**These citations fail to support your argument that man has free-will to seek God. **
Unless you consider yourself the infallible norm for determining the sense of these Scripture passages, your opinion remains just another person’s contrary view of Scripture. This only serves to prove that the Protestant epistemology of
sola scriptura remains insufficient as a final authority on the matter.
I think perhaps you keep forgetting that you are in a
Catholic forum, where Catholics reject the erroneous Protestant “Bible alone” epistemology, an epistemology which has itself never been proved from Scripture alone (ironically).
Whether you agree with Catholicism or not, you should at least understand that you will fail to be very persuasive among Catholics by simply asserting your personal interpretation of Scripture. Written language is inherently ambiguous, and as such can be understood in many different ways (as Protestantism’s various divisions prove time and again).
Instead, if you desire to be persuasive among Catholics (which I hope is your intent, otherwise why are you here?), you ought to attempt to form your arguments
based upon Catholic epistemology, which understands that the
Church is the “pillar and bulwark of truth” (1 Tim 3:15) and the final arbiter Christians are bound to listen to in resolving disputes among brethren (cf. Matt 18:15ff), especially regarding the authentic sense of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.
To do otherwise will only result in the same thing that always results in many Protestant theology forums…lots of words which basically amounts to “I disagree with your interpretation of Scripture.” Protestants seem to start with the (false) premise that Scripture is perspicuous, and so are astonished when someone interprets a passage differently then they do.
I spent years in Protestant theology discussions, and they never seem to resolve doctrinal differences, because they don’t consider it necessary to listen to the “pillar and bulwark of truth” (1 Tim 3:15). After such extensive Biblical debates, they still disagree regarding what they deem essential doctrines of Christianity, because every person’s personal interpretation of Scripture is the only norm for them in determining Christian doctrine.
So the Arminians say Scripture teaches their essential doctrine, and the Calvinist say otherwise, the Lutherans disagree with them, the Baptists and Mennonites say something different, the Christadelphians, through Scripture alone assert that Jesus is not Divine, and the Universalists through Scripture alone, determine that the wicked, demons, and Satan will enter heaven after their punishment in the lake of fire which lasts “forever and ever” is over with. These are not merely theological differences, which will always exist, but are disputes about what they consider essential Christian doctrine.
Surely there is a Scriptural means of resolving such disputes? Ah…but there is, and it was exercised in the Book of Acts, ch. 15, where the apostles and *presbyters *of the Church gathered together in council to consider the matter. After there “had been much disputing”, Peter rose and prefaced his decision by affirming, “
God made choice among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe…”, then after stating what “we believe” on the matter, “
the assembly kept silence” (Acts 15:12). Then the presbyters drafted and delivered the
dogmata (Acts 16:4) for the Churches to keep (to observe, protect).
So, Catholics use a very first-century epistemological principles of what we are to “keep” (observe, protect) regarding Christian doctrine, and that view is not simply our own personal interpretation of Scripture, but includes observing that which the Church calls ***dogmata. ***From a Catholic point of view, we don’t unendingly renew past Scriptural disputes which have been settled authoritatively by the Church, which has presented
dogmata for us to continue to keep (to observe, protect). Like the first century Christians,
dogmata present what is authentically Christian. We accept this
dogmata from the Church as the first century Christians did, as a consolation (
paraklesis) in which we rejoice (cf. Acts 15:31).
You can perhaps see then that when someone continues to argue against Church
dogmata, it is not very persuasive.
Not even close. Acts 17 is referring to those who are descendents of Adam. It states, "***standing in the middle of the Are-op’agus, [Paul] said: “Men of Athens…I proclaim this to you” ***(Acts 17:22-23). He speaks to those pagans who worshipped the “unknown god” (Acts 17:23). He says to them, God “made from ONE [ie. Adam] every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth… ***that they should seek (Gk zeteo) *God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him.” (Acts 17:26-27).
