It is you who, through using nice color, have changed the meaning of the prayer.
Can you explain this? How does using color change the meaning of the prayer?
Also, how does the meaning seem different to you?
I think what the done is give clarity to the text, because it helps you to see the part you were ignoring.
They chose two men and expected God to chose one of them by casting lots.
You left out some steps here, Doki.
12] Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away;
[13] and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.
[SIGN][14] All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. [/SIGN]
[15] In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty), and said,
[16] “Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus.
[17] For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry.
[18] (Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
[19] And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Akel’dama, that is, Field of Blood.)
[20] For it is written in the book of Psalms,
Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and His office let another take.’
[21] So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
[22] beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us – one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
[23] And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsab’bas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthi’as.
After Jesus was taken up, the Church returned to the upper room and devoted themselves to prayer. AFTER the prayer, Peter stood up and shared what was revealed to him during the prayer and through the scriptures. He explained how the HS spoke to him through the scripture that Judas’ office was to be taken by another.
He gave the requirements, and explained that someone who met the requirements “must become with us a witness to His resurrection”.
So, according to your view, the prayer of the Church was useless, the scripture was useless, and the HS was not guiding Peter at all (you seem to think he did not pray, read scripture or attempt to discern God’s will).
Peter wasn’t one of those praying? If he was, did he disagree with the prayer? It was his prayer as well as all of them.
And according to your theory, the prayers of all of them were useless, as God was too weak to speak to their hearts and minds, even through the scriptures that they thought they received from Him.
. God got His choice — Saul of Tarsus. Saul was chosen just like the original 12 - and that was NOT by casting lots.
There is no doubt that Saul of Tarsus was chosen to be an Apostle by God, just like there were many Apostles before Saul. You are saying that the Church made a mistake choosing Matthias, but both were God’s choice, as well as all the other Apostles that were chosen. Who are you to say otherwise? Why not one of the other Apostles mentioned in the NT to be the replacement?
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Thanks for sticking up for me.
You may be stubborn, but you are very sincere.
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However there is one major correction ... I did not learn this from anyone that I'm aware of. I read, studied, thought about these things. It is wrong of you to blame anyone else for my understandings.
Ok. This is not the first time I have heard this heresy, so I was not sure if you concluded it on your own, or picked it up somewhere. One thing I am sure of, and that is that it originated with the Father of Lies.
The idea that Mary had other children came from the same place.