texts: What is the difference between Evangelical and Protestant?

texts:
Just the other day, I heard somebody talking politics and contrasted the Roman Catholic church's political influence with "the Evangelical vote". In this sense, as is often done in US media, the word seem to be used as a synonym of 'Protestant'.

However I get the feeling there is another layer to this. Where did the term 'Evangelical' come from and how is it distinct from 'Protestant'. Used properly, what group(s) is it generally understood to include or what world view does it describe?


texts: How can we tell when Scripture is talking about one of the persons of the Trinity and when it's talking about all three?

texts:
I am very interested in learning more about the Trinity. I love God, and really want to understand Them better.

..I mean Him.  This came to my mind earlier, and I laughed, but then caught myself, because Scripture speaks of God in the plural in at least one place:

  Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness -Genesis 1:26

I realized, this passage must be talking about "The Godhead" which is comprised of the Father, Son and Spirit.  (explained here),

There are other passages which clearly identify one or all of them distinctly, for example:

  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. -1 John 4:15

My question is, what about all the other verses (especially in the Old Testament) that are not so obviously talking about the Godhead or one of the Persons?

In light of the doctrine of the Trinity how can we tell if a passage is referring to one of them or all of them?  And if one, how can we tell which one?  For example, is "YHWH" always referring to the Father?


texts: Different Lectionary Readings For Sundays

texts:
According to The Episcopal Church, there are (for the most part) two sets of lectionary readings on a given Sunday. Ostensibly, one is for observance of The Daily Office and the other is for The Holy Eucharist.

Why is this so?


texts:
Let's assume that God is omnipotent in the sense that he can do anything which is logically possible (so that he cannot create square circles because  a square circle is a contradiction).

Now it is thought that God cannot do things like make himself cease to exist, or to become contingent. How does this square with the idea that (at least some part of) God became a man. By entering into time and assuming a bodily form, is that not the meaning of becoming contingent?

I can anticipate the answer that Jesus has two natures, the human one that is contingent (and does not exist anymore) and one that is divine (which was never contingent), but this seems to me to just split Jesus into a divine part (which was never contingent) and the ordinary human part, so that the Jesus that walked on Earth was an ordinary human, and hence no need fore the idea of the trinity.

Any way to resolve this dilemma?

Edit: Perhaps to restate: Do we have to accept that God - in his omnipotence, must be able to create the logically impossible, in order to believe in something like the trinity?


texts: Are there any documented cases of paranormal activity preceding or during an exorcism?

texts: Movies such as The Exorcist have popularized the notion of paranormal phenomena surrounding an episode of demonic possession. And after reading of someone's personal experiences with Catholic exorcists, I can't help but feel even more interested in this subject matter. Are there any documented cases of paranormal phenomena taking place prior to and/or during an exorcism? Answers need not be restricted to the Catholic Church, any documented instance of demonic deliverance performed by any denomination where paranormal phenomena was reported is fine.


texts: What Is The Roman Catholic Church's View on Mohnism

texts: What does the Roman Catholic church have to say about monism (the idea that there is no difference between God and his creation)? Meaning creation in some sense is literally God (with or without a central conscience, and with the exception that God is comprised of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), or its part of God's body or form (I am aware that God showed his form to Moses, but perhaps in a different way or maybe its part of the form of one of God's [please excuse the terminology] components [the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit]).


texts: Does Hebrews 4:12 imply that unspoken good intentions might justify sins?

texts:
This question is related to the post I have asked on the Literature.SE. Yet, this question might be treated as a separate post which does not require reading the other one.

Also, I should note that I have found my way into Christianity not so long ago, thus, my question might appear to be too primitive or even gibberish. In that case (especially the latter) I would like to apologise in advance.

Hebrew 4:12 reads:

  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. - NKJV.

Sonya Marmeladova, obviously, engaged into sinful labour (prostitution). Her actions enslaved the hearts of her clients, even though she kept her soul pure and was sacrificing herself in order to feed her family.

Does Hebrew 4:12 justify her actions?


texts: What was it like in the Temple at the time of Jesus?

texts:
In the New Testament, there are many stories of Jesus and the apostles spending time in the Temple teaching and preaching. The apostles also do this after the resurrection.

What was the structure of events at the temple? Was it somewhat free-form, where people could freely gather and talk about things? I would think there would have to have been some openness in the temple, if the priests, who were against him, did not prevent him from preaching. But surely there must have been regularly scheduled, organized rituals and ceremonies that took place there, also? Were they preaching during between times?


texts: Does the Catholic word Priest actually mean "Presbyter?" Or is it a conflation of roles?

texts: The problem as I understand it is a combining of roles.. not confounding or mixing  but fusing the roles into something different. The role of the priest doesn't seem to match the role of the Presbyter. But if they are the same, then why the difference.


texts: What was influence of Thomism on the Council of Trent? Did anyone study this question and write some article, essay or book on this topic?


texts:
Most protestant churches (and possibly Roman Catholic churches?) have their main public meetings on Sundays. Why Sunday?

Note: I'm not asking why do Christians celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday, but why do they meet for their main church services on Sunday. Maybe it is the same reason, but I think it's a different question


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Once saved always saved. Is eternal security Biblical?

Recently, I had a conversation with a (new) friend that started off with him telling me how he had been a devout Christian, perhaps even a believer (to use some Christianese), but had lost his faith due to later events. This struck me as a bit odd, because I had always thought that once you had put your faith in Christ, then you could never lose it. I went hunting for the verse that I was thinking of (and that he confirmed as existing), but couldn't find it. So...was I right? Is it true that once you put your faith in God and Jesus, then you can never lose it, especially under persecution?

To clarify, I'm more interested in whether someone else can cause you to lose your faith as opposed to you turning away from God. The "Once saved always saved." question deals with people turning away from God, but does not deal with other people "causing" a deconversion.

Biblically-based answers are prefered.


texts: From a biblical perspective, Who performs a miracle - the person or God?

texts:
In answering a question about kenosis, I said that Jesus emptied himself of his divinity, essentially, "giving up the perks of being God." Hammar replied, "but he still performed miracles, didn't he?"

In response, I said, "yes, but other humans performed miracles, too." which got me thinking - Do humans actually perform miracles or does God perform a miracle through people in order that people might know that God approves.

Biblically speaking, there are several instances of Jesus and other people performing miracles.  Is there, however, any indication that the power by which they were performed "flowed differently" between the prophets of the past and the Jesus that is believed to be a part of the Godhead himself?  What proof texts would speak to the issue on either side, and how have these been interpreted by significant theologians in the past?


texts: Do Pope Francis' recent comments on atheism represent a change in doctrine?

texts:
Pope Francis made some recent comments in a letter, which are being summarized in headlines like, "Pope Francis tells atheists to abide by their own consciences."

Does the full context of the Pope's remarks represent a change in doctrine?


texts: What is the difference between being blessed and being happy?

texts:
I really am torn sometimes when having the kids in my Religious Ed. class read scripture, on the one hand we've got the Catholic Good News Translation from St. Mary's Press (Breakthrough Bible) which they don't stumble over and has nice pictures and everything.

And on the other hand we've got the old crusty falling apart St. Joseph's New American Bible which is not particularly archaic in language, but definitely less readable and absorbable for the short time I've got the kids.

The problem I have with the GNT is that it doesn't sound like Mass, so when I say "Blessed are the meek" and the bible says, "Happy are the meek" I've got to do some explaining.  Namely I need to explain how happy and blessed coalesce.

The only problem is, I don't believe that happy and blessed do coalesce, at least not on earth. As Our Lady said to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, "I can't make you happy in this life, but I can in the next".  At that moment, she was blessed, she still died a painful and tragic death at a young age, but she was blessed - and maybe happy, but not happy as the world knows it.

So, why even use the word "Happy" to describe being "Blessed" isn't this a complete misnomer or do the transliterators expect everyone reading to understand this?

and furthermore, how does happy = blessed and how does blessed = happy?


texts: Should Genesis 1:2 be translated "And the earth became without form..."?

texts:
The Gap theory seems to be based largely on translating Genesis 1:2 differently from the usual translations, eg. KJV:

  1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

  1:2 And the earth was became without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Is this a sound translation? Why is was the more usual one?


texts: What are the primary differences between these Lutheran denominations?

texts: What are the primary differences between the WELS, LCMS, LCMC, NALC, and ELCA Lutheran denominations?


texts:
I'm wanting to know about any possible demonic oppression and/or possession in the Old Testament, as well as why demons being cast out is not done before the time of Christ?

Was it because Christ as Savior had not appeared yet?


texts: What is the origin of the story of the angel Raphael and the boy Tobias?

texts:
In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, Puritan John Proctor says the following:

  Now remember what the angel Raphael said to the boy Tobias […] “Do that which is good, and no harm will come to thee.”

To my knowledge, an encounter between an angel named Raphael and a boy named Tobias is not in the Bible. Does it have its origin in some other Christian literature? And if so, does this phrase appear?


texts: Do any church writers compare or contrast Jesus and the burning bush?

texts:
From the Wikipedia article on Oneness Pentecostalism,

  Oneness theology specifically maintains that God is absolutely and indivisibly one. It equally proclaims that God is not made of a physical body, but is an invisible spirit that can only be seen in theophanies (such as the burning bush) that he creates or manifests, or in the person of the incarnate Jesus Christ. In the person of Jesus, one sees the last, best, and complete theophany of God.

