Sword,

Uuuhh, your post reflects the usual lack of knowledge of both history and theology.

I suggest you study Christianity.

Protestantism is like a one legged man running a 10k.

THe Bible is that leg...but the Chruch body is as important- the bride of Christ.

Protestants were so fed up with the legalistic and repressive Catholic church that they ran away from any real Church body...

That is why every day there is a new church popping up under the Protestant banner. If you dont like the church stay home and start you're own!- the mantra of most I dare say.

CAtholicism has Orthodox trappings with Protestant legalisms..you all source your attitudes and faith on four men:

Blessed Augustine(Cathollics start and stop here)
Calvin
Luther
Zwinglli

YOu claim sola scriptura yet there are thousands of sola scriptura denominations! While these four were hardly guilty of intentional misleadings- they knew the RC was wrong but didnt know how to right it. The recipe they held to gave rise to collections of of little churchlets.

If sola scriuptura were the soul means for Christianity then the church would have waited til it was finished and of course plopped in their laps, (actually the apostles would have sat around before they bothered to convert anyone). In many ways the sola scriptura view is a continuation of legalism birthed in the RC. It replaced a wayward bishopry with the Bible...

Better but not complete

One other thing...

Faith is an action. Most protestant denominations use modern concepts to explain the teaching in the Bible.

Yes you must "repent and be baptized for the remission of sin"..this is Peter to the masses in Acts.

It's like this:

Christ showed us the path and gave us the key...however we must actively turn the key! (Baptism is that key).

Other Protestants would stop at having the key and standing there....

waiting...

still waiting...

Mardis,


As far as Protestantism goes you are getting warm! The Church of Christ has much of the historical Churchs practices and beliefs and truely does not exclude inconvenient passages.

However you must ask yourself: "which came first the Bible or the Church?"

If your answer is the Church then you must conclude that it was in existence before the codification of the Bible. The Churchs relied on councils and the faith in the succession of the Apostolic traditions. When the Bible cam einto being as a physical book the people didnt suddenly go "oh my! We've screwed up!" They continued in their faith.

It was the Apostolic Succession that ensured the faith for generations. It was this succession that ensured the creation of the Bible...

But it didnt simply die off upon completion of the Bible..in fact this Christ initiated faith continues today: In orthodoxy.

It was my wifes faith in the Church of Christ that lead me to the path of Orthodoxy...