The Roman/Pagan Historians
Many people dont know that there were actual historians who recorded Christs existence on earth.Keep in mind that they had no reason to do this . They were pagans who did not care much for Christianity . They were professional historians who believed that anything worth doing is worth doing right . Now I will go over some of these historians in this blog .Many atheist will try and tell you that these men never even saw Jesus, however mind you these were professional historians who would rely on documents. Now Jesus would have had an arrest record and a registration record from the censuses carried out by the Romans .
PLINY THE YOUNGER(63AD-113AD) admits to torturing and executing Christians who refuse to deny Christ .
"I asked Them directly if they were Christians those who persisted ,I ordered away ....Those who denied they were or ever had been Christians worshipped both your image and images of the gods and cursed Christ . They used to gather before dawn and sing to Christ as if he were a god .........." (Pliny's letter to Emperor )
CORNELIUS TACTUS (55AD-120AD)1st and 2nd century Roman historian . Verifies the Bible account of Pontius Pilate "Christus ,the founder of the Christian name was put to death by Pontius Pilate ,procuretor of Judea in the reign of Tiberius ,but the pernicious superstition,repressed for a time ,broke out again .Not only through Judea ,where the mischief originated but through the city of Rome."(Annal XV55)
GAIUS SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS (69-130AD) A Roman Historian. Recorded the lives of Roman Ceasars .SErved as a court official under Hadrian and as an annalist for the Imperial House .Recorded the expulsion of the Christian from Rome . Mentioned in Acts 18:2 and confirms the Christian faith being found .
"As the Jews were making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus ,Claudius expelled them from Rome."(Life of Claudius 25.4 )(some say that since the name was spelled wrong that it may not have been Christ however it is highly unlikely that he is speaking of someone else . The event was recorded in the bible by Luke who was very specific in his writings in both the Gospel and Acts of the Apostles )
Thallus (52AD) On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness .The rocks were rect by an earthquake and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down.This darkness Thallus in the third book of his history ,calls as appears without reason an eclipse of the sun.For the Hebrew celebrate the passover passion of our savior falls on that day before the passover,but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun.And it cannot happen at any other time. Phlegon records that in the time of Tiberius Caesar ,at full moon ,there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth manifestly that are of which have speak,(Chronography XVIII,47 )
MAR BAR SERAPION (70AD)"What advantages did the atheniens gain from putting Socrates to death ? Famine and Plagues came upon them as judgment of their Lord was covered with sand .What Advantages did the Jews gain from executing their wise king?It was just after that their kingdom was abolished .......Nor did the wise king die for good .He lived on in the teachings which he had given .(Letter to his son from prison)
These men above had nothing to gain for their writings about Jesus and Christianity . Yet they were credible historians .They were not Christians . Atheists believe that Alexander The Great existed . His two earliest biographies written by Arrian and Plutarch were more then 400 years after his death in 323BC .Yet historians consider them to be trustworthy .These historians were writing about Jesus and Christianity within 20 years to a century of his life on earth . Many of the most liberal critics of the gospel writings date them the following :Mark in in 70AD Matthew and Luke in 80s and John in the 90s . Atheists yet choose to believe the life of Alexander when the earliest biographies on him came out 400 years after him .The Gospel accounts of Jesus were written within 37-60 years of his life on earth . ( information from Lee Strobels The Case for Christ)That should be something for them to think about .
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Atheist Blog
Wrong again Athiests !
Many atheist will stand there and tell you that this country was not founded on Christian morals .They will even go as far to say that they were barely believers of God . Well I will mention a several founding fathers that would tell them a thing or two.