Is there any existing church writings by church fathers, reformers, or Christian scholars pre-dating Oneness Pentecostalism that speak of a doctrine of Christ as a theophany, using as a comparison the burning bush or other manifestation of God's presence in a similar vein, either supporting or condemning the teaching?


texts: Did St. Paulinus of Nola sell himself into slavery to redeem one slave?

texts:
An online timeline of slavery that I came across reads:

  354-431: Paulinus, bishop of Nola, (whom Avalos criticizes for alleged
  racism) liberates his own slaves, spends his considerable wealth
  redeeming citizens of Campania, and then, (allegedly, will need to
  look into this further), goes into slavery to redeem one captive.

From: http://christthetao.blogspot.com/2011/10/abolition-of-slavery-early-years.html?m=1

Does anyone have any further information that might be of assistance in discovering what exactly the particulars of this might be?


texts: According to the Catholic Church, does Jesus condemn those who don't believe?

texts:
From the Nicene Creed:

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ
...
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead

After reading this today, which appears somewhat to contrast the Creed:

And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not
condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the
world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something
to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last
day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me
commanded me what to say and speak.
John 12:47-49

Can someone reconcile this for me, perhaps with some official source from the Catholic Church?


texts: What are the good Bahasa / Malay / Indonesian words to refer to the Christian God?

texts:
Recently there has been a ban on the use of the word Allah to refer to the Christian God.

What are the good alternatives to the word Allah in countries where it is banned?

I heard Tuhan is one of them.


texts: According Catholic theology, what does the suffering of hell consist of?

texts:
According to Catholic theology, what does the suffering of hell consist of?

If there a principal suffering, what is it?


texts: From whom or what Jesus was hiding (afraid of) in the given cases during his ministry?

texts:
We know Jesus is not afraid of anybody or anything, but let us consider these scenarios during His ministry.

Jesus healing a leper- Mark 1:43-44

  "Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

Jesus Heals a deaf and mute man"- Mark 7:36

  "And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. "

Jesus warns disciples- Mark 8:29-30

  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
  Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
  Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

So here is my question -  To whom or what Jesus was hiding/afraid of in these cases?


texts: Does the Bible give us any indication of why God created such a vast universe with so much stuff in it?

texts:
We all know the universe is enormous, and this isn't the place to debate that. But why does it need to be so enormous? The only celestial bodies that could be counted as truly necessary are the sun, moon, and Jupiter (which blocks Earth from many meteor hits). Why create something 29 gigaparsecs wide when only a tiny corner of it is populated?

Does the Bible address this question?


texts: Was it possible for Catholics to express their faith openly in England during the time of persecution?

texts:
Was it possible for Catholics to express their faith openly (if at all) in Britain during the time of the of English persecutions (April 29, 1559)-(April 13, 1829)?

  On 29 April 1559, the English House of Lords by 33 votes to 12 passed a bill abolishing papal supremacy over the Christian church in England, and establishing the supremacy of the English monarchs over it. Also in April 1559, a bill abolishing the Mass and imposing an English language Book of Common Prayer liturgy passed in the House of Lords by a majority of three and was implemented on 24 June of that year. To refuse to take an oath of belief in royal supremacy over the church became a crime punishable by removal from public office and inability to hold any office. To defend papal authority over the church became punishable in the first offense by loss of goods; the second by imprisonment for life; the third offence was considered treason punishable by death. - The Persecution of Catholics in Elizabethan England

The persecution against Catholics officially ended on April 13, 1829.

  The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, passed by Parliament in 1829, was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation throughout the UK. In Ireland it repealed the Test Act 1672 and the remaining Penal Laws which had been in force since the passing of the Disenfranchising Act of the Irish Parliament of 1728. Its passage followed a vigorous campaign that threatened insurrection led by Irish lawyer Daniel O'Connell. The British leaders, starting with the Prime Minister the Duke of Wellington and his top aide Robert Peel, although personally opposed, gave in to avoid civil strife. Ireland was quiet after the passage.

  The Act permitted members of the Catholic Church to sit in the parliament at Westminster. O'Connell had won a seat in a by-election for Clare in 1828 against an Anglican. Under the then extant penal law, O'Connell as a Roman Catholic, was forbidden to take his seat in Parliament. Sir Robert Peel, the Home Secretary, until then was called "Orange Peel" because he always supported the Orange (anti-Catholic) position. Peel now concluded: "though emancipation was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger." Fearing a revolution in Ireland, Peel drew up the Catholic Relief Bill and guided it through the House of Commons. To overcome the vehement opposition of both the House of Lords and King George IV, the Duke of Wellington worked tirelessly to ensure passage in the House of Lords, and threatened to resign as Prime Minister if the King did not give Royal Assent. - Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 (Wikipedia)


texts: My reading of the Bible indicates that when a person is about be baptized, he/she is confirming that he/she believes that Jesus is the son of God and believes in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But children don't know all this, so without their consciousness it seems inappropriate to baptize them.  Why, then, do Catholics baptize children?


texts: What is the farthest back an LDS Member has traced his family tree?

texts: Knowing how important genealogy research is to LDS leads me to wonder how far back any of us could trace our family tree. Have any LDS members been able to trace back to any biblical characters?


texts: Why did Jesus defend the disciples' failure to wash hands prior to eating? (Catholic perspective)

texts:
In Matthew 15:1–4 we see:

  Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,  “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.”  He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’"

We see Jesus virtually defending the disciples who had failed in following a simple lesson of hygiene in an age when  food was eaten directly with hand and not with the help of spoon and fork. Of course,  Jesus was trying to bring the Pharisees home to more important things of life. But then, He could have started  like this: "Well,  I agree that  my disciples are too old to be taught table manners, but..."

My question is: How does the Catholic Church explain the lack of importance attributed by Jesus to the washing of hand prior to eating by His disciples, in the face of criticism by the Pharisees?


texts: Should I condemn a church that might be teaching wrong doctrine?

texts:
I used to attend one church which felt quite weird for me. Here are a few things that I don't agree with:

Everybody can speak in tongues. The steps are, first you need somebody to pray with you so you are being baptized by spirit, after that, you can just speak gibberish as long as it make some sounds that will be called as speaking in tongues. They have a session during the worship for speaking in tongues only and they also speak in tongues after prayer.
According to them, church leaders must be rich. There was once the preacher speaking about a  poor pastor and he said that God didn't anoint him to become a pastor and that's why he's poor.

These are things that bothered me and I stopped going to that church. But my question is, should I condemn them? Or could it be another method that God uses to reach out to more believers?


texts: Were most of the initial founders of the North American colonies really dissident Christians fleeing religious persecution in Europe? I've heard it said a number of times, but I wondered if it is actually the case.


texts: Which translation of Augustine's Confessions is the easiest to read in English?

texts:
Not all translations are created equal, and often the public domain ones freely available online are some of the worst.

Augustine fans out there – whose translation of Confessions is the best in English? I'm looking for readability (out-loud or otherwise) here, not necessarily technical accuracy.

Here are the English translations that I'm aware of (I doubt this is a complete list):

E.B. Pusey (1838) In Public Domain, free online at Project Gutenberg
J.G. Pilkington (1886), free online at www.newadvent.org
F.J. Sheed (1948)
Albert C. Outler (1955), free online at www.ccel.org
John K. Ryan (1960)
Maria Boulding (1997)
Hal M. Helms (2010)
Pusey translation revised by Cormac Burke (2012), free online www.cormacburke.or.ke
Benignus O'Rourke (2013)

Here are four excerpts from different translations, all from the first few sentences of Book I, Chapter 3:

Pusey:

  Do the heaven and earth then contain Thee, since Thou fillest them? or
  dost Thou fill them and yet overflow, since they do not contain Thee?
  And whither, when the heaven and the earth are filled, pourest Thou
  forth the remainder of Thyself? or hast Thou no need that aught
  contain Thee, who containest all things, since what Thou fillest Thou
  fillest by containing it?

Burke:

  Do the heaven and earth then contain You, since You fill them? or do
  You fill them and yet overflow, since they do not contain You? And
  whither, when the heaven and the earth are filled, pour You forth the
  remainder of Yourself? or have You no need that aught contain You, who
  contain all things, since what You fill You fill by containing it?

Boulding:

  So then, if you fill heaven and earth, does that mean that heaven and
  earth contain you? Or, since clearly they cannot hold you, is there
  something of you left over when you have filled them? Once heaven and
  earth are full, where would that remaining part of you overflow? Or
  perhaps you have no need to be contained by anything, but rather
  contain everything yourself, because whatever you fill you contain,
  even as you fill it?

O'Rourke:

  Do heaven and earth contain you, then, since you fill them? or do you
  fill them, and is there something of you left over because they are
  not able to contain you? If so, where else do you pour the rest of
  your being, when heaven and earth are filled? Or is it that nothing
  can contain you, because you contain everything and fill everything?

