I'm a Protestant Christian. Ask me anything!

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TheLittleLady said:
How does the CMA decide which Canon of Scripture to use?
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I doubt you will find any moment in the CMA’s history where it decided the Canon of Scripture. The Christian and Missionary Alliance did not begin as a denomination but as a missionary society in the late 1800s. It only officially recognized that it was indeed a new denomination in the 1970s.

The founder of what would become the CMA was A. B. Simpson, who began his career as a Presbyterian minister but later became involved in the broader holiness movement. The CMA simply inherited the Protestant canon. Why would it have to re-litigate the canon when no Protestants at the time were fighting over it?
 
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I think the question at hand is related to the fact that, even if protestants at the time had a set canon to use, Sola Scriptura protestants like OP here don’t have an explanation for how the canon came into existence in the first place.
 
Capta(name removed by moderator)rudeman said:
I think the question at hand is related to the fact that, even if protestants at the time had a set canon to use, Sola Scriptura protestants like OP here don’t have an explanation for how the canon came into existence in the first place.
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If they actually understand sola scriptura, they know exactly the source of the canon(s) of scripture. Christ Himself vests teaching authority in the Church.
 
This is actually a good question (I’m new here and trying to sort through the nitpicking versus the actual questions :D).

If the saints are in heaven, which they obviously are, they’re unified with God. The reason for the many languages of the earth is because of sin, as shown at the Tower of Babel. If they’re in heaven and in the presence of God, they must be sinless and they will never sin again, since they belong to Him for all eternity. Limitations don’t exist in heaven. As Catholics, we believe in the Resurrection of the dead, so those in heaven don’t have their “new and improved” physical bodies yet, but they don’t have limitations on language or anything non-physical. They don’t have the powers of God, of course, but they are no longer limited by sin or death or the constraints of language. Or time, for that matter. Heaven and/or eternity is outside time.
Does that make sense?
 
I like it. Welcome to the forum. I like your avatar too. Are you as docile as a hedgehog irl? And as prickly, at times?
 
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ltwin said:
To put it simply, American Protestantism’s divide between conservative and liberal churches often comes down to a focus on individual conversion and holiness versus societal healing and transformation
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By what authority, do you make such generalizations?

Are you not an entity of one?
 
When in Church history did Sola Scriptura begin?

Do you practice circumcision and temple sacrifices of the Old Testament Scriptures?
 
nick2 said:
@blackforest What do you think it means to accept Christ as Lord and Savior?
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Would you mind addressing my questions first so that I can see where your line of questioning is going? Much appreciated!
blackforest said:
If we are saved by grace alone, how do Protestants square that with Matthew 25: 34-46?
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blackforest said:
If we are saved by grace alone, and if all it takes is accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, is there any point in confessing sins?
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stoplooklisten said:
By what authority, do you make such generalizations?
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Chill out dude. It’s a well known historical explanation for the 2-party system of American Protestantism. In the late 19th century, one group of Protestants began to gravitate toward liberal theology and began emphasizing the social aspects of Christianity, while a more conservative group reacted by re-emphasizing the “fundamentals” and the need for personal, individual conversion.

Way back in 1913, the Protestant clergymen Josiah Strong wrote, “there are two types of Christianity . . . Their difference is one of spirit, aim, point of view, comprehensiveness. The one is individualistic; the other is social.”
stoplooklisten said:
Are you not an entity of one?
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How dare you assume my numerals. 😆
 
ltwin said:
People are not saved by falling down in evangelistic meetings. People are saved by placing their faith in Christ
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What if their faith is just a “head game” (and doesn’t reside in their heart and enduring lifestyle)?
 
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What does your particular denomination say about salvation for Catholics and for non-Christian believers in G-d, as well as for atheists? And do you agree with your denomination’s viewpoint?
 
stoplooklisten said:
What if their faith is just a “head game” (and doesn’t reside in their heart and enduring lifestyle)?
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One of the main tenants of any Protestant/Evangelical church that I’m familiar with (which is several) is that faith is not just head knowledge. Faith is a supernatural change to one’s heart that changes who we are. And that while it is possible to have knowledge of Christian rituals, morals, and culture and go along with them and take part in them and even proclaim them, but doing so isn’t real faith if one’s heart hasn’t been supernaturally changed.
 
If there is one truth, then how can you rationalize the fact that there are hundreds of different protestant denominations?

Episcopalians believe in consubstantiation while other denominations believe it is purely a symbol. Is it not vital that we believe the truth? One truth? And so which is true?
 
Hedgehog,
re: “Heaven and/or eternity is outside time. Does that make sense?”

How do you define “time”?
 
nick2,
re: “Ask me anything regarding my faith…”

On what day of the week do you believe the Messiah was crucified?
 
Yep. As do Anglicans, more generally.

Though I’ve heard some Lutherans do not assert consubstantiation.
 
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ltwin said:
Lutherans believe in consubstantiation. Episcopalians run the entire spectrum from symbolic to transubstantiation and everything in between.
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Ok.

And my original question remains unanswered…

The issue is not about forcing people to believe one thing. The issue is “what is true? What is God’s intent.”

The diversity of beliefs about the real presence, the observance of different numbers of the sacraments, etc. If one’s intent is to adhere to that which is God’s intent, then how do you explain the diversity of contradictory or opposing positions by each of the different denominations?
 
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