CHARLES CARROL was a signer of the Declaration of independence .He wrote in his 11/4/1800 letter to James McHenry :" "Without morals a republic cannot sussist at any length of time.They therefore who are decrying the Christian religion ,who's morality is so sublime and pure..are undermining the solid foundation of morals "
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN was a very important man in this countries history . Lets take a gander at some of his quotes :" God governs in the affair of man .And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice ,is it probable the empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house ,they later in vain that build it.I firmly believe this .I also believe that without his concurring aid,we shall succeed in this political building no better then the builders of Babel"(Constitutional convention of 1787)
"In Bens 1749 plan of education for public schools in Pennsylvania ,he insisted that schools teach "The excellency of the Christian religion above all others ancient or modern "
In 1787 when Ben helped found Ben Franklin University it was dedicated as "A nursery of religion and learning ,built on Christ ,The Cornerstone . "
THOMAS JEFFERSON may have rejected certain teachings of Christianity such as the miracles of Jesus however he never claimed to be an atheist .However he did claim to be a Christian:"I am a real Christian that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus " (Letter to Benjamin Rush 4/23/1803) He wrote his own bible . However as i stated before rejected some of the teachings of Christianity . Still he quotes himself being a Christian and not an atheist .This country was never founded on atheism .
GEORGE WASHINGTON added the words "So help me God " to the oath of office . Lets check out his words : " It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible ."
"What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ "(quotes from a speech he gave to the Delaware Indians 5/12/1779)
JOHN ADAMS and JOHN HANDCOCK "We recognize no sovereign but God,and no king but Jesus"(4-18-1775)
JOHN ADAMS "The general principles upon which the fathers
achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity..... " (Written to Abagail on the day the Declaration was approved by congress)
SAMUEL ADAMS "He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all our forefathers opened the Bible to all ". (American Independence ,8/1/1776 speech delivered at the state house in Philadelphia )
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "The law given from Sinai (10 commandments) was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code" (Letters to his son page 61)
So atheists are wrong on this matter and next time an atheist tells you that this country was not founded on Christian morals ,feel free to use the quotes here .
To all atheists reading this i would just like to say "Your wrong again atheists "
Many atheist will stand there and tell you that this country was not founded on Christian morals .They will even go as far to say that they were barely believers of God . Well I will mention a several founding fathers that would tell them a thing or two.
CHARLES CARROL was a signer of the Declaration of independence .He wrote in his 11/4/1800 letter to James McHenry :" "Without morals a republic cannot sussist at any length of time.They therefore who are decrying the Christian religion ,who's morality is so sublime and pure..are undermining the solid foundation of morals "
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN was a very important man in this countries history . Lets take a gander at some of his quotes :" God governs in the affair of man .And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice ,is it probable the empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house ,they later in vain that build it.I firmly believe this .I also believe that without his concurring aid,we shall succeed in this political building no better then the builders of Babel"(Constitutional convention of 1787)
"In Bens 1749 plan of education for public schools in Pennsylvania ,he insisted that schools teach "The excellency of the Christian religion above all others ancient or modern "
In 1787 when Ben helped found Ben Franklin University it was dedicated as "A nursery of religion and learning ,built on Christ ,The Cornerstone . "
THOMAS JEFFERSON may have rejected certain teachings of Christianity such as the miracles of Jesus however he never claimed to be an atheist .However he did claim to be a Christian:"I am a real Christian that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus " (Letter to Benjamin Rush 4/23/1803) He wrote his own bible . However as i stated before rejected some of the teachings of Christianity . Still he quotes himself being a Christian and not an atheist .This country was never founded on atheism .
GEORGE WASHINGTON added the words "So help me God " to the oath of office . Lets check out his words : " It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible ."
"What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ "(quotes from a speech he gave to the Delaware Indians 5/12/1779)
JOHN ADAMS and JOHN HANDCOCK "We recognize no sovereign but God,and no king but Jesus"(4-18-1775)
JOHN ADAMS "The general principles upon which the fathers
achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity..... " (Written to Abagail on the day the Declaration was approved by congress)
SAMUEL ADAMS "He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all our forefathers opened the Bible to all ". (American Independence ,8/1/1776 speech delivered at the state house in Philadelphia )
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "The law given from Sinai (10 commandments) was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code" (Letters to his son page 61)
So atheists are wrong on this matter and next time an atheist tells you that this country was not founded on Christian morals ,feel free to use the quotes here .