My initial impression is that Boulding sounds the most contemporary and in many regards is "easier to read," but perhaps it is weak in other areas. Sheed seems to be a very close second (and superior in other regards).  The book reviews on Amazon rarely address the translation, so I'm asking here.


texts: Do any denominations have a positon on the doctrinal value of Job's friends?

texts:
The book of Job is a beautiful and inspirational book of scripture with some of the clearest teachings on God's power, the nature of life, the beauty and worth of the Earth, and other important doctrines.

One thing I thought of recently, though, is that Job's friends say things that are more or less against Job, and at the end, God says that only Job spake right.

Are there any denominations that have officially marked the words of Job's friends as doctrinal or not doctrinal?


texts: Are there any real statistics on how many people fall away?

texts: I recently came across the claim that 80-90% of people who convert to Christianity will eventually revert to their former beliefs/way of life. While I can't speak to the world at large, my experience is that this number is closer to 40%. I was wondering if there were some actual numbers one could look up to confirm this. I was also wondering if there were a way to somehow subtract the number of people marrying into the faith (as that accounts for a number of baptisms/confirmations too).


texts: Can a Uniate (Eastern) Catholic priest celebrate the Mass according to the Latin Rite?

texts:
It is known that eastern priests can be married. On the other hand Western rite claims priest to be unmarried.
So consider Uniate eastern catholic priest who is married. Can he, if he wants can he say a Latin Rite Mass?


texts: What is the significance of Jesus saying "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending"?

texts:
All Scriptures are quoted from the King James translation.
Four times in the Revelation Jesus uses that phrase(they are all in red letters):

Revelation 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Revelation 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Revelation 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Revelation 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

But we know that Jesus was existent at Creation or before since:

Luke 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

It appears that Jesus had some other motive for using those particular words, rather than Eternal.


texts: Which Catholic encyclicals discuss the Catholic teaching on the results of Jesus' sacrifice?

texts:
Which Catholic papal encyclicals discuss questions like -

1) Why did Jesus have to die?

2) What are the effects of the sacrifice of Jesus?

3) How does God look at the world before and after the sacrifice of Jesus?

If there aren't any papal encyclicals, are there any books / writings that discuss the same?


texts: Are there any documented cases of prophecies, dreams or visions (Joel 2) in modern times (1900 - present) that are endorsed by a denomination?

texts:
In Acts 2, during the Sermon at Pentecost, Peter reminded his astonished Jewish audience about the well-known prophecy uttered by the prophet Joel:

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17     “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
          that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
          and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
            and your young men shall see visions,
            and your old men shall dream dreams;
18     even on my male servants and female servants
            in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Many believe that we are currently in the end times, and that Joel 2:28-32's prophecy is especially true today. In fact, testimonies of people claiming to have received rapture dreams, visions or end times prophetic revelations from God abound in the internet. Just to give you an idea, there are several YouTube channels whose primary purpose is searching, collecting and reuploading other people's testimonial videos about prophetic dreams and visions: example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4, example 5. You may also try this search to find more testimonies that people keep uploading all the time.
That said, it is difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake cases. It's not always easy to tell whether someone is sharing a genuine experience or if they are simply making stuff up motivated by a craving for attention or revenue.
Question: Are there any documented cases of people receiving prophetic revelations, dreams or visions in modern times (1900 to the present), which are endorsed by a denomination that considers them credible, reliable and divinely inspired? How do such denominations verify the genuineness or falsity of a given prophecy, dream or vision?


texts: Can "feelings and passions" make an act involuntary?

texts:
In high school, my religion teacher said,

  Mortal sin is a very serious matter. It is a conscious decision in which the  person intentionally turns away from God. Therefore it is impossible to, say, attend Mass on Sunday in the state of grace, commit a mortal sin during the week, and attend Mass the next Sunday having already repented.

On the other hand, it seems entirely possible for a person to be a devout Catholic, attend Mass, then fall to temptation one night, watch pornography, masturbate, feel remorse immediately, and repent. A priest even advised me to go to confession immediately the next day whenever this happens.

Was a mortal sin committed in this case? Or is this a case where

  ...the promptings of feelings and passions diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense...

(CCC 1860)

?


texts: What is the difference between original sin and a sin nature?

texts:
As I understand Original sin it is being guilty of sin at birth because of Adam and Eve's first sin.

I also understand that man has a propensity toward sin because of the inheritance of the Knowledge of good and evil which Adam and Eve acquired from that sin.

However having an urge to sin is not the same as knowing the difference between right and wrong.

If a child is born already guilty of sin and died within the first few years of life, they would not be able to repent, or ask forgiveness for that sin.

Are there any Scriptures that delineate what the difference if any is?


texts: According to Preterists did "the man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3) become manifest before 70AD? If so, who was it?

texts:
KJV 2Th 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord
  Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,  2Th 2:2  That
  ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor
  by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at
  hand.  2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day
  shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man
  of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;  2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and
  exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;
  so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that
  he is God.  2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you,
  I told you these things?  2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth
  that he might be revealed in his time.  2Th 2:7  For the mystery of
  iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until
  he be taken out of the way.  2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be
  revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,
  and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:  2Th 2:9  Even
  him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
  signs and lying wonders,  2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of
  unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the
  love of the truth, that they might be saved.


texts: Where did the Catholic Church condemn naming guardian angels

texts: I was listening to episode 24 of the Catholic Man Show and they said (without citation) that the Catholic Church has condemned naming guardian angels.  The reason they gave was because God gave man the authority over created things on Earth (Through Adam in Genesis).  So what basis and where did the Catholic Church make this pronouncement.  And should we burn our children's videos with a contrary teaching?  (i.e. CCC Video - My Secret Friend, A Guardian Angel)


texts: How is one supposed to "know" whether or not the Book of Mormon is true?

texts:
When one is introduced to the Book of Mormon, he is oftentimes asked to pray to find out whether or not the Book of Mormon is true.

According to LDS theology, why is a person simply asked to pray about it, rather than looking at historical, archaeological, prophetical, and other fields of evidence that attest to the authenticity and divine authorship of the Bible?  Also, how exactly is one expected to know whether or not God has confirmed that the Book of Mormon is true?  How is God expected to answer the person's prayer?


texts:
From Luke 6:13–16 (NIV):

  When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of
  them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter),
  his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
  Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas
  son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

John and Matthew were included, but the remaining two authors of the Gospel – Mark and Luke – were not.  Why is this, and how did they come to know Jesus so closely as to later write his Gospel?


texts: What are the differences between cherubim and seraphim?

texts:
I was reading a post regarding the appearance of angels: What does the Bible say about the appearance of angels?

And I am curious as to the general differences between cherubim and seraphim.
Do they have different appearances, roles, etc? Or are they essentially the same?
Perhaps different sects of faith have differing views.

Do Judaism and/or Christian denominations such as Catholicism note any specific differences between cherubim and seraphim?


texts: Catholic Church and the Critique of Pagan Worship?

texts:
There has and still is a major Critique of The Catholic Church when it comes to doctrine around the Pope and the leadership structure and also what is seen as the worship of Mary, you may also add the statues that were remade from pagan gods into the saints of the church. The critique is large and it often comes from the rest of the Body of Christ (the church).

I will confront the question from the view of Sun god worship. Common knowledge that change came with Constantine (not a controversial view of History). Suddenly  "Christian Holy days" match with pagan dates and even more controversial the structure of pagan worship does match as well.

The structure of the leadership in connection to the story of Nimrod
You see the round wafers in the sacrament and in the monstrance symbolize the sun (the sun was erected above the altars in the worship of Baal)
The wine turns into blood (drinking blood) not just a symbol
The columns of St Peter's Basilica in Rome have a sun-like image, and a wall has a golden sunburst image just as in the Babylonian temple

So much to say and has been said. Many books on this critique or just plain history books.

The question here is how does the Catholic Church deal with this problem. Are there any books, sermons, teaching or maybe you can present the full answer below, How does the Catholic Church deal with such questions, that is one question, the strong connection with pagan worship or the accusation of it?


texts: If salvation is possible from all religions, then is proselytizing required?

texts:
There are some Christian groups who believe that all religions are inherently good
and that a good person who rejects Jesus Christ will still go to Heaven. According to them, if good people can go to Heaven regardless of what their religion is, then do we still have to tell them about Jesus Christ or we can just leave them alone to worship their own god, gods or goddesses?


texts: Were there women leaders in the early church?

texts: We have a lot of documents from early church fathers, who were as far as I'm aware always male, but is there any accounts of females acting in a leadership or authority role similar to that of the early church fathers in the same period, between 100 and 350 AD?


texts: Aside from them being generically created "...for God..." like everything is, does the bible give a set of duties or purposes that angels have?


texts: Do Evangelical leaders (televangelists, megachurch pastors, etc...) not consider themselves Protestants?

texts:
Kind of based off this question contrasting Evangelicalism and Protestantism.  My assumption as a Catholic (which you are certainly more than free to trounce upon) is that since modern day televangelists are more than 6 degrees separated from Calvin, Wesley and Luther, that they couldn't in good faith call themselves Protestants since the Catholic Church is not weighing heavily on their consciences.

