Recent content by atpollard

I live on the Florida Gulf Coast. It was just the Church of God with a HQ in Cleveland TN vs the Church of God with a HQ in Anderson, IN. The first is sort of Pentecostal leaning (but not "out of control") and the second is part of the Wesleyan Holiness movement (founded by preachers in wagons...

Could you elaborate on this point (it seems a bit vague). What does "put together death in the flesh" actually mean? Where does Peter explain this cryptic phrase?

When I was a newly converted atheist, I did the only thing that was reasonable. I took the dust covered RSV Bible that had been given to me when I was 5 years old and had questions about God that I asked the Lutheran Priest about (because I was infant baptized Lutheran before being raised...

My mother and Grandparents were Roman Catholic (Italian-American also from NJ), so I am not 100% unfamiliar even if I wasn't raised in the Catholic Church. I got to experience the CREEPY shrine to her dead brother and the candles to get him out of Purgatory. I also went to the RCC and took "A...

Funny story (God has a sense of humor): 1962 Born to Atheist Father, Methodist (Lily & Holly) Paternal Grandparents & Roman Catholic (Italian-American) Maternal Grandparents. Maternal Grandparents DEMANDED that their Grandchild be baptized (to avoid hell) and Paternal Grandparents ADAMANT that...

So how do we reconcile that with: John 6:41-45 [ESV] 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" 43...

To be fair, the RCC doesn't always do the best job of teaching their beliefs to their members and the OFFICIAL CATECHISM answer is more subtle and nuanced than that. It has to do with great Catholic thinkers explanations of HOW Jesus saves His Church (body of believers). It is not 100%...

It worked ... she prayed for Trump to be elected and he was. [Balaam's donkey?] ;)

Sort of ... there is a strong tendency to 'customize' the definition of "FREE WILL" and argue past each other over two completely different things ... by all sides. It is a very sloppy and imprecise term. FEW believe that people are "robots" [no 'free will'] and FEW believe that people choose...

I agree, but HONESTY also demands that we recognize that Infant Baptism was potentially common by at least the end of the first or early second century and DOMINATED most of Church history. The Didache from this time does not specifically mention Infant Baptism but does allow alternatives to...

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) ... a conservative branch of the Lutheran Church (since Lutherans are not immune to modern culture ... just like every denomination).

I think people like Huss (that predated Luther) would agree with us. I understand that advocated for Credobaptism go back to the beginning of church writings, so there have always been those that challenged Infant Baptism ... they were just typically branded as Heretics by Rome.

Yeah, I have had the honor (and it was an honor) to worship with and get to know a wide variety of beliefs on my path from Atheist to Particular Baptist. Let's compare "Baptism" among the denominations to get the TOPIC back on track: ROME: Advocates "infant baptism". It does so because the...

In what sense is mankind “reconciled” to God where Jesus’ reconciliation creates the forgiveness of NO INDIVIDUAL, but a path for ANY INDIVIDUAL to potentially “experience the forgiveness of sins”. Does this not make the “reconciliation“ more hypothetical than actual? [It just seems an odd...

I think the greatest difficulty in this, other than the actual term “Baptist” being far more modern than the ”Baptist Distinctives” that define the movement that has had a variety of names, is to actually determine what distinctives are critical to being a “baptist”. If we set the bar at...