The Bible is mostly black and white. So I don’t think most denominations are equivalent. Churches that are true churches must hold to the core tenets of the Christian faith. LGBT is directly spoken about in the Bible. There is no question what it says. Interpreting LGBT to be biblical is not an interpretation, it’s a twisting of the scriptures and is of the devil. Things I’ve mentioned are examples of gray areas of the scriptures. I’m not saying I’m of no opinion on these topics, I just don’t believe they are masters of salvation.
But then we have to ask, what exactly are the core tenents? There are no "core tenents" listed in Scripture, this is something left up to an individual interpretation, which again doesn't solve the issue of how do we know whos interpretation is correct.
Yes, there are parts of the Bible that are black and white, love thy neighbor, take up your Cross and follow me, etc.
There are also parts of the Bible that are very theologically difficult, such as Triadology and Christology. An incorrect interpretation of Scripture on these is a direct gateway to atheism, gnosticism, arianism, nestorianism, unitarianism, etc.
There's also no such thing as "the true Churches", Scripture says there is one Church, one Faith, one Body, not multiple.
And one last thing to ask yourself: who do you think compiled the Bible? Why, the Church did through a series of Councils.
I could easily and in long hand prove to you what I’m saying. But to keep it short and sweet, read the west minister larger and shorter catechisms, Belgic confession, cannons of dort, Heidelberg catechism, and the work of the reformers, st Augustine, RC Sproul, Thomas Aquinos, and the Bible pros associated with each. Nh alliance (multiple denominations) have a statement of faith that talks about the core tenets of the Christian faith, to include the scriptural references as well.
People from different sects agreeing doesn't change the fact that there is no exhaustive list in Scripture of "core tenents" that a Church must follow to be true.
And in the Orthodox view, we don't appeal to textual critics and scholars to discern which doctrines are correct. We have the Councils for a reason, like the one in Acts 15. The idea of leaving it to "Bible pros" and textual scholars is an idea from the reformation. It's what led to the thousands of different denominations schisming and splitting from each other, its the reason we have to have this discussion.
Also you appeal to St. Augustine and Aquinas, but these people agree with me that there is only One True Church. The reason we have thousands of Protestant denominations in the first place is because we've separated Scripture from the Church and instead left it to textual critics and scholars.
There’s one true church. But there are many churches today, some are true churches, some are not. The core tenets are things that separate the Christian faith from false religions that appear like Christianity. Things like Jesus is God, that there is a trinity. Things like salvation is from Jesus Christ and his death on the cross alone. There’s a fairly long list, but it leaves many things to interpretation, because many things have not specifically been said. I said to look at these people because they have used the scriptures to defend their arguments. Instead of standing alone trying to invent the wheel, God has blessed us with saints before us who have discovered many things. Is any one 💯 correct? By no means. You’d be foolish to say that each person must reinvent the wheel. What then did even the apostle Paul do? Let’s look at the apocryphal books. There were very few original copies made, they deny what the rest of the scriptures say, and there’s something like 20,000 original verbatim texts of the 4 gospel’s handwritten throughout the ancient world (the only differences being lingual differences because they are written to people in different places). So instead of acting like a leftist and shitting on the shoulders of the giants on whose shoulders you stand. Why not respect the work they have done, using the scriptures to prove what’s right is right and test every spirit? You seem to have a sort of complex in which you are wiser than these women I’ve listed because you were born with the internet. Guess what? We’re not any smarter today then mankind in 4000 BC. So I recommend 2 things, humble pie and a can of grow the **** up. Realize you don’t stand up so high because of what you have access to, but rather you stand on these giants shoulders who did more for the faith, than what you could ever dream of doing. I can tell because of your lack of faith that you won’t accomplish what these men have. You could surely change and become as great as these men. Read through the Bible a couple times. Listen to sermons about many parts of the Bible. Gain a fuller understanding of the texts. You alone cannot fully comprehend the depth of the scriptures in one lifetime, but you can come closer if you utilize those who carved a path ahead of us. And ask questions as you listen to people and as you read supporting documents. There’s no way you read anything of the information I sent in that timeline. The days of memes and YouTube shorts are great for the light and fluffy (politics) but have no place for the deep (religious).