So is this yet another false assumption?


texts: Why do many orthodox pastors grow long hair?

texts: I've noticed that many of the orthodox pastors are with long hair. I believe it isn't just because but it has a religious background. What's the reason for that? Is it something wrong with short hair in the religion, if any?


texts: Was Jeanne d'Arc crazy: Did Catherine of Alexandria exist according to the Catholic church?

texts:
I've found on atheistic site that Jeanne d'Arc was crazy, because she heard voices from Catherine of Alexandria, and that this saint never existed and was recognized as such by the Catholic church.

Non, Mélenchon ne diffame pas Jeanne d'Arc

In French:

Parmi les "voix" qu'elle entendait : sainte Catherine d’Alexandrie. Or l'Eglise a reconnu depuis que cette sainte n'avait pas existé, que c'était une légende.

Translation, after a text explaining why she was crazy:

  Among the "voices", Ste Catherine of Alexandria, but the (Catholic) Church has since recognized that this saint did never exist, that it was only a legend.

On the other hand, the wikipedia page about this saint, or Christian sites explain the opposite. So who is right, and who is lying here?

So, was Jeanne d'Arc crazy or a real saint?

Considering the other points in this same French page, I will probably open another question if there's a lot to say about Saint Catherine.


texts: Where did the notion that Adam and Eve ate an APPLE come from?

texts:
Contrary to popular belief no mention of the fruit being an apple can be found in the Book of Genesis.

Jewish commentaries recorded in the Midrash Rabbah speculate that the tree might have been a species of wheat, or corn, or that the fruit might have been grapes or figs.

And yet, the idea that it was an apple is widely accepted.

Was it due to Classical influences (The golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides)?
Is it a legacy from the Latin 'malum' (apple/evil)?
Or is there another reason?

Are there any other theories that have been put forward as to what the fruit might have been?


texts: Why are there Sibyls and Prophetesses in the Sistine Chapel?

texts:
For what purpose did Michelangelo add each Sibyls or Prophetesses to the ceiling of the Sistine chapel?
This is an explanation to why they're there in the first place.

The latter, although belonging to the pagan world, are represented here because of their prophetic gifts, in this way extending the wait for Redemption from the chosen people to all mankind.

I'd imagine they each have some sort of story - or at least represent some different part of the pre-redemption world and pointed in some vague way to Christ.  But what is the vague way?
Here are the Sibyls:

Erythrean Sibyl

Persian Sibyl

Libyan Sibyl

Cumaean Sibyl

Delphic Sibyl

Source


texts:
Christians have been practicing asceticism for thousands of years. Why? I would prefer sources from before the Great Schism. If not are available I will accept Orthodox teaching from after that time.

For an example of the type of answer I am looking for, I will say that my current understanding regarding the purpose of ascetic practices is that engaging in them intentionally helps to turn the heart away from things like pride, gluttony, comfort, etc and toward God by willingly being humiliated, deprived, and discomforted in a repeated and systematic manner. Does that sound wrong?


texts: Should the "angel of the abyss" be capitalized?

texts:
I am discussing the doctrine of the Jehovah's Witnesses concerning the identity of Abaddon in Revelation 9:11. The names of persons (e.g. Matthew, Mark, and Luke) along with words that are part of certain titles (e.g. Michael the Archangel, John the Baptist, and Satan the Devil) are capitalized since they are proper nouns. However, some Bible translations render the term "angel of the Abyss" with a capital "A" in lieu of a lowercase "a" like in other translations.
Revelation 9:11 (NIV):

They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

I find it quite difficult to discern if it warrants capital "A's". Is it a title? Some translators also opt to use a capital "A" when referring to the abyss such as in Luke 8:31 (NIV). Nevertheless, I am not sure if the abyss is specified. Should it be rendered as "angel of the abyss", "Angel of the Abyss", or some other rendering?


texts: What is the biblical argument against the claim that Jesus is just "a god", but not "God Almighty"?

texts:
As I understand it, Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus is a god, but not God Almighty.  However, this goes against the teaching of the majority of Christian denominations and certainly evangelical denominations.

What, then, is the biblical basis for the claim the Jesus is not merely a god, but is, in fact, God Almighty?


texts:
Proverbs 21:14 (NLT)
  "A secret gift calms anger; a bribe under the table pacifies fury."

Reading this scripture it would seem to indicate that the Bible supports (at the very least some form of) bribery. Is that really the case?


texts: In what ways do human beings reflect God?

texts:
As far I can tell, being made in the image of God refers to how human beings reflect God's nature since an image, according to Google definition, is "a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art".

In what way, exactly, do we reflect God? Perspectives from any Christian denomination are allowable.


texts: Is Luther really the originator of "We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone"?

texts: The quote "We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone" is commonly attributed to Martin Luther, but is this actually so? If so, in what context did he say or write this? If not, who first used this particular formulation (equivalent semantics if not exactly equivalent words)?


texts: Are there examples of English words and phrases that are associated with blasphemy of the Virgin Mary?

texts:
You may have heard "For the love of God" or "For God's sakes", but those are directed at God or Christ or both.

But are there examples of English words and phrases that are associated with or evolved from minced oaths and outright blasphemies of the Virgin Mary? Since the Virgin Mary is such an important figure in Christianity, it's logical to think that some Christians will hold that blasphemy against Mary is a serious offence, even if not as serious as blasphemy against God.


texts: Is it possible to describe Christian lifestyle?

texts:
I just finished reading the book "Living a Jewish Life," which explains the lifestyle practices that Jewish people generally follow, regardless of their faith or beliefs. It discusses the holidays and the milestones in ones life without any reference to liturgy.

For example, it explains that, in the lead-up to Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year), people send cards, resolve conflicts, and reflect on the past year. Then, during the holiday, people eat apples and honey to symbolize the hope for a sweet new year.

I have searched for a similar look at Christianity, without reference to liturgy, but haven't found anything.

Is it possible to describe Christian lifestyle, values, and practices without emphasis on faith? If not, why not?


texts: Our local Roman Catholic church has started advertising the "Way of the Cross" for Easter. I think I have seen this mentioned at other places I have visited and isn't a just a local event. Is the "Way of the Cross" a Catholic event, and if so what is it?


texts: Will we still feel affection towards others when we are in heaven?

texts:
I know that heaven is all about love. But in Catholic church, we distinguish love (will) and affection (emotion). In our day to day lives, love is often accompanied by affection - but will this be the case for us in heaven? It may or may not be possible depending on whether the impassibility only applies to God or not. There is a notion that in heaven, we will love each other in the same way that God does for us, but at the same time we know that we will be in our resurrected "body", which may or may not enable us to feel affection. To reconcile God's love and his impassibility, the Church teaches that God's love is not like rock (cold and immutable), but like unceasing fire (hot, intense, but also constant) - will we love each other in this manner in heaven?

It is the matter of "passive love" and "active love". Suppose that you brought a present to one of your fellows in heaven. Passive love would say "I brought this present to you in my commitment to love everyone, but I didn't do this because I 'like' you", whereas active love would say "I brought this present to you, because I really really really do like you!"

I don't know if there is any specific teaching of the Catholic Church on this topic, but there is no harm to ask.


texts: What are the differences between the spirit of God and spirit of Man?

texts:
First, I thought that the spirit Christians get from God is the same as the spirit of God. Recently, I heard a sermon that asserted they are different, but gave no more details.  Which verses describe this in the Bible?

When we get the Holy Spirit are we getting the spirit of God?


texts: What is the origin of the Church potluck?

texts:
When I was being ordained in the Baptist Church, I was asked to write out a statement of faith.  The point was to outline one's theology, but many of you know me well enough to know by now that I can't take everything seriously.

So, when it came time to discuss "sacrements" in the Baptist church, I said:

  "Baptists have three sacrements - communion, marriage, and potluck."

I was only half joking.  Fairly central to the stereotype of the Baptist church is the potluck dinner.  Episcopalians have the sacred rite of Coffee Hour.  And, apparently Catholics have the Church Dinner thing going on too.  In short, it seems like food is a central part of many churches.

I seem to remember something about "love feasts" somewhere in Scripture - but how is it that the humble potluck has had such a wide influence on church life?


texts: What is the source of Paul's issues with Sophistry?

texts:
Was sophistry a common problem that believers where faced with in Paul's era or sophistry just used in the Biblical sense to mean any time of misleading philosophy? Verses like this one makes me wonder in what context exactly the word is used in the Bible?
Sophistry to me always meant people who are needlessly argumentative, who don't debate in order to search for truth, but just for the sake or arguing. Was the sophists of ancient Rome not akin to today's lawyer's and attorneys, people who argue cases without necessarily believing in there truth?