To all atheists reading this i would just like to say "Your wrong again atheists "
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Stay Tuned !
Hello all , I am sorry I have not been around lately to provide more blogs . I am working on a novel and my life gets a bit busy . I have been doing alot of research on certain subjects . I have even studied church miracles . I will have a blog on each miracle. The Bleeding host of Lanciano ,Our Lady of Quadulupe , Shroud of Turin , and Lourdes , will be the miracles I go over with you . I have also a blog on the Koran . It will contain contradictions , false claims as well as stories the Koran seems to steal right out of the bible . Only difference is ,the writers of it gave the stories a twist . I will also point out the suras that the terrorists take to heart . I will break it all down blog by blog subject by subject for you . In the past I have made these long blogs and its overwhelming for you to read at times . I also have an atheist blog I started up a while back . I will make that better . I have Church father quotes verifying that this country was founded on Christian morals .I have quotes from famous scientist who believe in an an intelligent designer . I have quotes from pagan historians from the 1st and 2nd centuries that confirm Christs existence on earth . I have good arguments to make with an atheist of logic and reasoning . It will take me a little while to get it all up . Just please try and be patient with me you wont regret it .
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Im Back /political Post
Im back . Its been a while since my last post . I have been quite busy with my Knights of Columbus council and work . Alot has happened since my last post. President Obama is on the ropes . Many will argue with me pretending to be blind . The November election changed the tide . The Republicans now have the House .They almost took the Senate .They will get that in 2012 for sure . I believe that in certain cases the Tea party may indeed have hurt the Republican party by backing certain candidates . Lets not mention any names . They were certainly one of the reasons why the Party also took the House as well . I wonder why the tide has changed in the last two years so much .Let me see hmmm........ did someone say "Health care Bill? " yeah thats right .He had to push this bill . He couldn't let it go . In result, Many Democrats lost their jobs . And will lose their jobs in 2012 as well . They did not listen to the voters when they had their public meetings . Good old Nancy and Dingy Harry were lucky to keep their jobs . They are however not grateful but arrogant . They believe that because they got re-elected that they were right .The truth is that Nancy is the rep for San Fransisco .Did someone say Liberal Ville?And Harry did not have a strong enough candidate opposing him. Thats all I have for now . I will be sure to stop by throughout the week . God Bless all of you and I hope that you enjoyed this post .
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
ATHEIST SERIES
CLOSE MINDED
Atheists today want to give us lectures about why there cannot be a god . They try and take GOd out of everything . This group called Dominion (or something like that ) wants to take Christmas out of the name of a parade . Instead of the Christmas parade they want to make it the Dominion parade .
Im going on a tangent , the purpose of this blog is to point out the hypocracy I witness on a day to day basis in my encounters with Atheists . They often quote Dawkins (author of "The God Delusion ") And they act as if that is good enough to be their check mate . However they had no clue I took the King long before . Now Dawkins did write a book a couple of years back we all know it as "The God Delusion " . However Two books were written to counter that book .One by Scot Haun called "Answering the New Atheism " and the other by Patrick Madrid called "The Godless Delusion " Both written to counter Dawkins book .I often cite these books for them to to read and they reply almost everytime with"Why would I read something by a Christian its a biased book " . Hypocrites ! Tell them to look up one of the many miracle cases and they will not .Simply because they are hypocrites. They call us close minded leading us to be not rational thinkers while they are close minded to even look at our references . And if they are close minded to that, they are not Rational thinkers by any means they are hypocrites .
Thank you , frankie
Atheists today want to give us lectures about why there cannot be a god . They try and take GOd out of everything . This group called Dominion (or something like that ) wants to take Christmas out of the name of a parade . Instead of the Christmas parade they want to make it the Dominion parade .
