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Offhand there are what 7 churches established in the NT? All taught the same doctrines.
So we really don't have "different" churches in that sense.
We have multiplee churches sure, just like scripture demonstrates, but not "different" churches.
And of course, not enough churches hence why so few will find the narrow road leading to life.
Most are self deceived traveling on the wide road to destruction
Our Lord Almighty testifies to what a church is using the Apostle Paul.
Poor guy patiently taught the same things, over and over, in each church.
Giving the same love and blessings to each church through his letters
Even some admonishments when necessary.
Gods word, God breathed through Apostle Paul
Some churches were much more effort than others. Paul taught Timothy upon how to make disciples, set up a church, etc..
“Does the Bible say we should approach the saints with our prayers? Yes, in two places. In Revelation 5:8 John saw the Lamb, Christ Jesus, on a throne in the midst of four beasts and 24 elders. When the Lamb took the book with the seven seals, the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb in worship, "each one having a harp and golden bowls of incenses, which are the prayers of the saints."
Similarly, in Revelation 8:3-4 we are told that something similar happened when the Lamb opened the seventh seal of the book: "Another angel came and stood on the altar, having a golden censer, and many incenses were given to him, in order that he will give it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incenses went up with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God."
Christian comes from the bible so whatever definition that authority offers, is what we are forced to adhere to (as Christians that is).
For Christians, there isn't much of a choice ....even if we sometimes wish it otherwise.
Christianity certainly adheres to it's authority which encompasses exact definitions describing those who do, what a church is, etc..
My guess is you are better describing other religions, not Christianity.
Christian comes from the bible so whatever definition that authority offers, is what we are forced to adhere to (as Christians that is).
For Christians, there isn't much of a choice ....even if we sometimes wish it otherwise.
Christianity certainly adheres to it's authority which encompasses exact definitions describing those who do, what a church is, etc..
My guess is you are better describing other religions, not Christianity.
No, it is not the belief of all Christians that the Bible is the authority or is inerrant or the literal "Word of God". We do understand that this is the belief of the fundamentalist view to which you adhere.
This does not mean we reject Scripture--we just do not believe it to be divine in and of itself. We use it for studying, for guidance, but we also bear in mind that it was written by men in a certain time and place and must be read in context.
I will not argue in depth with fundamentalists over this point any longer because it usually gets quite ugly, and that's not very Christian.
I am not sure what Sola Scripture is but scripture itself testifies to many things. So if it is wrong, you see, the entire bible is wrong. Offhand I've forgotten where to find that bible verse but know it exists
Well it's not cool to believe something that is untrue. So if it is in the bible, then it is truth.
There are no bible verses I am aware of that teach the Saints are looking down on us. I personally wish that were true, and studied it a few years ago hoping for such. In fact, it was something I was desperate to believe after a family member passed away. It caused me much grief. But I must adhere to the scriptural truth which means there is absolutely no scriptural support for this. If there is, I hope and pray I am the FIRST TO KNOW!! How I wish this were true. Then in our mannerisms and words, we'd be communicating with the dead.
But the fact that people don't even have EYES, their bodies return to dust, pretty much makes it impossible to see what is happening here. Offhand the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man comes the closest, imho, and that doesn't even support this notion. I'll keep hoping this is true, probably forever....despite the bible's overall silence on this issue.
Sola Scriptura is Latin for "Scripture alone". In other words, the belief that the Bible is the only authority for Christians.
That belief will cause the inevitable downfall of Christian fundamentalism.
And it can't happen too soon for me.
When you think about it, it's strange that it even took hold, and even stranger that it took hold at a time when knowledge was progressing and the world was growing smaller.
Go back to the late 19th Century, and that's when there is a flurry of end-of-world cults that pop up, some of which have survived, like JWs, and others that died out. This was during the Industrial Revolution. Then fundamentalism pops up about a hundred years ago when inventions are being produced and more and more of the population is becoming education.
It's almost as if progress in thought and technology creates an opposite backward backlash.
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