicene Creed" matter to someone who has come to believe in Jesus by themselves and by reading the Bible?
To begin with, anything that is against the Nicene creed.
@philokalia saidSo heresy by your definition is no big deal. It is simply a departure from the teachings of the Catholic Church. What is a big deal is a departure from the teachings of Jesus Christ.
To begin with, anything that is against the Nicene creed. Though, after that, we could get into other unorthodox interpretations as examples of things that are heretical.
I am not really qualified but there are things specifically stated to be wrong.
The denial of hell, or the trinity, are prime examples.
@philokalia saidYou are saying no one should be concerned with the assertion that "Satan was behind" all the Bibles there have ever been published over the last 1,000+ years except for the New World Translation which the JW organization commissioned and customized for itself in the mid-C20th?
.... What is more divisive is kind of a silly question here because no one should be concerned with that.
Why "should no one be concerned with that"?
@fmf saidSo the opinions of expert theologians shouldn't matter to people who believe a complicated book written in a language that they don't speak..?
What does the "Nicene Creed" matter to someone who has come to believe in Jesus by themselves and by reading the Bible?
The opinions of the church that studies and exegetes on it professionally should be irrelevant?
Bad move.
@philokalia saidWhen a Christian is constantly misbehaving, we are to say something.
I wouldn't compare them.
Is it divisive to disagree? Sure.
Is it divisive to ask the whole of Christians on the forum to attack another Christian, or say that they are hypocrites? Maybe that is, too, lol.
@rajk999 saidI am Eastern Orthodox, by the way. I should've said it earlier but I did not correct you but that was a mistake because I was lying by omission.
So heresy by your definition is no big deal. It is simply a departure from the teachings of the Catholic Church. What is a big deal is a departure from the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Um, I think that people who are Protestant or catholic are not theologically correct and should convert, and I encourage them to that end, but if they do not wish to convert I would prefer to celebrate with them what they do have, which is a lot.
They believe in the Bible and in Jesus. I appreciate that and love them. We are brothers and sisters in a lot of ways.
Saints have admonished people for speaking harshly and with ill will against their brothers in christ for simply being members of a different church.
@chaney3 saidAnd we are to love the good and to hate evil.
When a Christian is constantly misbehaving, we are to say something.
And so when a Christian denies basic doctrines, we should speak out against them and point out their error because these distortions are costly and destructive to who we are.
@mister-moggy saidMore than that they can mimick the righteous .
has it not been written that the devil can quote scripture ?
( end of the inquiry ).
One thing that separates them is timing.
Decisiveness is required.
@philokalia saidI didn't ask you if "the opinions of expert theologians" matter to you. If you don't think a person can come to believe in Jesus by themselves and by reading the Bible and without the "Nicene Creed", just come out and say it.
So the opinions of expert theologians shouldn't matter to people who believe a complicated book written in a language that they don't speak..?
The opinions of the church that studies and exegetes on it professionally should be irrelevant?
Bad move.
@philokalia saidDo you think that Jesus cares two hoots about whether someone is Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, The answer is NO. Jesus Christ cares about one thing and one thing ONLY. I will give you three guesses what Jesus cares about but if you are man enough to speak the truth you will say it in the first try.
I am Eastern Orthodox, by the way. I should've said it earlier but I did not correct you but that was a mistake because I was lying by omission.
Um, I think that people who are Protestant or catholic are not theologically correct and should convert, and I encourage them to that end, but if they do not wish to convert I would prefer to celebrate with them what they do ha ...[text shortened]... y and with ill will against their brothers in christ for simply being members of a different church.
Muslim, Hindu or Atheist ? Jesus does not care either. The one thing that Jesus cares about is this:
I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat:
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me:
I was sick, and ye visited me:
I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
(Matthew 25:35-36 KJV)
@philokalia saidIf this is so, why are you not speaking out against a Christian who has said "Satan was behind" the translation of the Bible you use?
And so when a Christian denies basic doctrines, we should speak out against them and point out their error because these distortions are costly and destructive to who we are.
@rajk999 said
Do you think that Jesus cares two hoots about whether someone is Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, The answer is NO. Jesus Christ cares about one thing and one thing ONLY. I will give you three guesses what Jesus cares about but if you are man enough to speak the truth you will say it in the first try.
Muslim, Hindu or Atheist ? Jesus does not care either. Th ...[text shortened]...
I was sick, and ye visited me:
I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
(Matthew 25:35-36 KJV)[/i]
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
And this is where proper faith becomes important.
of course, to never do works is wrong, because works are the fruit of faith, but proper belief is vital to salvation.
You know, our gifts that enable us to make good works are from God. What really matters is the free will we have, how we use it, and how we choose to believe. ^^
@philokalia saidSo you believe that good works and obeying Christ's commandments are necessary for a Christian's "salvation". You'de be surprised [because you seem to mostly not bother reading or making yourself aware of what people post] to know that there are prominent, vocal Christians here who resist the tenet of Christianity that you are describing.
of course, to never do works is wrong, because works are the fruit of faith, but proper belief is vital to salvation.
You know, our gifts that enable us to make good works are from God. What really matters is the free will we have, how we use it, and how we choose to believe. ^^