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How do we find out what the experts who know Greek and historical context, etc. say on this topic? Some commentaries only give an opinion too, or a bias. The better quality commentaries actually contain sections of analysis, such as textual analysis, canonicity, literary criticism (read...

YAY! We are not arguing! YIPPEE! We are not calling each other names. WONDERFUL! We actually agree with each other! There is hope on this forum. YABBADABBADOO!

I like the title BRIDGE BUILDERS, because it doesn't have the baggage that ecumenical has. Some conservatives see the word ecumenical as ecu-maniacal, uniformity for unity and watering down of truth so that heretics will be included. That is not the purpose of it, of course, but bridge-building...

Let me put my 2 cents worth in there. Neither Catholics, nor Protestants, nor Orthodox are right on this issue. Protestants say sola scriptura, Catholics kowtow to the pope, and Orthodox seem to have a slightly more balanced view here with their idea that if it was not approved by an ecumenical...

I quite disagree. I believe the creeds and think that they are excellent summaries, but they are not Holy Scripture and therefore not essentials of our faith. I believe that the logia, the sayings of Jesus, give us all the essentials that we need. The logia have the advantage of being from the...

Response to post on the old thread: I highly regard the theology of the Orthodox Church. However, if you read the Bible, you will see even there a great deal of difference between the way things were done in Scripture and current Orthodox Church practice. Yes, it's my opinion, but I think it's...

You want proof? Read your Bible and compare it with tradition. It's really quite elementary my dear Watson! There is no worship service with all the religious mumbo jumbo that we later Christians have invented. In fact the so-called primitive church itself is DRAMATICALLY different to any modern...

I feel almost exactly the same. Unlike you, I hope it offends so that people may reconsider what may be ancient traditions more in line those of the methods and traditions of the Pharisees than Christ, and modern fads more in line with those of false prophets than the Apostles. Maybe the...

Actually, the Catholic (large c) Church in isolation from the churches in the east, did not exist at the time the Bible was canonized. The united eastern and western catholic Church did that job. The 4 bishoprics from the east (now Orthodox) and the west (now Catholic) were once united as the...

Actually, because of varying pronunciation of this term across the Arabic language spectrum, it could be spelled either way in English. It is an inexact transliteration of the Arabic vowel sound either way you spell it. It may be an insult to some, but that may be the kind of insult that...

Actually, being an Arabic word it is hard to translate by one English word. Islam means both -- peace and submission.

I think he must be a Baptist. That is their view, in order to support their congregationalist theology. i. e. no hierarchies, no bishops, no authoritarianism. It has some merit, but is not the entire story as you rightly pointed out.

Terrorist minded "Moslems" (Islam actually means peace) seem to have great sway in that religion at the moment. Terrorist minded "Christians" like the KKK and the IRA are on the outs - nobody really takes them seriously. Historically, Islam spread through violence and that is the real reason why...

The Bible also says a lot of things which taken out of context could be used to prove anything you want. For instance one verse says that he who is in the flesh cannot please God, and another verse says that Jesus came in the flesh. Two different contexts; two different meanings. Many...

There are problems with your interpretation of the Bible. You will find few theologians who actually know their Greek that will argue that the mode of baptism is important, the fact of baptism is, but the mode is not really exactly specified in the Bible. If I go paddling ankle deep in the...

Please understand me. I do not condemn Catholicism, or any other branch of the Church of God. What I condemn is when tradition (Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant) or fads (Pentecostal, Televangelistic or New Age) are overemphasized and Jesus' teachings are underemphasized. There is nothing...

Thank you for that. A helpful comment!

One Scripture taken out of context does not a complete doctrine make. The topic of women preaching needs to be addressed from the whole Bible, not one verse. And guess what? We do find women leading men in other parts of the Bible, but even that is not the whole story. This is a rather big topic...

I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to respond to these questions, because I believe it is the Churches of Christ who have already compromised on the above issues and need to get back to their original charter -- no creed but Christ. Jesus did not ban instrumental music. Therefore to ban it...

I think that certainly is an essential because it's in the Bible. The problem with people is they make things like the following part of their essentials, when they are all non-essentials: Abstinence from alcohol Baptism by immersion Communion bread leaveaned or unleavened Confessing to a...