Secondary Issues?

[Roman_Catholic_1]

This question came to me from a discussion on another thread with another forum member. I do not wish to name the person so that that person does not feel that I am trying to embarrass him/her. (Not that what I am about to ask should be embarrassing) I was advised that 1 Cor 15:1-15 listed the essentials for the Christian faith and that everything not found therein were secondary matters. According to the whole essential non-essential matter from a Protestant perspective anyway. Obviously the Catholic Church holds much more than what is listed in that verse as essential.

So after reading 1 Cor 15 and noticing that the Catholic Church affirms everything which St. Paul lists this must mean that the Reformation was caused over secondary issues. Whatever the issues may have been or may still be, they are secondary issues.

So my question is, how can we justify the split in the Body of Christ over secondary issues?

What I think is going to happen is that I am going to be told that there are more essentials than what St. Paul lists 1 Cor.

God bless

 

[LilyM]

This question came to me from a discussion on another thread with another forum member. I do not wish to name the person so that that person does not feel that I am trying to embarrass him/her. (Not that what I am about to ask should be embarrassing) I was advised that 1 Cor 15:1-15 listed the essentials for the Christian faith and that everything not found therein were secondary matters.

So after reading 1 Cor 15 and noticing that the Catholic Church affirms everything which St. Paul lists this must mean that the Reformation was caused over secondary issues. Whatever the issues may have been or may still be, they are secondary issues.

So my question is, how can we justify the split in the Body of Christ over secondary issues?

What I think is going to happen is that I am going to be told that there are more essentials than what St. Paul lists 1 Cor.

God bless

Yes, you’d be right. But there’s also the little matter of INTERPRETATION of the chapter. And people will always disagree on interpretation, even of fundamental passages.

For example, Paul says he persecuted ‘the church of God’ - it doesn’t define this term. We disagree as to exactly what (or who) this church consists of that Paul was persecuting, and how it exercises its authority. Is it the Catholic church? Is it some other denomination, or an undefined body of believers?

It doesn’t define ‘grace’ or ‘faith’ either - does faith just mean verbally professing a belief and saying a sinner’s prayer, as some have stated is all that is necessary, or is it more than that? Does faith also mean ALL the works of faith, including the works that the Catholic Church teaches us are necessary accompaniments of faith? Or is the true definition somewhere in the middle?

What about ‘sin’ - WHAT is ‘sin’? Which behaviours are ‘sin’ or sinful? We disagree as to whether divorce is a sin, whether abortion is a sin, whether premarital sex or contraception are sins.

 

[Roman_Catholic_1]

LilyM

Thank you for your post. You are absolutely correct and was what I tried to get the other poster to admit; that they hold much more “essentials” than are listed in 1 Cor 15. However the poster was persistent that these were it as far as essentials were concerned.

So from a Catholic perspective, it does not fly. However what about from the Protestant perspective? If this is all that is truly essential, then why the split in the body of Christ? How can we justify it over secondary issues?

God bless

 

[grampben]

Let’s not slander other posters.

Perhaps your thinking of the ‘matters of indifference’ Calvin and Luther discussed. I’d say look it up and what protestants believe on ‘essentials’ before starting a thread where you can talk to other catholics about another user, or protestants in general.

 

[Roman_Catholic_1]

Let’s not slander other posters.

Perhaps your thinking of the ‘matters of indifference’ Calvin and Luther discussed. I’d say look it up and what protestants believe on ‘essentials’ before starting a thread where you can talk to other catholics about another user, or protestants in general.

Which is exactly why I stated that I would not post the users name…

My question still stands. Perhaps you would like to inform me what the essentials are and how you came about determining them?

God bless

 

[grampben]

Which is exactly why I stated that I would not post the users name…

My question still stands. Perhaps you would like to inform me what the essentials are and how you came about determining them?

God bless

Well for me, it’s faith in christ, which includes being baptised.