Posted on 12/06/2006 4:29:58 PM PST by HAL9000
Excerpt -
ROME (AP) - Vatican archaeologists have unearthed a sarcophagus believed to contain the remains of the Apostle Paul that had been buried beneath Rome's second largest basilica.The sarcophagus, which dates back to at least A.D. 390, has been the subject of an extended excavation that began in 2002 and was completed last month, the project's head said this week.
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(Excerpt) Read more at christianpost.com ...
Agreed. How would one go about doing that anyway? He owns it all - we're just being allowed to use it.
I'm not asking for you to believe it, only to not consider it a 'mere fancy', or some sort of lunacy or heresy, when it is entirely possible.
"P.S. to Kolokotronis: from an Orthodox point of view, what say ye?"
I say I agree. God inspired The Church and that inspiration is manifested in Holy Tradition, what The Church always and everywhere believed. That was the infallible yardstick by which The Church measured the "contending" writings for inclusion in the canon of scripture. But truth be told, the only real difficulties presented were Hebrews and Revelations. As to the rest, by the 370s Christians knew what was "in" and what wasn't. For example, for Christians of the 4th century, the idea that the Gnostic "Gospel of Thomas" would be included in the canon was a laughable as it is today. And the reason for that is that The Church knows and teaches us what Christians have always and everywhere believed in this regard.
I put money in an envelope every Sunday for this?
"I'm at a loss to understand what you mean by that. Orthodoxy is the truth that has been handed down to us. It is still being handed on: by word of mouth, in writing, in the example and lives of the Saints."
In Holy Orthodoxy, we LIVE that Tradition, AJA. It is completely and thoroughly ALIVE.
Sure God can do anything he wants, but why would he do something that the Protestants disagree with?
;o)
They might find if they opened Paul's tomb that all of those explanations about sola scriptura are in there along with the proof that the Lord had very little regard for His mother and compared Peter to a pebble.
me neither.
Nobody is talking about doing that.
Because it contradicts a MAJOR doctrine central to and repeated over and over in the Bible (which is God's Word)...and God does not lie.
That's like saying God is going to revoke Heaven tomorrow for all believers. That would be against the promises of eternity with him for His children and would make God out to be a liar.
:-)
...Steve often says to me "At least *you* think you're funny..."
How does it contradict THIS Scripture:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him." (Ephesians 1:3-4)
That sure fits Mary to a T.
They are also needed to fulfill what is said of his return to the Jews.
"One can need a Savior without ever committing an actual sin"
That' pretty theoretical since all of us have sinned, but if you have done no sins, why would you need someone to save you from your sins?
"or receiving original sin. One can need a Savior in order to prevent one from receiving original sin."
Original sin is a false teaching. We are not born guilty, we will eventually become guilty by our own choice and actions later on, but only Adam is guilty of what Adam did.
"Therefore, Christ sinned."
Christ is specifically cited as an exception and he would not be able to atone for our sins if he had sins of his own, nobody else is is said to be an exception, nobody else needed to be an exception.
What's really interesting is that according to the Catholic Church, believing that Mary was born without sin is required for salvation. It's right there in the pope's declaration.
Not Mary, according to the Church.
but if you have done no sins, why would you need someone to save you from your sins?
To save you from original sin.
Original sin is a false teaching.
That is the heresy of Pelagianism, condemned in the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431.
-A8
Not true. The Church believes that Protestants can be saved without becoming Catholic, and without believing that Mary was born sinless.
-A8
Won't believe it 'til I see DNA evidence...
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