Im going on a tangent , the purpose of this blog is to point out the hypocracy I witness on a day to day basis in my encounters with Atheists . They often quote Dawkins (author of "The God Delusion ") And they act as if that is good enough to be their check mate . However they had no clue I took the King long before . Now Dawkins did write a book a couple of years back we all know it as "The God Delusion " . However Two books were written to counter that book .One by Scot Haun called "Answering the New Atheism " and the other by Patrick Madrid called "The Godless Delusion " Both written to counter Dawkins book .I often cite these books for them to to read and they reply almost everytime with"Why would I read something by a Christian its a biased book " . Hypocrites ! Tell them to look up one of the many miracle cases and they will not .Simply because they are hypocrites. They call us close minded leading us to be not rational thinkers while they are close minded to even look at our references . And if they are close minded to that, they are not Rational thinkers by any means they are hypocrites .
Thank you , frankie
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Politics commentary
President Obama
Only two years in office and he has his party losing elections and running for the hills . Did someone say"Health Care Plan "? Its been reported in the news recently that McDonalds will have to possibly drop over 30,000 employees from insurance . Irony here is that many of those employees probably voted for Obama . What was he thinking? They went home to town hall meetings and even though an overwhelming number of citizens did not want this plan, they vote it in anyway. Not the change that the American people voted for . Its obvious that many of his party members will get voted out in the upcoming elections . He did not listen to the American people ,he made a mess and now when the republicans take over they will have to clean his mess up. We can already say bye bye to Harry in Nevada , and Nancy have a problem as well .
LETS SEE SOME OF HIS OTHER GOOD MOVES :
CASH FOR CLUNKERS: on the service looked nice for all but who do you think payed for that? and it is also important to know that many charities lost out on this big deal . You see people would donate their cars charities that could use them . But since Cash for Clunkers came out , people were turning there cars in for that deal .
THE JUDGES :
Now, I believe that many of the voters particularly the younger voters did not take into consideration that the president chooses the judges on the supreme court . Now we were fortunate enough to have a president to appoint two conservative judges to the supreme court .President Bush made choices that God is smiling on . Obama appointed two liberal judges . Now its ok that they are female .Im all for equality ,however the recent choice is a homosexual .Her biased judgment of same sex marriage may come into play .His first appointee is also a liberal was overturned a number of times by the current supreme court . She is now on their team .We were so close to getting to the point were Abortion may be outlawed .Since Obama appointed these two were that much farther away from it .
HIS FAITH:
What is his faith ? A growing percentage of Americans believe he is a Muslim . Now many will come back at me and claim that "he is a Christian remember the controversy about his pastor ?"
Well lets break that down : Now it is quite obvious that the Pastor of Obama (Wright) was in fact on the wacky side .He was Anti White and American .( "The chickens are coming home to roost")
President Obama left the church of this pastor but never joined a new one .He has been to church a handful of times since being President . Some may say he is busy however , he has the option of having a chapel in his home at the White House .The Klu Klux Klan has a program within their brotherhood called "Sleepers" They have one of their successful brothers run for office under a party name such as democrat and republican .Once they get in they help the Klan get their agenda across . This has been going on for some time now . Could it be possible that the Muslims have the same kind of program ? Now we all know his father was a Muslim .We all know he bows to the muslim leaders .He did not bring his wife to these countries because they accept him as a muslim and it is not permitted to bring your wife along for these matters . We know how he feels about the Mosque being built . He expressed religious freedom . Now we know its legal to have Mosque built but it is distasteful to have it built there, and a slap in the face to Americans who died there and their families . All he had to do was give his opinion about it and state that it is legal . For example:" It is legal to build it however American families are still wounded .It should be built a few more blocks away . He is not making wise decision to prove he is a Christian .
TAX THE RICH :
I got news for you , its the people with money who are putting it into the economy .They hire the employees ,they go out and spend money of shows , expensive dinners etc . You tax them highly stores and restaurants will lose money because the wealthy will hold onto their money they will have to terminate and lay off employees . Not a good move Mr. President . Why not set an agenda to tax Pornography , Tobacco , wine and beer . Everyone buys these items .In fact these items in many cases keeps these stores in business . So why not tax these items ?
