M
mercygate
Guest
The JWs came by on Sunday. The first time I was on my way to Church; the second, I was receiving company. Sunday, I was taking down the Christmas tree (sigh: I know, I should have taken it down on the 7th or else left it up until Friday for the Purification). They were quite decent about that as they were both formerly Christians in the mainstream sense of the word.
Anyway, we sat down and “shared.” I didn’t know much about their theology but when they tried to show me how Jesus is an equivalent creature to Satan, I had no trouble distinguishing between a created ‘son’ and a begotten son, who must be of the same substance as the Father. They were interested that the Greek Septuagint uses the word “angels” instead “sons” of God in Job 1:6 (or is it 6:1?).
I have to say I lost my cool when they told me that Constantine was the head of the Church (!!!). I SHOULD have said, “Hmmmm. What an interesting thesis. But since Constantine was never a bishop, never a priest, and not even BAPTIZED until he was on his deathbed, that kind of disqualifies him for the job as head of the Church, doesn’t it?” Instead, I said something articulate like, “No way on God’s green earth!!!” Very persuasive, I am sure.
I didn’t really lose my grip when they told me Jesus discarded his body when he returned to Heaven. All I did was raise my King James Bible in the air and say: “He took it WITH him!” They’re bloody ARIANS!
I asked them why they believed in the Bible. They gave some good answers about manuscript evidence and such. Then I asked them why the Gospel of Thomas wasn’t in the New Testament. Then I asked whether they knew when the first list of New Testament books was put together and who did it. (heh, heh, heh). I didn’t hit 'em really hard with that but I did tell 'em it was 70 years after Constantine had died.
I asked them to take away a couple of important thoughts:
Anyway, we sat down and “shared.” I didn’t know much about their theology but when they tried to show me how Jesus is an equivalent creature to Satan, I had no trouble distinguishing between a created ‘son’ and a begotten son, who must be of the same substance as the Father. They were interested that the Greek Septuagint uses the word “angels” instead “sons” of God in Job 1:6 (or is it 6:1?).
I have to say I lost my cool when they told me that Constantine was the head of the Church (!!!). I SHOULD have said, “Hmmmm. What an interesting thesis. But since Constantine was never a bishop, never a priest, and not even BAPTIZED until he was on his deathbed, that kind of disqualifies him for the job as head of the Church, doesn’t it?” Instead, I said something articulate like, “No way on God’s green earth!!!” Very persuasive, I am sure.
I didn’t really lose my grip when they told me Jesus discarded his body when he returned to Heaven. All I did was raise my King James Bible in the air and say: “He took it WITH him!” They’re bloody ARIANS!
I asked them why they believed in the Bible. They gave some good answers about manuscript evidence and such. Then I asked them why the Gospel of Thomas wasn’t in the New Testament. Then I asked whether they knew when the first list of New Testament books was put together and who did it. (heh, heh, heh). I didn’t hit 'em really hard with that but I did tell 'em it was 70 years after Constantine had died.
I asked them to take away a couple of important thoughts:
- The notion that Scripture is the inspired and inerrant Word of God was first defined by the Catholic Church.
- The New Testament was compiled and ratified by the Catholic Church nearly 350 years after the death of Jesus.
- The Catholic Church assures her faithful that they will receive “special spiritual gifts” (I carefully avoided the word “indulgence”) for prayerfully reading the Scriptures.