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epostle, feels a bit like we're arguing in circles here. John Calvin is nowhere making the same claim as the Catholic church on the authority of his own word. In fact, that's the entire summation of what he is writing. You don't need anything else for salvation - it is all contained in Holy...

This is almost a red herring as far as this discussion goes, so I really hate to take away from the OP by getting into rounds with a Catholic. On top of that, this sort of copy & paste catechism is partly why Protests and Catholics can't talk to one another on a forum. Maybe open a another...

I have not yet tackled the Institutes. However, if you want to start simple with Calvin, I'd recommend this: A Little Book on the Christian Life, damask cover It's been modernized, but gives you Calvin in full dose. This passage likely refers to the perspicuity of Scripture which is an...

I've only come to understand this as I've gotten older. This is great encouragement for those of us who screw it up often. Christ is always there, and by Christ we will be made to stand in our weaknesses. (Romans 14:4)

Late to the discussion here, but maybe part of the whole Calvinism vs. Arminianism is that we lack the vocabulary to describe how it works. I've always been relatively comfortable with some level of ambiguity, but I know that my nature is to seek clarity on something that we're probably not...

God's will is "bound" by his nature or who he is. He is not constrained by any external force. If you ponder this in the content of God is love (1 John 4:8). Even in the Calvinist usage you may sometimes see, God would still be understood to be able to operate within a certain set of parameters...

Please, although I don't own this website any more (so no dog is in this fight for me),drop the idea of conspiracy theories. I've heard this time and again, but when I owned this site, I didn't collude with any umbrella organization or secret society. I feel pretty safe to say that with the...

Whilst I didn't necessarily disagree with the Obama handling with Iran - the diplomacy was a pig with lipstick to borrow a popular populist political analogy. Iran can get a bomb if Iran gets a bomb, and at best what Obama did was a hail mary on a rather hopeful delaying of the inevitable. It...

It's not an open-and-shut case. As almost all of our Bibles don't portray this particular point, Paul specifically chose a word that was not used elsewhere in Scripture. This fact alone should give pause. Source: “But What About 1 Timothy 2:12?” Ten Talking Points - The Junia Project In...

It honestly all hinges on a single question as to the role of women in the church: In both I Timothy and Corinthians, Paul makes a comment in the context of false teaching (Ephesians) and disorderly worship (I Timothy). The primary question is whether this was conditional to the specific type...

Just passing through! Although I am a staff member here, it's mostly in an Emeritus role. I am no longer Webmaster of this site. Can't blame me, sorry.

Had to post on this dream. It sounds like a dream that needs to be heeded. I always recommend talking to Angelina about dreams because she has a gift for discernment and often God reveals some things to her to speak into the lives of others. My take is pretty simple, but I will add that the key...

Pictures that show God's glory over the years from my travels and experiences.

Ah, but carefully read the context around the passage here in Matthew and its sister passages in Luke (21) and Mark (13). The ones who are taken away in the flood comparison are taken away to destruction. Similarly, Christ comes to us like a thief but we must remember that he is not a thief The...

As the original author/guy who assembled the SoF, I must say that the bodily resurrection would be an oversight due to my own limited mind. (And that's generally why it's not a good idea for a single person to write a statement, though in fairness to myself I sought input and review.) I largely...

Well, to me a video lesson or non-Bible book lesson on it's own would not make an "organic" small group. I would work away from full-on planned studies and such. It's forced, which is what I was getting at with church. We need Sunday morning as corporate worship, but worship is only part of the...

That's the $64,000 (inflation...) $64,000,000 question. I feel like I tried, struggled, and failed miserably to make myself do this. Just to shed some light, my wife and I are the typical working professionals that now seems to personify most college-educated couples. We both work and then the...

Yes, Matthew 18:20 comes to mind. I've heard a lot of people try to say this verse now only speaks to church disciplines episodes, but I understand that verse to mean that when sincere believers get together and try and do things God's way, the Holy Spirit will be there to guide. The Methodists...

WW, great questions very relevant for what's going on in the world right now. I have a Wesleyan background to go with my Baptist history, so maybe I am predisposed to it, but I admit to admire very much John Wesley's groups. To me the early Methodist class meets, as they were called, tried to...

Well, state churches will be subjected to increased pressure to conform to liberal (in the classical, more universal political sense) ideals and values over and above a church that is not tied to political entities. There may be some exceptions in the developing world or homogeneous nations that...