CONCLUSION:
Even his chief of Staff is running for the hills . Chicago Mayor huh ? That is just a cop out .He sees trouble and loss ahead . He wants to run before its too late. And did you see the stiff they put in his place ? Im not laughing . We will find out soon enough that the country did not want socialist and communist running this country .By 2012 Obama will be out but we will still have to clean up his mess .And by the way , When he told the other countries he was sorry for what President Bush had done he was showing a sign of weakness. Iran is more confident then ever now that Obama is here . Lets pray the people wise up before 2012 .It sure looks like they are starting to wise up.
Only two years in office and he has his party losing elections and running for the hills . Did someone say"Health Care Plan "? Its been reported in the news recently that McDonalds will have to possibly drop over 30,000 employees from insurance . Irony here is that many of those employees probably voted for Obama . What was he thinking? They went home to town hall meetings and even though an overwhelming number of citizens did not want this plan, they vote it in anyway. Not the change that the American people voted for . Its obvious that many of his party members will get voted out in the upcoming elections . He did not listen to the American people ,he made a mess and now when the republicans take over they will have to clean his mess up. We can already say bye bye to Harry in Nevada , and Nancy have a problem as well .
LETS SEE SOME OF HIS OTHER GOOD MOVES :
CASH FOR CLUNKERS: on the service looked nice for all but who do you think payed for that? and it is also important to know that many charities lost out on this big deal . You see people would donate their cars charities that could use them . But since Cash for Clunkers came out , people were turning there cars in for that deal .
THE JUDGES :
Now, I believe that many of the voters particularly the younger voters did not take into consideration that the president chooses the judges on the supreme court . Now we were fortunate enough to have a president to appoint two conservative judges to the supreme court .President Bush made choices that God is smiling on . Obama appointed two liberal judges . Now its ok that they are female .Im all for equality ,however the recent choice is a homosexual .Her biased judgment of same sex marriage may come into play .His first appointee is also a liberal was overturned a number of times by the current supreme court . She is now on their team .We were so close to getting to the point were Abortion may be outlawed .Since Obama appointed these two were that much farther away from it .
HIS FAITH:
What is his faith ? A growing percentage of Americans believe he is a Muslim . Now many will come back at me and claim that "he is a Christian remember the controversy about his pastor ?"
Well lets break that down : Now it is quite obvious that the Pastor of Obama (Wright) was in fact on the wacky side .He was Anti White and American .( "The chickens are coming home to roost")
President Obama left the church of this pastor but never joined a new one .He has been to church a handful of times since being President . Some may say he is busy however , he has the option of having a chapel in his home at the White House .The Klu Klux Klan has a program within their brotherhood called "Sleepers" They have one of their successful brothers run for office under a party name such as democrat and republican .Once they get in they help the Klan get their agenda across . This has been going on for some time now . Could it be possible that the Muslims have the same kind of program ? Now we all know his father was a Muslim .We all know he bows to the muslim leaders .He did not bring his wife to these countries because they accept him as a muslim and it is not permitted to bring your wife along for these matters . We know how he feels about the Mosque being built . He expressed religious freedom . Now we know its legal to have Mosque built but it is distasteful to have it built there, and a slap in the face to Americans who died there and their families . All he had to do was give his opinion about it and state that it is legal . For example:" It is legal to build it however American families are still wounded .It should be built a few more blocks away . He is not making wise decision to prove he is a Christian .
TAX THE RICH :
I got news for you , its the people with money who are putting it into the economy .They hire the employees ,they go out and spend money of shows , expensive dinners etc . You tax them highly stores and restaurants will lose money because the wealthy will hold onto their money they will have to terminate and lay off employees . Not a good move Mr. President . Why not set an agenda to tax Pornography , Tobacco , wine and beer . Everyone buys these items .In fact these items in many cases keeps these stores in business . So why not tax these items ?
