The $64,000 question

Hi Kathryn, The parable you quote is actually not about the seed, it is about the soil. The soil is the heart of a person, and how well it is prepared determines whether someone will come to genuine faith or not. Faith is the result in the parable and not what it is about.

I'll stick to my one way light switch example. It just makes the most sense to me as real faith seems all or nothing.

One more point to stop an obvious question. My faith is always strong because it comes from within. My commitment and actions in the flesh often do not represent that faith, but the faith is not changed.

Have a great Easter Kathryn! May God's blessings be upon you and your family.

In Christ,
Brian

 

Brian:

I agree the parable is about our response to the gift of faith. The seed and the soil work together and bears fruit. God plants the "seed" of faith in the heart of the man who hears the word and understands it, and this man bears fruit with his works.

Matthew 13:23
"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

Luke 17:6
And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed , ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Faith is as a seed that God plants in the heart. We can accept, neglect, or reject what God plants in our heart.

Romans 12:3
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith .

God gives us faith. What we do with it is important. Yes the parable is mostly about the soil. That is what varies, not what God plants in our hearts.

 

T2U I have repeatedly pointed out to you the injustice that you do to your argument and to reason itself by continually ignoring the points raised and ignoring your own confession that your opening statements about the Holy Spirit and the Bible "Don't work" - but you seem content to "repeat yourself" and refuse to advance even your own argument.

In the posts I provide above - I quote you and you refuse now to even respond to your own statements let alone mine.

I am gratefull that you do still seem cognative of the fact that you are fully accountable for what you have been doing here.

In Christ,

Bob

 

I have a secret confession to make. Please, nobody tell my secret. Never mind that I'm posting in on the world wide web.

I think that all my interpretations are right.

I think that when anybody disagrees with me they are wrong


There. Now that's off my chest I feel better.

Lessee now. Wasn't there something somewhere in one of those Corinthian letters about how to treat my brother who (misguided soul that he is) holds to the incorrect position on some doctrine . . .

 

I am not convinced that everyone here is as confused as you say they are T2U.

Do you have any non-RCs claiming the confusion you imply above?

Obviously you do that. And obviously I repeatedly and consistently "keep saying" that you do that.

Obviously you keep saying that as well and obviouslyl I keep saying that you are using that argument as if it is a kind of "proof" for your point.

And then I keep repeatedly and consistently going to the next point in that dicussion - the one where you drop the ball entirely and start over with your first statement above "again".

And obviously that next point I keep reposting regarding your "supposed" proof has been...

I did read it.

You said, "In the end it is trusting the John 16 and 1John 2 promise of the Holy Spirit "guiding us into all truth" combined with objective compelling models of "exegesis" in the case of each text and looking at the big picture for each doctrine."

In other words, your answer appears to be 1, 2, & 3.</font>[/QUOTE]True. I also point out that the "alternative of believing your own magesterium on top of that" solves nothing. Every church STILL has their own even the RCC.

Indeed AND they ALSO claim that their magesterium ALSO agrees with them.

Yes they are correct.

And yes they do hold up.

The only way you could "prove" they do not is to show that everyone is wrong. Merely showing that SOMEONE is wrong does not prove EVERYONE is wrong.

In the mean time - the word of God is true. The Spirit "OF Truth guides you into ALL truth" - but you have to have a love of the truth - a desire to accept the Word of God.
[/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]The "evidence" that the opening list does not work (as Neal points out) is that "someone is wrong".

I deal with that argument above - showing that in order to prove that 1-3 do not work - you have to show that ALL are wrong.

Otherwise the problem is simply a question of how consistently each group is taking advantage of the Bible principles of 1-3 in the opening list.

That is easy to see -- right?

Care to respond to the point rather than continually pretending it is not being posted?

</font>[/QUOTE]I guess not - eh?

IN Christ,

Bob

 

Though I repeatedly post this "next point" it is still wating a response from T2U who seemd "dedicated" to dodging the point it raises.

By T2U's "proofs" no one can actually read the Bible teaching about heaven and "know it is true" since "someone exists that will differ with them".

In Christ,

Bob

 

I will second his claim!

In Christ,
Neal

 

Neal, I believe that both you and Mioque have been consistent that way.

How about Purgatory and praying to the dead - do you find any problem with those "doctrines"? How far do you go in this?

Please explain how it is to your benefit to pretend that the obvious and simple point put forth is "too hard to understand".

I know why the RC posters "need" to do it - but why do you?

In Christ,

Bob

 

This thread will close around 9pm tonight. (Sunday)
Gina