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Erm ... To think of the Roman Catholic Church as the whore of Babylon is indeed somewhat outdated, at least in my part of the Protestant world. Thank God for that! But as far as I remember almost every credible Protestant scholar thinks that Babylon in the Book of Revelation is a code for the...

Exposing it for what? Looking at that guy's webside it's certainly not moral how he tries to milk his audience for money.

I’m not so sure whether Jesus had a problem with the Jews deeming themselves chosen. The story of Christ’s ‘conversion’ (Matthew 15:21-28) would speak against that. But He surely had a problem with the complacency and haughtiness that may be the unfortunate result (or cause) of feeling chosen...

Mmh, I guess you could see it that way, it’s rather a stretch though, isn’t it? I saw Luke 24:16 more literally: People actually did leave their families and possessions behind in order to follow Jesus. To begin with they were mostly (probably) rather uneducated fishermen and the like. Then...

I forgot to ask: Did you accidentally get the quote wrong in point 7 or is it just me who fails to see the connection between Luke 14:26 and anti-intellectualism?

Yes, the human memory’s tendency to paint the past in pink is both a blessing and a curse. There’s also the opposite heresy: forgetting one’s roots and history, blindly accepting human traditions as gospel without ever asking when, how and why they came up.

Interesting. So there is the possibility of drinking from the spiritual rock that is Christ long before Jesus was born and seen by His followers as God incarnate. Do you see this applying only to the ancient Israelites and their descendants, or would you see this possibility as a more general...

With some introspection I must admit that in my darker moments I may have fallen for some of these heresies here and there. You may already have addressed it between the lines, but there’s another one I’m sometimes prone to, too: self-righteousness.

Mmmh, you make it sound nice and I respect your personal take on this, but did you read what Jesus’ answer was concerning this argument? It always seemed to me He did not really like it when His disciples craved grandeur and bickered amongst each other who'd be ‘first’. Just out of interest...

How so?

God may have approved of David, but did David believe in Christ? Was he free of sin? And what about those “spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah” (1 Peter 3:19). Why should Christ bother to preach to them if not to give these evil dead a chance...

Actually the Book of Job makes it very clear that Job was an utterly good man. That’s the entire point: it’s a shift from previous wisdom literature that had it that you must have done something bad, when you are struck by calamity and illness. Instead the Book of Job declares that calamity can...

See above. I still don’t think I made a false statement. I think you misunderstood the statement I made. Which probably is also what happened 500 years ago, with tragic consequences. However: yeah, I too think this declaration is a reason to celebrate. P.S.: not that your writing style is my...

That’s why I said they agreed “pretty much”, which implies they didn’t agree completely. That there is any agreement at all seems to infuriate you. Why is that?

"If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there." (Psalm 139:8)

One doesn’t have to change one’s position in order to better understand the other’s position and to then realize that the two positions actually have more in common than one previously thought.

I did read the document. It’s a fine example of how misunderstandings can be overcome by thoughtful and good-willed discussion. Alas, many here still prefer to stick to prejudice.

Actually the Catholic Church pretty much agreed with Luther on this doctrine by now. Here's a link to the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church.": Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

Well, I too sometimes feel like a voice of one calling in the wilderness in this forum. *sigh*

The text doesn’t stop there. It goes on: "10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Good works won’t bring us salvation. But if we are saved through faith, Christ working in us will make us do good works. If we don’t...