You foolish Galatians! Whose sophistry has bewitched you--you to whom
Jesus Christ has been vividly portrayed as on the Cross?


texts: Why do we use the order "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"?

texts:
The three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in an undivided Trinity, in which all are equal in stature, according to orthodox trinitarian Christianity. Given that our language is linear, it is clear that there are six ways that we could list these three persons. In fact, the order of "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" is overwhelmingly the dominant one - in the liturgy, especially for baptism (Mt 28:19), in creeds*, and so on. At a distant second is the Son-Father-Spirit order of 2 Corinthians 13:14,

  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. NRSV

which admittedly sees a lot of liturgical use, though still less than Father-Son-Spirit. I do not think that any other orders are used at all.

Why are other permutations of the three persons not used liturgically? Is there a theological reason why the standard order is the best one (aside from simple Scriptural precedent), or conversely is there some reason (aside from surprise) why a novel order would be wrong?

(I am looking for answers from 'mainstream' trinitarian Christianity.)

* e.g. the Nicene and Athanasian creeds, Reformation confessions (Augsburg, Belgic, Second Helvetic, Thirty-Nine Articles, Westminster), and more recent statements of belief like Baptist Faith and Message


texts:
Since it appears that Jesus had brothers and sisters, did Mary have other children?  If not, how many wives did Joseph have?

Matthew 12:46–47 NIV

  46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers
  stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your
  mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

Matthew 13:56 NIV

  56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this
  man all these things?


texts: The Eucharist and the supernatural Priesthood

texts:
This is probably a question mostly directed at Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.

Why is it that only a priest can consecrate the Eucharist?

Is there the assumption that there is some sort of power associated with the priesthood that makes it possible for the Eucharist to take place, or is it something else? I had read somewhere a short excerpt from a Catholic article decrying the way priests are treated and treat themselves as normal lay persons, whereas in fact they have a supernatural aspect. If this is correct, where does this extra supernatural aspect come from? And what is the Biblical basis for it?


texts: Why was Lot "let off the hook" for offering his daughters to be raped?

texts:
Genesis 19:1-20 tells the famous story of Soddom and Gomorrah.  In the story, the men of Sodom come to Lot's house, and demand that Lot release his visitors to be raped by the men of the town.  Lot refuses, and instead offers his virgin daughters (verse 8) to appease the crowd.

Nothing else is ever mentioned about Lot offering his daughters to be gang-raped by a crowd of men.

In light of this, why is Lot considered "righteous?" (See 2 Peter 2:7)

Can we draw any other conclusions from Lot's actions here?

I guess I don't really know what question to ask... I'm just kind of dumb-struck by the situation... What in the world?


texts:
In the Genesis account of the tower of Babel a bunch of guys got together to build a really tall tower somewhere in the desert. God gets wind of the affair but it doesn't sit well:

  Genesis 11:5–6 (ESV)
  And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

So what does He do? He scrambles all their language as a punishment and their plans are foiled.

What was the problem with building a tall tower? Are modern skyscrapers a problem for God? Should the guys in the Burj Khalifa be worried?


texts: Are all Methodists "Evangelical Methodists"?

texts: So today, I found a sign for a "Evangelical Methodist Church." In light of the recent split in the Methodist denomination, it has me wondering: are they using "Evangelical" here to say which side of the split they are choosing, or does it not really mean anything related to that? Or are all Methodists "Evangelical"?


texts:
In Judaism, the template had an altar for sacrificing. But we believe our sacrifice is done.

So, what is the point of a church altar?


texts: What do you tithe from? Why tithe income?

texts:
According to Scripture, we should pay tithe from increase from our land and cattle. I don't find anything about tithing monetary income, so why do you pay from income or salary?

Also, if the income you receive has already been tithed, should you tithe again?

For example, someone tithes $100 on $1,000 income and is left with $900. From $900, that person pays $500 to another person for some work. Should the other person pay tithe for receiving $500?


texts: According to Eastern Orthodoxy, is googling the serial numbers of a software and using cracks a sin?

texts:
I was raised in a little bit poor country where it's almost impossible for individuals to make online payments. No PayPal, Credit cards are for national use only and international use is very expensive.

When I first started using computers, I used to hack or crack all the software that I use starting from the serial number or the activation of windows to the serial numbers of the photoshop, office, and even the smallest software.

I've never done an online payment to buy any software because it's very expensive to buy them. I just checked the price of 3D max out of curiosity and it costs about $1,500 per year! That means I should work for a whole year without eating or spending any money to buy it. On top of that, I need to buy windows to be able to run it with an additional few months of working without eating.

I know that all the reasons above are not an excuse to steal. But is cracking software and googling their serial numbers considered a sin? Has the Orthodox Church made any known pronouncements on this subject?

I'm Orthodox so I prefer the answer to be from an orthodox point of view.


texts: Is the desire for a spiritual mother natural to mankind?

texts:
I've been answering a few questions on this site raised about the intercessory power of the  Blessed Virgin Mary and this question popped into my mind.  St. Thomas Aquinas can posit a rational proof for God's existence, glory, omnipresence, omniscience, eternal nature and beneficence.  I don't think he ever said, God exists because "we need Him".  But, He does exist and it's reasonable to say the He doesn't need us.
But, there is a sensitivity that is natural to man that brings him closer to God, to want to know what we can about Him.

Now creatures lead us to the knowledge of God, as effects do to their cause. Accordingly, by natural reason we can know of God that only which of necessity belongs to Him as the principle of things.
Summa Theologica Book 1, Article 32

Since Christ's death and resurrection, the Catholic laity has had an ardent devotion to the Mother of God and also consider her to be the mother of the Church and their own spiritual mother.  The truths which Sacred Tradition kept through constant devotion to Our Lady (i.e. The Immaculate Conception and the Assumption) are considered by the present Pope and the popes who promulgated said dogmas to be infallible (that's saying something coming from the Pope).
So, here's the question, if we can know God through reason alone, is it also reasonable that God willed that we have a maternal queen in Heaven as well who acts as a spiritual mother?
Looking for Catholic answers rooted in the Natural Law


texts: Why Does Matthew not give Jesus Christ's genealogy from Adam?

texts: In Matthew 1:1, it says that Jesus is the son of David and the son of Abraham. Why does he not start from Adam and Eve?


texts: According to Non-Trinitarians, why did God allow Trinitarianism to become the mainstream understanding of His nature?

texts: If God's nature is not adequately portrayed by Trinitarian theology, then why did God allow such an erroneous understanding of His nature to become so widespread among the members of the Church, the Bride of His Son? If God has the power and the prerogative to intervene in historical events, then why hasn't God made use of His divine privileges to ensure that the correct doctrine about His nature achieves widespread acceptance? How do Non-Trinitarians answer these questions?


texts: What level of intimacy is generally acceptable for unmarried couples from the standpoint of the Bible?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Sex outside of marriage is a sin. But what about "less than sex"?

Pre-marital sex is generally considered part of sexual immorality, [1] as such we should abstain from it as we do other sexually-immoral acts. [2]

But what does the Bible say about other levels of physical intimacy between unmarried partners?

[1] 1 Corinthians 7:2

[2] Acts 15:20, 1 Corinthians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 6:13, 1 Corinthians 18; 1 Corinthians 10:8; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Jude 7


texts: Does the Trinity share one mind or are there three separate minds?

texts:
Curious what Christian theologians or the Bible may have said about this.  It seems like Jesus speaks in terms of his father's will as if it is not quite his own, which suggests separate minded-ness.

And what of the Holy Spirit ?  Is the Holy Spirit thought to have a mind in the same way Jesus and God the father are thought to (since they are considered "persons" in some sense of the word).

Maybe there are ways it could be a bit of both shared and separate.

There may be no obvious answer on this and it could be just up for speculation, and if so, I'd be interested in learning that fact at least.


texts: When/where did the practice of giving abbreviated names/initialisms to Bible translations begin?

texts:
Many modern Bible translations have standard three-letter or four-letter initials by which they are commonly referred to. Examples are KJV, NKJV, RSV, ASV, NIV, NASB, NLT, RVR (a Spanish version), etc.

Some of these initialisms have even been recognized officially to some extent by translators and/or publishers. For example, the prefaces to the NIV and NLT translations request that persons quoting snippets from their translations use the respective initialisms in their citations.

Where and/or when did the practice of assigning initialisms to translations originate, either in an official or a de facto/consensus sense? I was trying to find initialisms for some older versions and realized that many don't seem to have them. For example, I haven't found standard abbreviations for the Geneva Bible, Matthew's Bible, Wulfia's Gothic translation, or several other not-exactly-recent versions, leading me to suspect that they don't have any because having such initialisms was not "a thing" when those versions came out, and that these versions are not used enough today for new initialisms to develop and become standard. E.g. "I'm doing my thesis on how the TGB was influenced not only by the TMB but also on the WGV and the very obscure QPND Second Revision of AD 833 that had been published in response to suspected bias in the BFO of AD 798."

Part of me thinks that the LXX (Greek Septuagint) counts, but LXX is a number (70), not an acronym or initialism.


texts: How to compare Christian pastor credentials?

texts:
Requirements for ordination vary across denominations. Baptists and Pentecostals, for example, will ordain people without even a high school diploma, whereas many of the more liturgical denominations require masters and doctoral level degrees before one can even preach.

