The Three Claims of Christianity Examined
April 3, 2016
G.D.O'Bradovich III
From ignorance lead me to truth.
Navras
Navras
1
Our analysis of the three claims of Christian salvation are organized from ignorance [Orthodoxy] to possibility [Roman Catholic] to certainty [Protestantism].
The Orthodox Church does not claim to know who is saved, as “salvation” is left to the mercy, and perhaps foreknowledge, of God. The profound ignorance or lack of dogmatic positions of the Orthodox Church has been documented by Apprentice Austin [Vide]. The Orthodox Church offers their members the hope, or the possibility, of enjoying eternity as the just reward of being a follower of the Redeemer's teachings.
The second claim is made by the Roman Church which is also ignorant of who will enjoy rest in the next world, although they claim that the souls in Purgatory will eventually be allowed entry into Heaven, but as the souls in Purgatory cannot help themselves, the living faithful must do good works to benefit the departed. By its nature, these Roman doctrines and practices offer no surety that individuals are being purified by fire or that good works are beneficial to the deceased. Roman Catholics must have faith that the Papal doctrine of Purgatory is correct and good works create merit in this world that can be applied to the deceased in the next world.
The third claim is made by Protestant Christians who state that salvation is a certainty, that is, individuals know that they are saved. This surety is typically accomplished by acknowledging or claiming that one is a sinner and Jesus is their personal Lord and Savior. An additional claim of their insight is that those individuals who are not saved are destined for punishments in Hell. Protestant Christians must have faith that the belief concerning their guaranteed salvation is correct.
The identical claims from both the Orthodox and Roman Churches regarding their Apostolic nature is left to the inquiring Gentle Reader to verify for himself. However, we offer the following line of inquiry for the perplexed: If Christianity is either the only revealed religion, or the final revealed religion, then the events to which it claims have occurred [dates are unimportant] are in the distant past and the immutable Christian truth has been revealed once and for all time. The Gentle Reader should rightly be suspicious of revealed religions that offer new revelations throughout recorded history, since the result of these continuous revelations is that the Christian truth of one age is not identical to the Christian truth of another age. Continuing revelations presents three types of Christian truth: the past, the present and the future. We may state that continuing revelations represents human reasoning and human experiences, and not Divines insights that are manifested to certain individuals. Therefore, Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe the Roman Dogma that Papal decrees reveal Christian truth.
The claims of Protestantism are the most incredulous, as these adherents must remain ignorant; lest they find inconsistencies between their opinions, ecclesiastical history and the clear meaning of Scripture. Although Protestants claim the New Testament as their own, they willfully ignore the formative years of Christianity from Christ to the sixteenth century. Protestants acknowledge the Bible as their authority, but their behavior denies this explicit statement. Otherwise said: they claim the Bible as their authority, which is not the same as Christ's statements, as Protestant commentators must allegorize or twist the clear meaning of scripture to justify tens of thousands of independent churches that make no pretense to Apostolic authority, while claiming Biblical authority. Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that Divinely revealed and Divinely inspired Church should be eager to embrace a multitude of confusing and contradictory opinions.
The Orthodox Church has no revelations concerning the fate of those outside the Church, that is, they do not not know if non Orthodox Christians will be in Heaven or in Hell after Christ's judgment, whereas the Romans and Protestants know that those outside the church and those who have not accepted Christ are destined for Hell. When one considers the billions of souls that have never heard of Christ, the Orthodox Church's position is reasonable when compared to the stance of the Roman and Protestant churches. Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that humanity, as a condition of its existence, is automatically consigned to an eternity of Hell as promoted by the western Churches.
The Protestant Churches have an obsession with works that is antithetical to their claim that people are saved by faith alone. This “state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change” cannot contribute to mental health, as St. James clearly writes: “a double-minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.” Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that a balance will be brought forth on the Day of Judgment in the hope that our good works will outweigh our evil works to verify our reward as being a faithful servant of a just Master.
A modern opinion has reduced the Creator of the Universe to a position of friendship with his inferiors. This causal attitude towards Christ, his Nature and his office has ignored the historical understanding between Master and servant. While we refrain from describing “friendship” with Jesus as blasphemy, this reevaluation of Jesus' role in the western churches may be understood as a mockery of the historical understanding of Christ. Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that the reverence due the Creator of the Cosmos is present when he is addressed causally as Buddy, Pal or Friend.
The explicit goal of the Roman and Protestant Churches is salvation of souls, yet it seems to be implicit in their teachings that good works results in good people. These churches cannot envision a goal other than the avoidance of Hell. Since moral perfection in this world is not reasonable, it is not surprising that everyone in those churches fall short of the goal. Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that the temporal attainment of moral perfection is the purpose of Christ's Incarnation.