CONCLUSION:
Even his chief of Staff is running for the hills . Chicago Mayor huh ? That is just a cop out .He sees trouble and loss ahead . He wants to run before its too late. And did you see the stiff they put in his place ? Im not laughing . We will find out soon enough that the country did not want socialist and communist running this country .By 2012 Obama will be out but we will still have to clean up his mess .And by the way , When he told the other countries he was sorry for what President Bush had done he was showing a sign of weakness. Iran is more confident then ever now that Obama is here . Lets pray the people wise up before 2012 .It sure looks like they are starting to wise up.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Faith/Works
Faith/Works
Many protestants believe we are saved by faith alone (Solo Fide ) .It might surprise them to know that there is one place in the Bible that does have the words"Faith "and "Alone" appearing together. If you turn your Bibles to James chapter 2 verse 24 you will see that Solo Fide cannot exist ."See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone ."
Now that you have read James 2:24 lets get a little deeper here for a second .You find out alot about salvation from this group of verses . First off if you read James 2:19 you will see that believing is not enough "For even the Demons believe that and tremble ".We see encounters with Jesus and the demonic and they all tremble in the Gospel . James even goes so far as to call those who believe in faith alone ignoramuses James 2:20-22 "You want proof you ignoramus that faith without works is useless ?Was Abraham not justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?You see the faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by his works .Lets take a trip over to James 2:26 "For just as a body without a spirit is dead ,so also faith without works is dead ." This is pretty much the nail in the coffin .
The protestant view on this is that true faith cannot exist with out works already in it, meaning that faith without works in it is not true faith.Many of them claim this belief and they try to say that James did not actually mean what we believe it means, for we took it out of context .Read chapter 1 of James .In chapter one he expresses the importance of being doers of the word rather then just hearers of the word . "Be doers of the word not just hearers only deluding yourselves " James 1:22.
Martin Luther knew this book of James would contradict his theory of Solo Fide , so he had it removed from his translation for the Bible along with Hebrews , Revelations ,and Jude .Of course he also removed the 7 deuterocanonical books in the old testament (I have a blog on those books as well )He removed James for 3 years until he was given advise from his inner circle to reinsert the book of James . Luther also knew that no where in the Bible did it say that we were saved by faith alone .So he decided to add a word to Romans 3:28 "For we consider that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law " What Luther decided to do was add the word"alone " after the word "faith". (on a side note, works of the law means Jewish law )Luther himself knew that there was no proof in scripture that faith alone saved us so he invented proof .
If you read the gospel according to Matthew you will find a couple of key verses that confirms we are not saved by faith alone . Matt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me Lord,Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven but those who do the will of my father in Heaven ". Seems to go with James message in James 1 of being doers of the word ,it also fits with James message of "even the demons believe that and tremble ".Lets turn to Matt 25:31-46 Notice how Jesus separates the sheep from the goats. Both seem to have faith in him however one goes to Heaven.The sheep and why ? Because they helped their fellow man thats why.
Many have this misconception that Paul preaches alone . Remember I always like to quote from Paul in relation to the church with scripture. turn to Philippians chapter 2 verse 12 ."Work out your salvation with fear and trembling "Romans 2 has a few verses involving works .Romans 2:6 Paul says that GOd will repay everyone according to his works . He says in verse 10 that there will be glory ,honor and peace for everyone doing good . He says in verse 13 that those who just hear the law will not be justified but those who observe the law will be justified . Christian law Paul is talking of course . In Hebrews 10:24 Paul says that we must consider to rouse one another with good works .Now grant it is debated on whether or not Paul wrote Hebrews .But it is a question for the most part of whether he or one of his co-workers or students wrote it .Either way they would have had the same message .
There are many other books in the Bible promoting good works and faith being need for salvation .In Revelations chapter 20 verse 12 states that the dead were judged by according to their deeds in the scrolls .
