It looks like we’ll just have to disagree on this point. I don’t think there is any reason to think that “the Kingdom of God” and “the Way” were being used interchangably here.
Acts 19:8-9 says that “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively
about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned **the Way. **So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.” Paul’s subject matter is specifically identified as the Kingdom of God, which is a term used throughout the New Testament for the Church – I assume we’re on the same page here, but if need be, I can provide you plenty of passages in which Jesus (in particular) uses this as a term for Church. The response of the people there is to malign “the Way.”
Acts 24:14 is even clearer: “However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers **as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. **I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets…” They’re calling the Way a “sect.” Which means that they’re obviously talking about the Church, rather than about Jesus Christ as a Man – it doesn’t make any sense to call an individual a sect.
They are not being used interchangably. And I think you’ve skipped a critical step because you seem to take it for granted that “the Church” means the CC.
Hopefully, I’ve answered your first point to your satisfaction. And yes, my position is that the Church is the Catholic Church. But I’m not just taking that for granted – I’m starting to prove the case by showing first, that the Church on Earth includes both wheat and weeds, before anything else I’ll say on the subject will make sense. We’re using the same word “Church,” but meaning different things.
I didn’t understand this part. I’ve never denied that the body of believers is an actual entity.
I suspected you were non-denominational, and was aware that there’s a pretty common view that “Church = collection of all the saved.” That’s not a Biblical concept, and I wanted to preempt it.
I don’t know what it means to say that “the body of believers is an actual entity.” I’m speaking of a *visible *entity, and if “Church” is nothing more than all the saved, wherever they may be, I don’t understand how that is visible at all, since only God knows our souls, as you’ve mentioned.
If you read all three biblical accounts of this particular dialogue you will find that Jesus begins in each of the three, by asking the disciples “who do men say I am?” Somehow, the RCC has taken the focus of this whole topic away from the identity of Jesus, and re-focused the topic on who Peter is!
We’re just following our Master. After Jesus asks this question, Simon responds (Matthew 16:16) “Thou art the Christ.”
Thou, Jesus. And it’s
Jesus who responds “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona.”
Thou, Simon Peter. So it’s Jesus who turns His attention from who He is to who Peter is. Can we be blamed for following Him?
I disagree. The church consists only of the sheep who really do hear the voice of Jesus and really do follow Him. No unsaved church-going person is truly part of the body of Christ.
This isn’t Biblical. Jesus makes it explicit that the Church on Earth consists of both the sheep and goats… or to use His actual analogy, wheat and weeds.
Matthew 13:24-29 “Jesus told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
The explanation which Jesus provides in Matthew 13:37-43 makes it even clearer.
**Matthew 13:37-43 **“He answered, ‘The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they **will weed out of his kingdom **everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.’”
So at the Last Judgment, the damned will be weeded out of the Kingdom. Not prior to then. If the Kingdom on Earth is only the wheat, what are the harvesters weeding out?
Buildings and people are visible. The soul is invisible. No one except God can know which people are part of the church, which is the body of Christ.
Answered previously. Plus, 1 Timothy 3:15 instructs him to look to the Church. Which can’t be done if it’s the invisible soul, like you just proved. It has to be something visible.
[cont.]