How then, is one able to assess the academic qualifications of ordained clergy across denominations?  In other words, is there a resource that would assist one in gauging the stringency of the qualification process before one is allowed to serve as preist, minister, or pastor? And, what common requirements for ordination can be compared across denominations, so as to be able to compare similiar qualifications across denominational lines.


texts: How would Jesus write his full name as, in civil records?

texts: Jesus, Joseph, Mary, James, John  - these were popular first names used by the Jews in the days of the Lord. Naturally, each would have some additional names like that of his/her father or of the clan/house, in order to have an identifiable full name, in civil records . I am therfore , curious to know as to what the full name of Jesus was in civil records say, `Jesus son of Joseph '. Do the Catholic traditions give  any clue to such a name ?


texts: According to Catholicism, do evil spirits need bodies to manifest themselves to people?

texts:
Can the Devil and his followers communicate to people without the intermediary of someone in a bodily form?

I would appreciate a response that quotes Scripture, Tradition and examples of the Saints if at all possible.

If the demons cannot speak directly to people, how can they manifest themselves to mankind?


texts: Is the sign of the Cross as well as the crucifix a Catholic “trade mark”?

texts: Why do Catholics have crucifix in their home and Churches; priest, bishops, cardinals, popes and the faithful wear crucifix in their neck and make a sign of the cross before and after prayer and always say “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen”. Would this mean that the culmination of the Catholic Faith of salvation was on Christ death and His triumph over death in order for a man’s death to sin will be brought back to immortal life in unity to Christ? If this is so, the sign of the cross will forever in history and the age to come to be remembered and not forgotten in our hearts. Are there theological, history, catechism, canon on this?


texts: Daniel's timeline - Yom Kippur dates 2024

texts:
Hello,

I have been working on a hypothetical Daniel’s timeline for the final “week” of 7 years prophecy (using dispensational/literal interpretation of days in the timeline) described in Daniel/Revelation.  I am using the Hebrew feast days, holidays, and other possible prophetic events as guidelines for the spacing of literal days.  I was able to put together this figure for educational purposes. However, I found a discrepancy between the Yom Kippur feast day dates given at Hebcal.com vs. Torahcalendar.com in 2024.  The dates differ by one whole month – roughly YK Oct 12, 2024 vs. YK Sept 12, 2024.  I can’t find any real explanation about this discrepancy.  Hebcal.com seems to be correct with the Hebrew leap years.  The differences in how the sites make calculations does not seem to account for a whole month difference in dates.  Does anyone have an explanation for the date differences in this case?

P.S. Torahcalendar.com is not used by Jews for the most part.  I believe it is Messianic Christian in origin.  They don't give contact information.  I do not think this question asked from a Christian perspective would be appreciated on the Judaism stack exchange.

Thanks


texts:
The Bible seems to indicate that Jesus died before the others that were being crucified.

  John 19:31-33 (NIV)
  31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

It seems that the guards were attempting to speed up the process of crucifixion to appease the Jewish leaders.  But then they found that Jesus was already dead.

Did Jesus die "prematurely" (in the eyes of the Romans, that is)?  In other words, was his death shorter than the Romans intended it to be?


texts: Are there any denominations that expect prophecy instead of (or in addition to) tongues as a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit?

texts:
I think everybody is aware of the existence of charismatic denominations that overemphasize tongues as a sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. But what about prophecy? There are examples in both the New Testament and the Old Testament of this happening. For instance:

5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all. [Acts 19:5-7 ESV]

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. [Numbers 11:24-30 ESV]

Are there denominations that expect prophecy to manifest (instead of or in addition to tongues) when someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit?


texts:
Does the Catholic Church have a particular book that contains the Latin lyrics for Gregorian chants? I suppose most of these chants are sung as part of a liturgy.

One such chant is named Communio: Omnes qui in Christ (video link)

I suppose it's sung for Communion.


texts: How do we know the Saints, the Righteous and the Holy Ones are alive and in heaven?

texts: Why should Catholics ask the Saints and Mother Mary to take our prayers to God for us? How does the Catholic church know they can canonize "Saints"? How do we know the angels and saints will intercede our prayers for us, as to get Gods priority attention. Is asking for intercession better than just praying directly to God?


texts: Does the love of God fulfil the Law, or keep the Law, or both? (Reformed view)

texts:
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15, ESV / NASB)

There seem to be at least two opposing interpretations of Jesus' above statement, and similar Scripture, namely the following:

"If you love me, you will [by nature] keep my commandments."
"If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you" (The Message, same verse)

To expound:

Regarding the first view, some hold the view that

  the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Gal 5:14)

then go on to say that love is the fruit of the Spirit, and finally conclude that any Law that is not a result of '[treating] people the same way you want them to treat you' (Matt 7:12b) is without authority.
Regarding the second view, others say

  this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments (I John 5:3)

Stating that the Law defines love, and the Holy Spirit makes us willing to be obedient to those commandments, because we love God [and our neighbour.]

Both positions may affirm that the Holy Spirit causes us to have a genuine loving inclination to others. Yet people holding to the second position may impose commandments which people from the first position will label as 'ceremonial, hence not applicable.'

Based on the first position, commandments are only kept if this makes sense in the mind of the believer. To exemplify, a believer would only keep the weekly Sabbath day if he thinks that doing so is consequential to 'loving your neighbour.' This is then the measuring stick to define 'Ceremonial Law' and 'Moral Law.'

Based on the second position, commandments are kept whether they are being understood or not, because of a will to obey and please God by keeping His instructions. In this case, keeping of the commandments can be directly consequential to 'loving God.' The question then is not necessarily [only] if the commandment can be identified as being consequential to 'loving your neighbour', but rather if God requires the keeping of it.

Which of the two above views, if either of them, developed in Reformed Protestantism under the branch's inherent claim of Sola Scriptura?

(Above quotes NASB unless indicated)


texts: Was Jesus command to watch in Matthew 26 just for that night or was it a general caution for the Church?

texts:
Jesus charged his disciples to watch and pray in Matthew Chapter 26, and in earlier reading it seemed to me that he was probably referring to the events of that night.
In my more recent studies the statement in verse 41 "That ye not enter into temptation" caused me to wonder if he might not be giving a continuing instruction to watch for the temptations of Satan because he knew that after his death and resurrection, that Satan would then concentrate on the church.
Matthew 26:38 through 41  NRKJV

38  Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39  And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
40  And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.


texts: What is Paul meaning of "husband" and "married to another" in Romans 7:1-6

texts:
Romans 7 King James Version (KJV)

  1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how
  that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

  2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her
  husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

  3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man,
  she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is
  free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be
  married to another man.

  4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the
  body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who
  is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

I have two questions as regards this passage
1. Who is the "husband" in that passage?
2. What is the meaning of the words "married to another"

Paul says that the link between "those who know the Law" (v. 1) -- Jews -- and the Law (given Moses) was done away with by the death of the "husband." Paul says of a wife that "if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband." (Romans 7:2.) "As long as the man (anthropos) lives" (v.1), i.e., the husband lives, the law formed by their marriage binds the two. But the "law of her husband" is thus "loosed" or "abrogated" by the death of the husband.
Paul's Greek in verse 2 meant the Law has been "rendered null and void" by the death of the husband in the marriage covenant that established the Law. (See Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans (1988) at 270.) Paul means "you are released from the Law as to its demands and penalties...." (The Epistle ... to the Romans; with notes by H.J. Ripley (edited by Henry Jones Ripley) (1857) at 73.)
Paul says this particular husband's death killed off the Law between the parties. It is clear in Paul's illustration that the one who dies is the "anthropos" (man) -- the "husband."
First, Paul says the Law binds the husband and wife as long as the "anthropos (man) lives." Finally, in Romans 7:3 Paul specifies who died in the relationship: "if her husband be dead, she is free from that law;...." Paul is not talking about the wife dying in order to make his point. Paul is only talking about the husband / the anthropos (man) having died whose death then effectuates dissolution of the Law.
Henry explains that by the death of the husband in Paul's lesson, this frees us from the Law, making the Law dead to us (as this husband's death brought about). As a consequence, we are "free from" our  "master" -- the husband who died. Henry explains:
Our second marriage is to Christ: and how comes this about?.... We are dead to the law ...[and] have no more to do with it than the dead servant, that is free from his master, hath to do with his master's yoke.
Locke concurs that it was the death of the husband that Paul envisions as what supposedly frees us from the Law, not the death of the woman (or the death of the Law):
" ye have been made dead to the law," the phrase here used to express that freedom, seems to refer rather to the 1st verse, where he says, "the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth," implying, and no longer, rather than to the two intervening verses, where he says, "not the death of the woman, but the death of the husband, sets the woman free," of which more by and by. (John Locke, Works of John Lock (1823) Vol. 8 at 311.)


texts:
According to Wikipedia:

  When at his Last Supper, Jesus said: "This is my body", what he held in his hands still had all the appearances of bread: these "accidents" remained unchanged. However, the Roman Catholic Church believes that, when Jesus made that declaration, the underlying reality (the "substance") of the bread was converted to that of his body. In other words, it actually was his body, while all the appearances open to the senses or to scientific investigation were still those of bread, exactly as before.

and also

  The Catholic Church holds that the same change of the substance of the bread and of the wine occurs at the consecration of the Eucharist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation

So, how can the Eucharist change from bread to body if it is not measurably altered in any way? How is it different from saying that it doesn't change at all? Is it an allegory? If not, how does it change in practical terms?


texts: What are the traditional reasons ascribed to why God saw it fit that Jesus be born of a virgin?

texts: According to the early church fathers, why did God decide that Jesus would be born of a virgin? I would imagine that someone like Augustine would say that it has something to do with why he is unstained from original sin, but the Bible does not explicitly say this. What are some of the early interpretations?


texts: Incense, candles, crystal and exorcism (Roman Catholic perspective)

texts:
I have read that incense is a bad thing and it can bring demons to your house. However others say it will create a clean house. Rabbi Keduri, some say, did smoke incense, but he did not inhale it, and when asked, said it was supposed to keep the demons away.