The Bible is mostly black and white. So I don’t think most denominations are equivalent. Churches that are true churches must hold to the core tenets of the Christian faith. LGBT is directly spoken about in the Bible. There is no question what it says. Interpreting LGBT to be biblical is not an interpretation, it’s a twisting of the scriptures and is of the devil. Things I’ve mentioned are examples of gray areas of the scriptures. I’m not saying I’m of no opinion on these topics, I just don’t believe they are masters of salvation.
But then we have to ask, what exactly are the core tenents? There are no "core tenents" listed in Scripture, this is something left up to an individual interpretation, which again doesn't solve the issue of how do we know whos interpretation is correct.
Yes, there are parts of the Bible that are black and white, love thy neighbor, take up your Cross and follow me, etc.
There are also parts of the Bible that are very theologically difficult, such as Triadology and Christology. An incorrect interpretation of Scripture on these is a direct gateway to atheism, gnosticism, arianism, nestorianism, unitarianism, etc.
There's also no such thing as "the true Churches", Scripture says there is one Church, one Faith, one Body, not multiple.
And one last thing to ask yourself: who do you think compiled the Bible? Why, the Church did through a series of Councils.
I could easily and in long hand prove to you what I’m saying. But to keep it short and sweet, read the west minister larger and shorter catechisms, Belgic confession, cannons of dort, Heidelberg catechism, and the work of the reformers, st Augustine, RC Sproul, Thomas Aquinos, and the Bible pros associated with each. Nh alliance (multiple denominations) have a statement of faith that talks about the core tenets of the Christian faith, to include the scriptural references as well.
People from different sects agreeing doesn't change the fact that there is no exhaustive list in Scripture of "core tenents" that a Church must follow to be true.
And in the Orthodox view, we don't appeal to textual critics and scholars to discern which doctrines are correct. We have the Councils for a reason, like the one in Acts 15. The idea of leaving it to "Bible pros" and textual scholars is an idea from the reformation. It's what led to the thousands of different denominations schisming and splitting from each other, its the reason we have to have this discussion.
Also you appeal to St. Augustine and Aquinas, but these people agree with me that there is only One True Church. The reason we have thousands of Protestant denominations in the first place is because we've separated Scripture from the Church and instead left it to textual critics and scholars.
There’s one true church. But there are many churches today, some are true churches, some are not. The core tenets are things that separate the Christian faith from false religions that appear like Christianity. Things like Jesus is God, that there is a trinity. Things like salvation is from Jesus Christ and his death on the cross alone. There’s a fairly long list, but it leaves many things to interpretation, because many things have not specifically been said. I said to look at these people because they have used the scriptures to defend their arguments. Instead of standing alone trying to invent the wheel, God has blessed us with saints before us who have discovered many things. Is any one 💯 correct? By no means. You’d be foolish to say that each person must reinvent the wheel. What then did even the apostle Paul do? Let’s look at the apocryphal books. There were very few original copies made, they deny what the rest of the scriptures say, and there’s something like 20,000 original verbatim texts of the 4 gospel’s handwritten throughout the ancient world (the only differences being lingual differences because they are written to people in different places). So instead of acting like a leftist and shitting on the shoulders of the giants on whose shoulders you stand. Why not respect the work they have done, using the scriptures to prove what’s right is right and test every spirit? You seem to have a sort of complex in which you are wiser than these women I’ve listed because you were born with the internet. Guess what? We’re not any smarter today then mankind in 4000 BC. So I recommend 2 things, humble pie and a can of grow the **** up. Realize you don’t stand up so high because of what you have access to, but rather you stand on these giants shoulders who did more for the faith, than what you could ever dream of doing. I can tell because of your lack of faith that you won’t accomplish what these men have. You could surely change and become as great as these men. Read through the Bible a couple times. Listen to sermons about many parts of the Bible. Gain a fuller understanding of the texts. You alone cannot fully comprehend the depth of the scriptures in one lifetime, but you can come closer if you utilize those who carved a path ahead of us. And ask questions as you listen to people and as you read supporting documents. There’s no way you read anything of the information I sent in that timeline. The days of memes and YouTube shorts are great for the light and fluffy (politics) but have no place for the deep (religious).