Not David
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- Apr 6, 2018
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Orthodox bishops can't marry, they have to be celibate or widowers.No, I am Catholic, not Orthodox.
Actually, that is not true.
23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Acts 1:23 - 26
Judas committed suicide so now there were only eleven apostles.Our Lord was with them for over a month between His resurrection and ascension, and He never told them about finding a replacement for him. But after his ascension, Peter told them that need to replace Judas with someone else. This was proper for Peter to do, since Jesus said to said whatever he binds on earth be will be bound in heaven. The apostles chose two, and then they cast lots - which is like the rolling of the dice. No matter! The Holy Spirit was guiding the whole process. And the lot feel to Mathias.
Now, I have not ever known a Protestant who questioned Matthias' apostleship, even though Jesus himself never selected him. Matthias was selected by the apostles, at the direction of Peter. Now, if they had the authority to select someone to replace Judas, it is logical that when they started dying off, they would have selected those to replace them as well.
I grant you this is not much, but there are doctrine that both of us believe that have even smaller support from the Bible than this one. What day do you honor the Sabbath? Is it Saturday or Sunday? My guess is that you honor Sunday. But the Ten Commandments says that we should honor the Sabbath on the seventh day, which is Saturday. Now, the rationale for worship on Sunday is that this is the day that Jesus rose from dead. But there is no verse in the Bible that allows for that! It is based on Church tradition, the Church changed it to Sunday. If the Church is not infallible then we should go back and honor Saturday instead of Sunday. Also, I think you, along with me, are a Trinitarian. You would believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - three persons in one God. BUT there is no verse in the Bible that states that there are three persons in one God. In fact, the word "Trinity" is no where to be found in the Bible! Protestants pick and choose which doctrines have to be supported from Bible and which do not.
At the time of Jesus, there were two texts of the Jewish Bible, the Masoretic (or Hebrew) Text and the Greek Septuagint. Both were authoritative. In fact, Jesus and the NT writers quoted mostly from the Greek Septuagint, not the Masoretic text. For instance Isaiah 7:14 says "Behold, a young woman gave birth to son" in the Masoretic text but the Greek Septuagint say "Behold, a virgin gave birth to a son". The Jews had a conference after the time of Christ and decided that the Masoretic text would be the only authoritative text, probably because the embarrassment of verses like Isaiah 7:14.
Now these Deuterocanonicals were in the Greek Septuagint but not in the Masoretic text. So this was in the Christian Bible up until the Reformation. The Reformers wanted to rejected the Deutercanonicals because there was a passage in 2 Maccabees that strongly supported Purgatory. So the Reformers rejected Deutercanonicals, arguing that since the Jews rejected them that we should, too. But they neglected to point out that the Jews only rejected Greek Septuagint, which included the Deutercanonicals, after they had rejected Christ. So why should we take the Jews, who rejected Christ, over centuries of Christianity in determining the canon of the OT?
Well, Orthodoxy have married priests. However, their bishops can be married. Catholics do not have married priests. But since I am Catholic, I deal with this.
Celibacy is in the Bible. Most of the OT prophets were celibates. John the Baptist, Paul, and our Lord were celibates. In the Apostle John's vision, he sees in the future men so dedicated to God that they "did not defile themselves with women"(Revelation 14:4). In Cor 7, Paul writes that for Lord's sake it would better to be celibate but he allowed marriage if it was too difficult for person to remain celibate. But still the ideal was celibacy. The Church allowed priest to marry for the first thousand years. But many men and women chose celibacy in order to get closer to Christ.
The Church changed this in 1076 AD. Just as the apostles had the right on their own to replace Judas, their replacements had the authority to determine the qualifications of a priest. I noticed that you called them clergy qualifications. Actually, it was only some in the clergy. Deacons, even to this day, can be married. It is only the priests and the bishops that are required to be remain celibate. And that is only in one rite, the Latin Rite. But a deacon can be married, and a deacon does what a Protestant minister does. So if a married man feels called to preach sermons, baptize people, and marry people, he can be become a deacon. He cannot become a priest, which I doubt you believe is a valid calling in the clergy. So you are criticizing the Catholic Church for not allowing married priests but your church does not allow priests at all.
Actually, I do not think the Orthodox believe in Purgatory, but since we Catholics do I will address this.
Is this purification complete in this life? If yes, then that means you would have to believe in sinless perfection. In this life, all of us Christians would reach being totally pure before we die and go to heaven. If no, and there is no intermediate purification process before we are in heaven. That would mean that that there would be many impure souls in heaven.
I am sure you agree that we none of us reach perfection in this and yet once we are in heaven we will be perfect. So there has to be some sort of purification process after we die but before we enter heaven - even if the purification is instantaneous. All of will go from being impure to being pure. The only issues are how long will this purification will take and will this purification will entail some pain or deprivation. I would say it would take some kind of pain or deprivation based on 1 Corinthians 3:
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
Paul wrote that every one adds to the foundation of Jesus Christ. If his work does not survive, he will suffer loss but only as one who escapes through the flames.It is not just his work will go through flames. It is he himself going through the flames. That is Purgatory.
And Paul wrote this in 2 Cor 5:10:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
We must ALL appear before the judgement seat of Christ - non-Christians AND Christians. Paul wrote "WE", including his Christian readers and even himself. Now, Evangelicals try to argue that Christians are only judged by how many rewards they will receive. But Paul writes that we will be judged on what we did WHETHER GOOD OR BAD! That means the recompense could be a reward, or it could be a punishment.
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