What does the RCC say about it? What is so special about smoke, candles and crystals?

Could any RCC experts give me a good source?


texts: What was the New Testament in the ancient Church of the East?

texts:
Which books functioned as the New Testament in the ancient Church of the East? For example, what would they have been in Mongolia in the days of Genghis Khan?

The books of the Catholic and Protestant and Orthodox New Testament were fixed after the Church of the East split from the other branches of Christianity. So I wonder what became the set of the standard books for them.


texts: Are there any Antipope Saints aside from Hippolytus of Rome?

texts: Have any antipopes other than Antipope Hippolytus of Rome ever been canonized as saints by the Roman Catholic Church?


texts: Is there any method to prevent an unbelieving pope from being elected?

texts:
Jesus did not seem to have any method to prevent a false apostle to become an apostle, as Judas has shown. (Not to imply that he could not have used one if it was the Father's will). Also, in Christianity under any denomination, there are 'weeds' that grow up with the 'wheat.'  Leaders of all kinds of different groups have on occasion turned out to be wicked unbelievers. (Matth 13:24-30)

Is there some special test or method to try and filter out the candidates for the Pope to ensure he is not a Judas? Some secret means unknown to the human nature of Christ, or at least unused by Jesus in calling Judas? If he does turn out to be a wicked unbeliever, is their a way to fire him from the office and choose another?


texts: Does God Abet Sinful Behaviour if it Brings About His Justice?

texts:
I'm having difficulty dealing with prophetic parts of the Old Testament that discuss God's wrath.  I understand that the wages of sin is death and before the new covenant in Jesus, God punished people for their sins by wiping them out (e.g., Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19).

However, there are certain parts of the bible that talk about God subjecting people to His wrath by utilising the sins of mankind like sexual immorality and stealing, not just punishment by death.  It's as though sin here is actually used as a tool to bring about God's justice, which seems unbelievable considering that sin was never God's will in the first place.  Consider the following:

Isaiah 13:13-16

  13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
      and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,
      in the day of his burning anger.

  14 Like a hunted gazelle,
      like sheep without a shepherd, they will all return to their own people,
      they will flee to their native land. 15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
      all who are caught will fall by the sword. 16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
      their houses will be looted and their wives violated.

Zechariah 14:1-3

  1 A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be
  plundered and divided up within your very walls.

  2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the
  city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half
  of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be
  taken from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against
  those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.

I'm comfortable with God destroying people for their sins by His own divine actions, but to take advantage of sinful man to bring about His holy justice it a little bit like abetting these sinful acts.  In effect, it's like saying stealing, rape and even murder can actually be Godly acts if used to fulfil His prophecies, and this makes me very uncomfortable.

Can anybody offer an explanation as to how God can bring about justice by these means yet still hate sin and remain holy and righteous?  This seems like a conflict of character to me.


texts: In Protestant churches, who is the authority in interpreting the Bible?

texts: I need a better understanding of Protestant teaching on who has the authority to interpret Sacred Scripture.


texts: According to Catholicism, does intelligence or rationality belong to other animals by participation?

texts:
In the Summa Theologica, Question 108(5), St Thomas Aquinas writes:

  Therefore, if anything is to be called by a name designating its
  property, it ought not to be named from what it participates imperfectly, nor from that which it
  possesses in excess, but from that which is adequate thereto; as, for instance, when we wish properly
  to name a man, we should call him a "rational substance," but not an "intellectual substance," which
  latter is the proper name of an angel; because simple intelligence belongs to an angel as a property,
  and to man by participation; nor do we call him a "sensible substance," which is the proper name
  of a brute; because sense is less than the property of a man, and belongs to man in a more excellent
  way than to other animals.

So intelligence belongs to man by participation. But does intelligence or rationality belong to other animals by participation?

I read this report, which suggested that apes also have a certain degree of intelligence and rationality:

  According to scientists, “ape intelligence might be a bundling of skills related to learning, tool usage, understanding of quantities, and an ability to reach conclusions based on evidence and reasoning.”

According to Catholic theology in the tradition of St Aquinas, does intelligence or rationality also belong, in complete or partial form, to animals like apes? Or would they not have any "genuine" intelligence and rationality?


texts: What is the reasoning behind the Amish practice of avoiding technological advances?

texts:
The Amish seem to believe that it is somehow wrong to utilize technological advances, such as the automobile, electricity, etc.  What is the basis for this belief (among those that do this for spiritual reasons)?  Put another way, what is the problem or danger with technological advances?  How does avoiding them make someone more spiritual.

I guess I should not expect an answer from a member of the Amish, but perhaps someone who is familiar with that teaching can answer.


texts: Where does prevenient grace originate in the Bible?

texts:
What is the Biblical basis for Prevenient Grace?

I am specifically referring to the belief that if a child is born and dies before reaching the age of responsibility, and so did not have the opportunity to accept Christ, that child will still go to heaven.


texts: Why are there inconsistencies in the New Testament?

texts:
Reading the New Testament side by side, one can pick up inconsistencies in the Gospels by various Disciples. For example, some of them mentioned by this website:

  MT 1:6-7 The lineage of Jesus is traced through David's son, Solomon.
  LK 3:23-31 It is traced through David's son, Nathan.

  MT 1:16 Jacob was Joseph's father.
  LK 3:23 Heli was Joseph's father.

  MT 1:17 There were twenty-eight generations from David to Jesus.
  LK 3:23-38 There were forty-three.

  MT 1:18-21 The Annunciation occurred after Mary had conceived Jesus.
  LK 1:26-31 It occurred before conception.

  MT 1:20 The angel spoke to Joseph.
  LK 1:28 The angel spoke to Mary.

  MT 26:18-20, 57-68, 27:1-2, MK 14:16-18, 53-72, 15:1 Jesus' initial hearing was at night on Passover. In the morning he was taken to Pilate.
  LK 22:13-15, 54-66 The initial hearing took place in the morning on Passover.
  JN 18:28, 19:14 It took place the day before Passover, on the Day of Preparation.

  MT 28:1 The first visitors to the tomb were Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (two).
  MK 16:1 Both of the above plus Salome (three).
  LK 23:55 - 24:1, 24:10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and "other women" (at least five).
  JN 20:1 Mary Magdalene only (one).

  MT 28:1 It was toward dawn when they arrived.
  MK 16:2 It was after sunrise.
  LK 24:1 It was at early dawn.
  JN 20:1 It was still dark.

  MT 28:1-2 The stone was still in place when they arrived. It was rolled away later.
  MK 16:4, LK 24:2, JN 20:1 The stone had already been rolled (or taken) away.

  MT 28:2 An angel arrived during an earthquake, rolled back the stone, then sat on it (outside the tomb).
  MK 16:5 No earthquake, only one young man sitting inside the tomb.
  LK 24:2-4 No earthquake. Two men suddenly appear standing inside the tomb.
  JN 20:12 No earthquake. Two angels are sitting inside the tomb.

  MT 28:8 The visitors ran to tell the disciples.
  MK 16:8 They said nothing to anyone.
  LK 24:9 They told the eleven and all the rest.
  JN 20:10-11 The disciples returned home. Mary remained outside, weeping.

Why do such inconsistencies occur, given that some people claim Biblical inerrancy, and how do various Christian theologians from the major denominations account for them?


texts: What does it mean that the Virgin was assumed "in body" in Heaven?

texts:
... the Pope explained that the text from the Revelation, which speaks of a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon at her feet and a garland of twelve stars upon her head, refers both to the Virgin and to the Church. In part, "the woman of the Apocalypse is Mary ... the symbol of the luminous robe clearly expressed a condition referring to Mary in all her being: She is 'full of grace', filled with the love of God".
The moon beneath her feet symbolises death: "Mary is fully linked to the victory of Jesus Christ, her Son, over sin and death... just as death has no power over Christ resurrected, so by the grace and singular privilege of omnipotent God, Mary overcomes death. This is made manifest in the two great mysteries of her existence: at the beginning, the conception without original sin, the mystery we celebrate today; and at the end, her assumption in body and soul in Heaven".

