2009-08-10

Hays briefly responds to the idea that 2 Tim 1:16-18 is a prooftext for prayers for the dead by a Romanist e-pologist. He notes that Paul is prayer that Onesiphorus will find mercy on the Day of Judgment, yet, in Catholic dogma, Purgatory is only for the heaven-bound, so why would Paul pray for mercy, since its a sure thing he’ll find mercy? Praying for those in Purgatory is to hasten their progress, not for postmortem salvation, as if their eternal fate were undecided. Scripture-twisting for Catholicism

Thabiti writes on the importance of local church membership: “The New Testament knows nothing of a creature reborn through faith in Christ, baptized in identification with Christ, communing with Christ at His table, and not a member of a visible, local, identifiable congregation of other born-again baptized believers.” He defines "membership" as “the way in which the individual is known to be intentionally committed to every other member of the congregation, and the congregation known to be committed to the individual.” He contrasts the radical congregational love in the apostolic expectations for the church with the cliquish love of friends. He points to pastoral ministry as requiring local church membership, cf. Heb. 13:7, 17. Some think simple attendance and serving in a ministry is sufficient evidence of commitment: i) Meaningful community does not happen where anonymity reigns. ii) Gospel commitments and imperatives are essential to meaningful membership, as members must agree to love across economic, social, linguistic, cultural barriers. iii) Churches need a practice that makes it clear that people are submitted to and desiring of pastoral oversight (1 Pet. 5:2). iv) Membership must maintain the temporal sequence of conversion in the Bible. Thabiti equates a lack of membership to the “spiritual equivalent of "shacking up" with someone not your spouse.” http://blog.buildingchurchleaders.com/2009/07/church_membership_yes.html

Hays notes that other religions than Roman Catholicism have prayers for the dead. This means that one can’t infer Purgatory from prayers for the dead, since distinct conceptions of the afterlife are equally convergent with prayers for the dead. Purgatory and prayer

White notes that Newman (before he became a Roman Catholic) recognized how Romanists deal with the church Fathers. If one provides specific citations that contradict their position, they see them as "individuals,” but constantly speak of "the Fathers" as if they were modern Romanists. White asks how one moves from individual writers, who expressed a variety of views, to the "unanimous consent of the Fathers" to which Romanists appeal constantly. Newman effectively notes that they only identify that which conforms to the Pope as Catholic. Basically, they start with their conclusion, and selectively attempt to read history and people to support it. Pre-Conversion Newman on Rome's Handling of Patristic Writings

AiG notes that how evolutionists, having changed their perception that chevrotains were not a good swimmer, now assume, comparing chevrotains to deer in order to fit their hypothesis about whale formation, that the animal is ‘evidence’ of whale evolution. But chevrotains aren’t deer, and there’s no reason to assume that they must originally have behaved like deer. The evolutionists speculate that perhaps all ruminants had aquatic capabilities, but many lost those capabilities over time. That loss of capability is the opposite of what molecules-to-man evolution would require; however, loss of genetic material fits the creation model well. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/07/11/news-to-note-07112009