The claims of supernatural insights from Protestant laity and from the Roman Pontiffs presuppose abilities that are not available to Great Occultists. Therefore, we, in our state of profound ignorance, cannot deny nor verify these assertions and we are left with only one reasonable conclusion: We have no opinion.
The Orthodox Church does not claim to know who is saved, as “salvation” is left to the mercy, and perhaps foreknowledge, of God. The profound ignorance or lack of dogmatic positions of the Orthodox Church has been documented by Apprentice Austin [Vide]. The Orthodox Church offers their members the hope, or the possibility, of enjoying eternity as the just reward of being a follower of the Redeemer's teachings.
The second claim is made by the Roman Church which is also ignorant of who will enjoy rest in the next world, although they claim that the souls in Purgatory will eventually be allowed entry into Heaven, but as the souls in Purgatory cannot help themselves, the living faithful must do good works to benefit the departed. By its nature, these Roman doctrines and practices offer no surety that individuals are being purified by fire or that good works are beneficial to the deceased. Roman Catholics must have faith that the Papal doctrine of Purgatory is correct and good works create merit in this world that can be applied to the deceased in the next world.
The third claim is made by Protestant Christians who state that salvation is a certainty, that is, individuals know that they are saved. This surety is typically accomplished by acknowledging or claiming that one is a sinner and Jesus is their personal Lord and Savior. An additional claim of their insight is that those individuals who are not saved are destined for punishments in Hell. Protestant Christians must have faith that the belief concerning their guaranteed salvation is correct.
The identical claims from both the Orthodox and Roman Churches regarding their Apostolic nature is left to the inquiring Gentle Reader to verify for himself. However, we offer the following line of inquiry for the perplexed: If Christianity is either the only revealed religion, or the final revealed religion, then the events to which it claims have occurred [dates are unimportant] are in the distant past and the immutable Christian truth has been revealed once and for all time. The Gentle Reader should rightly be suspicious of revealed religions that offer new revelations throughout recorded history, since the result of these continuous revelations is that the Christian truth of one age is not identical to the Christian truth of another age. Continuing revelations presents three types of Christian truth: the past, the present and the future. We may state that continuing revelations represents human reasoning and human experiences, and not Divines insights that are manifested to certain individuals. Therefore, Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe the Roman Dogma that Papal decrees reveal Christian truth.
The claims of Protestantism are the most incredulous, as these adherents must remain ignorant; lest they find inconsistencies between their opinions, ecclesiastical history and the clear meaning of Scripture. Although Protestants claim the New Testament as their own, they willfully ignore the formative years of Christianity from Christ to the sixteenth century. Protestants acknowledge the Bible as their authority, but their behavior denies this explicit statement. Otherwise said: they claim the Bible as their authority, which is not the same as Christ's statements, as Protestant commentators must allegorize or twist the clear meaning of scripture to justify tens of thousands of independent churches that make no pretense to Apostolic authority, while claiming Biblical authority. Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that Divinely revealed and Divinely inspired Church should be eager to embrace a multitude of confusing and contradictory opinions.
The Orthodox Church has no revelations concerning the fate of those outside the Church, that is, they do not not know if non Orthodox Christians will be in Heaven or in Hell after Christ's judgment, whereas the Romans and Protestants know that those outside the church and those who have not accepted Christ are destined for Hell. When one considers the billions of souls that have never heard of Christ, the Orthodox Church's position is reasonable when compared to the stance of the Roman and Protestant churches. Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that humanity, as a condition of its existence, is automatically consigned to an eternity of Hell as promoted by the western Churches.
The Protestant Churches have an obsession with works that is antithetical to their claim that people are saved by faith alone. This “state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change” cannot contribute to mental health, as St. James clearly writes: “a double-minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.” Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that a balance will be brought forth on the Day of Judgment in the hope that our good works will outweigh our evil works to verify our reward as being a faithful servant of a just Master.
A modern opinion has reduced the Creator of the Universe to a position of friendship with his inferiors. This causal attitude towards Christ, his Nature and his office has ignored the historical understanding between Master and servant. While we refrain from describing “friendship” with Jesus as blasphemy, this reevaluation of Jesus' role in the western churches may be understood as a mockery of the historical understanding of Christ. Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that the reverence due the Creator of the Cosmos is present when he is addressed causally as Buddy, Pal or Friend.
The explicit goal of the Roman and Protestant Churches is salvation of souls, yet it seems to be implicit in their teachings that good works results in good people. These churches cannot envision a goal other than the avoidance of Hell. Since moral perfection in this world is not reasonable, it is not surprising that everyone in those churches fall short of the goal. Yours Truly lacks the faith to believe that the temporal attainment of moral perfection is the purpose of Christ's Incarnation.
The claims of supernatural insights from Protestant laity and from the Roman Pontiffs presuppose abilities that are not available to Great Occultists. Therefore, we, in our state of profound ignorance, cannot deny nor verify these assertions and we are left with only one reasonable conclusion: We have no opinion.