What it is written above is an official discourse, yet it is written that the Virgin was assumed 'in body', other than in soul, in Heaven.
Can anybody explain what 'in body' precisely mean there? Does it refer to material or human body? If so, from where does Catholic Church deduce that believing? What do other Christian denominations, especially Lutherans and Orthodoxes, say about that believing?
Thank you and peace be with you.


texts:
I remember that while Jesus was being tempted in the desert by the devil, the devil had asked Him to jump down from a height, because the angels would be sure to rescue Him. But Jesus answered that one should not test God.

What does it mean to "test" God?


texts: Why is it important for people who believe in Trinity that Jesus is God?

texts: I've heard a lot of discussion lately about whether Jesus is God, or not. I know there are arguments for Trinity, and arguments against. But I am wondering, why is it so important for those who believe in Trinity that Jesus is also God, and not only a perfect human being?


texts: Is there a way to help choose a Catholic Church?

texts: I would like to join or attend a Catholic Church. Is there any way to find information about area Churches besides simply attending?


texts: How do Arminians handle the case of Judas?

texts:
Unless I'm mis-reading this passage in John, it seems like Judas was predestined to be lost.

  John 17:12 (KJV)
  12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

How do those who argue against predestination handle this verse?


texts: Why did the high priests try Jesus on charges of Blasphemy if He fulfilled their prophecy?

texts:
Why did the Jewish high priests deny Jesus if He was fulfilling their scriptures?

It seems as if they viewed Him as nothing to do with their God.

What are some reasons from the perspective of the high priests that they refused to accept Jesus?


texts: Who is this member of the Catholic Church?

texts:
I was wondering who this man is, in the Catholic church:

I am wondering his position therein more so than his name. *I saw him in a dream moments ago—I am not Catholic, I am Apostolic Pentecostal.


texts: Why would cold running water be preferred for baptism?

texts:
The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (an early Christian text not part of the New Testament) says of baptism (chapter 7):

  On the subject of baptism, baptise thus: after having taught all that precedes, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. If for some reason you do not have living water, baptize in other water; and if you are not able to in cold water, in warm water. If you do not have enough of one or the other, pour out water three times on the head, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Before the baptism, let the baptizer, the baptized and others who can, observe first a fast; as for the baptized, you must enforce a fast beforehand for one or two days.

"Living water" is usually assumed to mean "running water", like the river Jordan in which Jesus was baptized.

What is the reason for preferring running water over still water, and cold water over warm water?

I know some people who were baptized in the sea; would that count as living water, or does the term only refer to rivers? (It certainly met the preference for cold water, by all accounts.)


texts: Why does Jesus refer to Himself as something distinct from God?

texts:
This question is addressed to people of trinitarian sects. If Jesus is part of a trinity, why are there so many examples of Him referring to Himself as something distinct from God? Some examples are Him on the cross saying "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" and when He refers to God as greater than Himself when speaking to the twelve prior to being taken into custody. There are more that I've noticed but these two come to mind first. Furthermore, Jesus is repeatedly said to sit at the right hand of the Father. Doesn't the phrase "sit at the right hand" imply that the Son is not equal to the Father?

I'm aware of there being counter-examples such as Him saying that He and the Father are one and of course, chapter one of John ("the Word was God").

Admitting these counter-examples support trinitarianism, how do Trinitarians explain the way Jesus speaks of God as if He is something distinct from God? Am I the only one who gets the impression that He speaks in this way?

The way I see it right now is that Jesus is the Father's proxy. All authority was given to Him to execute the Father's will. He was created by the Father (I've heard some say that He was "begotten, not made", but He is referred to as Firstborn of Creation) as God's self-expression or image (Col. 1:15). In this sense, He is a functional equivalent to the Father, but in another sense, He is not essentially equivalent because He came from the Father. Is this the same way Trinitarians see it?


texts: Is the Greek word Protoktistos used anywhere in the Bible?

texts:
Arguing against the teaching that Jesus is a created being, some point out that calling him the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15) does not mean the first created.
The trinitarian will often say that had the scripture intended to say Jesus is the first created thing the word Protoktistos would have been used rather than prototokos.
Then they state that the word Protoktistos is never used in connection with Jesus.

My question is:
Can you cite examples in the scriptures where the word Protoktistos is used? I would like to compare the places it is used with the places where prototokos is used.


texts: What's the context in the "Hail" part of Hail Mary?

texts:
I was just thinking, that's a strange greeting. Didn't people back then usually say "hail" in the context of "Hail Caesar"?  And apparently Mary thought that was a strange greeting too, even stranger than the fact that it was an Angel who greeted her thus.

So, according to the Catholic Church, does Hail (or Ave) in the sense that Gabriel uses it in Luke, actually have anything to do with addressing royalty?   Has it ever been posited that the Archangel Gabriel would use that terminology only in reference to the Holy Mother of God?


texts: What evidence is there from scripture for why Daniel did not eat the King's food?

texts:
Reading through Daniel brings up many questions.  One question that is brought to mind is "what evidence does the scripture provide to show why Daniel would refuse the King's food?"  I have read many opinion answers in a previous post: Why did Daniel consider the allotment of food and wine to be wrong for him to eat?

I am interested in specifically scriptural based answers.  I find in the text that Daniel and his friends were tested for 10 days and and at the end of the test "their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies."(Daniel 1:15)  Is there any more to it than that it was a more healthy option?


texts: Do they use icons in the Roman Catholic Church?

texts: Do they use icons in the Roman Catholic Church like they do in the East Orthodox Church? In my limited experience, I've only seen statues in the Roman Catholic Church, but not icons. I don't just mean having some images in the temple, but also praying while looking at them and kissing them from time to time - just like it is done in the East Orthodox.


texts: What arguments are used by Protestants who object to the use of marijuana, even where it is legal?

texts: With the legalization of recreational marijuana in a few states this summer, no longer can the argument against marijuana be that people are supposed to obey those in authority over them (in this instance, the government, who said that marijuana was illegal, but now it is legal) Because marijuana can be used legally now, what arguments do Protestants use against the use of it?


texts:
I'm really interested about Matthew 26:24 in which Jesus said that

  The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."

Since this verse is talking about the betrayal of Judas, it seems that Jesus is affirming the eternal fate that awaits Judas by saying that it is better if Judas is had not been born.

Why is God who is Omnibenevolent knows that Judas will be better of if he had not been born let Judas to be born?

or

How can we say that God is Omnibenevolent if He made a decision (creating Judas) in which He fully knows that His decision will made one of His creation fate much-much worse in the end?

PS: This question is for all of you although I have special interest for answer from christian universalism point of view, hope u guys can chip in :) Thanks!


texts: Is punishment for sins forgiven by baptism? (Catholic perspective)

texts:
After reading this question there is a notion that after the baptism of an adult person all sins are forgiven even all the punishments.

In the sacrament of penance, our sins are also forgiven but not our punishment. We still need to do reparation for our sins. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a4.htm

Are the people who were baptized still required to do penance for their sins they committed before baptism? Does the baptism remove the punishment for sin too? Like indulgences remove all or partial punishment. Does the baptism remove all punishments and allow a person enter heaven directly if dies right away?

There is a story of a bad mafia guy who converts on deathbed and gets baptized. I heard that is believed he went directly to heaven which means all punishments were forgiven through the baptism. Is this the catholic teaching?


texts: Non-Catholic and more obscure alternatives to an exorcism?

texts:
In popular media, whenever there is a case of demonic possession or oppression, I almost always see a Catholic response to the supernatural forces at work.  The Catholic Church being as prominent as it is, that isn't entirely surprising.  I have recently seen other films that try to branch out from this: THE POSSESSION deals with a dybbuk box and Jewish exorcism, for example; and THE LAST EXORCISM, I believe (perhaps wrongfully) takes a more Southern-influenced Protestant alternative.

So I guess my question is: if there were to be a case of demonic possession that a non-Catholic Christian church became aware of, believed to be genuine, and was willing to confront, what would be an alternative to the pop-culture Catholic method?

I myself live in the South, and was raised Baptist, although I don't conform to any one denomination.  I've never heard of a Baptist congregation confronting someone they believed to be possessed, but I'm not going to say it doesn't happen.  I can't speak for other denominations either, in any part of the country, and I'm just curious as to see if anyone has more knowledge on the subject that I do.  I know that there are certain traditions that exist, however, although I don't know that I can call them formal traditions: pastors and congregations praying around a house, for example, or praying over the afflicted, etc.

I'm currently writing a book about this sort of thing, and I'm trying to do my due diligence by researching some of this stuff I know woefully little about.  So anything you would be able to help me with would be greatly appreciated.  Please and thank you.


texts:
The Bible frequently refers to the twelve tribes of Israel. Which tribes constitute this list? Jacob had twelve sons, but Joseph's two sons each got a land inheritance and Levi got none. So do the twelve tribes refer to those who had territories (thus excluding Levi) or to the sons of Jacob (combining Manasseh and Ephraim)?

When the names of the tribes were written, for example Exodus 28:21, how would the list appear? Would Joseph be written in place of Manasseh and Ephraim or would Levi be omitted?


texts: As Christians we are already saved, so why must we keep repenting of sin?

texts: We believe that Jesus died for all our sins, past and future, so why do we need to keep asking to be forgiven if Jesus already died to forgive that sin?