Bottom line faith and works are both needed . You may get a protestant doing tap dances about faith alone however ,remember that no where in the Bible does it say we are saved by faith alone .Even the founding father of this theory of Solo Fide had to add a word and take books away .He had to invent evidence of a theory that just cannot be proven Remind them of that when being challenged .
God bless all of you and good night .
Many protestants believe we are saved by faith alone (Solo Fide ) .It might surprise them to know that there is one place in the Bible that does have the words"Faith "and "Alone" appearing together. If you turn your Bibles to James chapter 2 verse 24 you will see that Solo Fide cannot exist ."See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone ."
Now that you have read James 2:24 lets get a little deeper here for a second .You find out alot about salvation from this group of verses . First off if you read James 2:19 you will see that believing is not enough "For even the Demons believe that and tremble ".We see encounters with Jesus and the demonic and they all tremble in the Gospel . James even goes so far as to call those who believe in faith alone ignoramuses James 2:20-22 "You want proof you ignoramus that faith without works is useless ?Was Abraham not justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?You see the faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by his works .Lets take a trip over to James 2:26 "For just as a body without a spirit is dead ,so also faith without works is dead ." This is pretty much the nail in the coffin .
The protestant view on this is that true faith cannot exist with out works already in it, meaning that faith without works in it is not true faith.Many of them claim this belief and they try to say that James did not actually mean what we believe it means, for we took it out of context .Read chapter 1 of James .In chapter one he expresses the importance of being doers of the word rather then just hearers of the word . "Be doers of the word not just hearers only deluding yourselves " James 1:22.
Martin Luther knew this book of James would contradict his theory of Solo Fide , so he had it removed from his translation for the Bible along with Hebrews , Revelations ,and Jude .Of course he also removed the 7 deuterocanonical books in the old testament (I have a blog on those books as well )He removed James for 3 years until he was given advise from his inner circle to reinsert the book of James . Luther also knew that no where in the Bible did it say that we were saved by faith alone .So he decided to add a word to Romans 3:28 "For we consider that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law " What Luther decided to do was add the word"alone " after the word "faith". (on a side note, works of the law means Jewish law )Luther himself knew that there was no proof in scripture that faith alone saved us so he invented proof .
If you read the gospel according to Matthew you will find a couple of key verses that confirms we are not saved by faith alone . Matt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me Lord,Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven but those who do the will of my father in Heaven ". Seems to go with James message in James 1 of being doers of the word ,it also fits with James message of "even the demons believe that and tremble ".Lets turn to Matt 25:31-46 Notice how Jesus separates the sheep from the goats. Both seem to have faith in him however one goes to Heaven.The sheep and why ? Because they helped their fellow man thats why.
Many have this misconception that Paul preaches alone . Remember I always like to quote from Paul in relation to the church with scripture. turn to Philippians chapter 2 verse 12 ."Work out your salvation with fear and trembling "Romans 2 has a few verses involving works .Romans 2:6 Paul says that GOd will repay everyone according to his works . He says in verse 10 that there will be glory ,honor and peace for everyone doing good . He says in verse 13 that those who just hear the law will not be justified but those who observe the law will be justified . Christian law Paul is talking of course . In Hebrews 10:24 Paul says that we must consider to rouse one another with good works .Now grant it is debated on whether or not Paul wrote Hebrews .But it is a question for the most part of whether he or one of his co-workers or students wrote it .Either way they would have had the same message .
There are many other books in the Bible promoting good works and faith being need for salvation .In Revelations chapter 20 verse 12 states that the dead were judged by according to their deeds in the scrolls .
Bottom line faith and works are both needed . You may get a protestant doing tap dances about faith alone however ,remember that no where in the Bible does it say we are saved by faith alone .Even the founding father of this theory of Solo Fide had to add a word and take books away .He had to invent evidence of a theory that just cannot be proven Remind them of that when being challenged .
God bless all of you and good night .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
