There was once a time when people understood that the expectation to recite a public formulaic pronouncement—a liturgy—was, in fact, religious expression of belief. People also once understand that teaching a person to accept a set of beliefs uncritically was, in fact, indoctrination. Paired together, people once recognized this for …
This is part of a series on the Roman Catholic sacraments. See the index. One of the common problems I’ve experienced in my interactions with Roman Catholics is that they don’t understand their own religion. They are discouraged from reading the Bible and coming to their own conclusions, and so rarely …
From here: The New Testament as a whole quotes from all but Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. It quotes in total 237 Old Testament passages. Notwithstanding claims made by some, the New Testament does not directly quote from any book in the Apocrypha, although it does …
God doesn’t like divorce, so don’t ever do it. For many years I have sat back and not weighed in on whether divorce or remarriage is ever correct. Interpreting the so-called “exception clause” given by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is not a trivial matter. Nonetheless, in response to …
This is part of a collection of rebuttals, responses, and replies. See the index. Are illicit acts—prostitution, incest, and polygamy—marriage? Since the recent publication of “Marriage isn’t Magic“, the Christianity and Masculinity blog made a post which describes three situations where the Bible supposedly contradicts my post, all describing illicit acts, … …
Christians should stay out of politics. Many years ago I wrote in “Left, Right, and Religion” that from the Christian perspective there is no meaningful distinction between the Left and the Right political wings. All are leftist in terms of the philosophy of their purpose. I wrote: The distinction between “Republican vs. …
This is part of a collection of rebuttals, responses, and replies. See the index. Is marrying a young bride sufficient to ensure a life-long marriage? In speaking of Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, commentator Oscar says: Off-the-charts attraction, as usual. They started dating when she was 18, and he was …
This is part of a collection of rebuttals, responses, and replies. See the index. What constitutes unity in the church? One of the repeating themes among critics of the church is that disagreement is the same as disunity and that conformity is the mark of unity. Neither of these are true …
This is part of a collection of rebuttals, responses, and replies. See the index. What is fornication? What is marriage? Commentator John explains his difficulty: Perhaps I have been misunderstanding this entire discussion: [consummation of marriage] nullifies fornication as a category [..] When Paul counseled to “flee fornication,” I have trouble …
This is part of a collection of rebuttals, responses, and replies. See the index. Roman Catholic soteriology rejects faith alone (‘sola fide‘). The Sacraments are a part of salvation. Sola fide implies the rejection of the sacraments, including marriage as a sacrament. If Sanctified Marriage is equal to Sacramental marriage, then …