Changes

m
linked Ante-Nicene Fathers
Line 15: Line 15:  
I have been repeatedly asked to answer the question, "What is '''salvation'''?" I consistently gave and still give my answer from the Bible. The Bible answer to the question "What is '''salvation'''?" is set forth fully in the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' as a [[reiteration]] of all that the '''''Bible''''' says. The ''Catechism'' defines '''salvation''' from scripture alone, using abundant citations and quotations from scripture, with literal conclusions from scripture, drawn from the common understanding of the Church Fathers east and west, who based all they said on the [[Exegesis|literal sense of scripture]], the [[sensus fidelium]], [[sensus plenior]] and [[sensus Christianorum]] of Christianity, faithfully expressing "the mind of Christ", so that what many have rejected as "traditions of men" is in fact the teaching of scripture, "and the scripture cannot be broken" ([http://biblehub.com/john/10-35.htm John 10:35]; [http://biblehub.com/mark/12-24.htm Mark 12:24]; [http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/15-34.htm 1 Corinthians 15:34]).  
 
I have been repeatedly asked to answer the question, "What is '''salvation'''?" I consistently gave and still give my answer from the Bible. The Bible answer to the question "What is '''salvation'''?" is set forth fully in the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' as a [[reiteration]] of all that the '''''Bible''''' says. The ''Catechism'' defines '''salvation''' from scripture alone, using abundant citations and quotations from scripture, with literal conclusions from scripture, drawn from the common understanding of the Church Fathers east and west, who based all they said on the [[Exegesis|literal sense of scripture]], the [[sensus fidelium]], [[sensus plenior]] and [[sensus Christianorum]] of Christianity, faithfully expressing "the mind of Christ", so that what many have rejected as "traditions of men" is in fact the teaching of scripture, "and the scripture cannot be broken" ([http://biblehub.com/john/10-35.htm John 10:35]; [http://biblehub.com/mark/12-24.htm Mark 12:24]; [http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/15-34.htm 1 Corinthians 15:34]).  
   −
I can say this because I am primarily and fundamentally a Bible apologist, who just happens to be Catholic. I was raised a Baptist. I know the Bible. It's the divinely inspired infallible word of God. I am 72 years old and I have read it cover to cover 82 times in the King James Version and in other versions and translations since before the age of 12 when I finally "went forward and accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior" and was baptized by full immersion at Grace Baptist Church (''Conservative Baptist'') in Des Moines, Iowa, in the spring of 1959. Shortly afterward I was appointed by the pastor as one of the "youth conversion counsellors" of newly baptized young teen converts and made one of the leaders of our Youth Group, and actively joined Billy Graham's "Youth for Christ", attending several conferences and avidly watching him on television. Years later, as an adult, by fervent prayer, and by my knowledge of scripture and history and finding out by careful investigation what Catholicism and Orthodoxy actually teaches (which is not what I had been ''told'' they teach), and having read and compared the writings of the [[Early Church Fathers]], at age 33 the Lord Jesus led me to embrace the Catholic Church as the most biblically faithful Church on the face of the earth. I held to three fundamental scripture passages:  
+
I can say this because I am primarily and fundamentally a Bible apologist, who just happens to be Catholic. I was raised a Baptist. I know the Bible. It's the divinely inspired infallible word of God. I am 72 years old and I have read it cover to cover 82 times in the King James Version and in other versions and translations since before the age of 12 when I finally "went forward and accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior" and was baptized by full immersion at Grace Baptist Church (''Conservative Baptist'') in Des Moines, Iowa, in the spring of 1959. Shortly afterward I was appointed by the pastor as one of the "youth conversion counsellors" of newly baptized young teen converts and made one of the leaders of our Youth Group, and actively joined Billy Graham's "Youth for Christ", attending several conferences and avidly watching him on television. Years later, as an adult, by fervent prayer, and by my knowledge of scripture and history and finding out by careful investigation what Catholicism and Orthodoxy actually teaches (which is not what I had been ''told'' they teach), and having read and compared the writings of the [[Ante-Nicene Fathers|Early Church Fathers]], at age 33 the Lord Jesus led me to embrace the Catholic Church as the most biblically faithful Church on the face of the earth. I held to three fundamental scripture passages:  
 
::'''[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+1%3A6-9&version=KJV Galatians 1:6-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A18-19&version=KJV 1 John 2:18-19];''' and '''[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A16-17&version=KJV John 14:16-17]''' ''with'' '''[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16%3A12-14&version=KJV John 16:12-14].'''  
 
::'''[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+1%3A6-9&version=KJV Galatians 1:6-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A18-19&version=KJV 1 John 2:18-19];''' and '''[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A16-17&version=KJV John 14:16-17]''' ''with'' '''[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16%3A12-14&version=KJV John 16:12-14].'''  
 
I looked for a church that did not come out of another church and teach a doctrine different from the church it came out of. Only one church qualified historically and scripturally. When some of my long time friends heard that I had become Catholic they were shocked (some of them were witches, others were fundamentalists, Evangelicals, Lutherans, Baptists, Anglicans and Methodists, including the AME pastors I had known and had shared unofficial pastoral ministry with). People asked me, "How can you do that?" I said, "Because I believe the Bible. Let me show you." I stand on the firm foundation of the doctrine of the Bible which includes all "authority established by God" ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-10&version=KJV Romans 13:1-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=KJV Hebrews 13:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A13-17&version=KJV 1 Peter 2:13-17]). The established Church has "the mind of Christ".
 
I looked for a church that did not come out of another church and teach a doctrine different from the church it came out of. Only one church qualified historically and scripturally. When some of my long time friends heard that I had become Catholic they were shocked (some of them were witches, others were fundamentalists, Evangelicals, Lutherans, Baptists, Anglicans and Methodists, including the AME pastors I had known and had shared unofficial pastoral ministry with). People asked me, "How can you do that?" I said, "Because I believe the Bible. Let me show you." I stand on the firm foundation of the doctrine of the Bible which includes all "authority established by God" ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-10&version=KJV Romans 13:1-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=KJV Hebrews 13:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A13-17&version=KJV 1 Peter 2:13-17]). The established Church has "the mind of Christ".
Block, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect
30,891

edits