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Western vs. Eastern Soteriology

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Yeshua1

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I double dog dare anyone to use scripture alone. There is no way your teachings will survive unless someone over your shoulder corrupts it for you.

James 2
24You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

1 Corinthians 13

2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

1 Timothy 2

3This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Luke 10

25And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 28And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”


1 john 4

8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

16We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.


1 timothy 1
5But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
I would rather stand on scriptures than traditions of men!
 

utilyan

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He speaks to us thru His scriptures!

Show me that verse. Because the scripture says he speaks through his Christians. Every Christian is an epistle of Christ.

2 Corinthians 3
2You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
 

AustinC

Well-Known Member
You can correct everyone with scripture that is not a problem. Including correcting folks who think scripture is the highest authority.

God is the highest authority. I'm sure everyone can agree with that, lets start there.
God spoke scripture. It is the word of God.
Do you disagree?
 

utilyan

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Brothers we not biting Sola Scriptura precisely because it is never taught in scripture or by the Church.

The Church can make the call for it, it has the authority.given by Jesus:

Matthew 18
18“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Jesus Christ gave specific instructions what to do if someone steps out of line including stepping out of line with teaching.

Matthew 18

15“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

If scripture was the Final Authority we would have been stuck a Judaisers requiring circumcision. There was zero scripture to back up against it, it was overruled by the authority of the Church.

Acts 15
1Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. 3Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. 4When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

God gave direct command and vision to Peter to overturn scripture.


If Jesus, The Apostles and the Church went by Sola Scriptura we would be forced to be circumcized and not even allowed to eat with Gentiles.
 

church mouse guy

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Do you think it was merely a coincidence the Hebrew and Hellenistic worlds converged at the Incarnation?


I really am beginning to think most Protestants believe the Bible is the largest collection of coincidences ever recorded.

Not everything that happens is God's will--some events He allows. The Greeks were pagans and some of their superstions were from Hinduism.
 

church mouse guy

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When Word = Jesus = Logos

When Word = Scripture = rhema


Big difference. Christianity 101 stuff here.


RE: The Eucharist ---> If it is not the actual body and blood of Christ, then the logical conclusion to your position is Jesus instituted figurative / symbolic cannibalism.

So? Two Greek words translated the same in English in Protestantism. The RCC believes in the transubstantiation, not us. We think that you went overboard on literalism straight into absurdity.
 

church mouse guy

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Returning to the OP:

Sin - our thoughts and actions that miss the mark of God's will for our choices.
Sin nature - because of Adam's sin, all mankind was "made sinners." Romans 5:19 We are not guilty of Adam's sin, but we are in a sinful unholy state as a consequence of Adam's sin.

Total Depravity - undefined in the OP. But if the term is used Calvinistically, it is not biblical, fallen people can understand and respond affirmatively to the milk of the Gospel, 1 Cor. 3:1-3

God - God will judge and punish all mankind for their own individual sins, but will show mercy toward those "in Christ" and heal them by removing their sin burden (what God holds against them).

Atonement - undefined in the OP. But if the term is used Calvinistically, it is not biblical, God provides justification to life to all mankind through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, but only those God transfers into Christ are reconciled.

Has the OP usage of Total Depravity and Atonement been defined to mean something other than the Calvinist doctrines?

The OP in the listing of total depravity mischaracterized Protestant opinion and taking no notice of numerous compliants abandoned the issue by never acknowledging the criticisms or attempting to apologize for the error. That's liberalism for you, huh? What we have here is liberal theology attacking a strawman that the liberals built in the first place.
 

utilyan

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I want to start this by comparing and contrasting a few theological positions held in the West and East:

Western:
Sin:
inherited -- fallen nature/guilt
total depravity
crime/lawbreaking

Eastern:
Sin:
inherited -- fallen nature/no guilt
no total depravity
sickness/disease

Western:
God:
judge in a courtroom

Eastern:
God:
physician in a hospital

Western:
Atonement:
penal/satisfaction

Eastern:
Atonement:
ransom/classic, or Christus Victor /recapitulation

Which side do your views fall on -- Western or Eastern?

Does anyone know of any Protestant denominations which have the Eastern soteriology?

Here are a couple of good articles I found on sin:

Christian views on sin - Wikipedia

Original sin - Wikipedia

Should Consider God Father in his house. Or Teacher in a Classroom.

Also there is different perspectives looking at original sin.

#1 we are not born in heaven. So if you never did anything, are not accountable why not born in heaven with perfect conditions?

I think one point is we should hold ourselves responsible/accountable for every soul and one certainly would without even the use of laws if you love everyone as God does. If your a LOVING parent what good is it if I spoil you with all you can want and your own child is tortured before you?

We have to step away from a selfish perspective of Salvation. I want my brother with his parent(GOD).

Don't want to see anyone suffering, I want them to be happy.

So in a way original sin preemptively teaches something which anyone Christlike would carry in their soul even if no rule existed, its still a rule for them.

Think about the person you care for most, there is no rule saying I can blame you for something they do , but some folks might take that deal for their sake. I don't doubt people here would die to save a loved one.
 

AustinC

Well-Known Member
We can top that. Call it the body of Christ. Never-mind dictated, God authored, God Breathed.
Show scripture where the body of Christ is inspired and always speaks God's word. Let's observe the passage that declares every person in the body of Christ is speaking as though God is speaking.
 

utilyan

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Show scripture where the body of Christ is inspired and always speaks God's word. Let's observe the passage that declares every person in the body of Christ is speaking as though God is speaking.
I was calling the scriptures the body of Christ.

Our adequacy is God given we service, minister the new covenant. 2 Corinthians 3

We are given the ministry of reconciliation, We are ambassadors of Christ and GOD makes his appeal THRU us. 2 Corinthians 5
Christ is one flesh with his Church. Ephesians 5

The people as the body of Christ receive from one spirit. 1 Corinthians 12

We are all given by that same spirit one common gift above all gifts, the most excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12- 1 Corinthians 13.

1 John 4 8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.


Its like swearing up and down only the MIRROR is right. Scripture points at a Christian rather then scripture.

Our sense of reliability says steel is stronger than paper. If you want to beat a Giant, you may think we need a big tank with a big gun. God can choose a child to defeat a Giant. The Christian is God breathed as scripture is. John 20:22.

Jesus could have wrote us a book up to our standard of reliability and communication. He chose his own method, in its own language, with its own grammar. He chose People to be his paper with bread and wine to be his ink.

Jesus' Communion is the highest paperless "scripture" and can teach a person more than all the scriptures can ever hope.
 

AustinC

Well-Known Member
I was calling the scriptures the body of Christ.

Our adequacy is God given we service, minister the new covenant. 2 Corinthians 3

We are given the ministry of reconciliation, We are ambassadors of Christ and GOD makes his appeal THRU us. 2 Corinthians 5
Christ is one flesh with his Church. Ephesians 5

The people as the body of Christ receive from one spirit. 1 Corinthians 12

We are all given by that same spirit one common gift above all gifts, the most excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12- 1 Corinthians 13.

1 John 4 8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.


Its like swearing up and down only the MIRROR is right. Scripture points at a Christian rather then scripture.

Our sense of reliability says steel is stronger than paper. If you want to beat a Giant, you may think we need a big tank with a big gun. God can choose a child to defeat a Giant. The Christian is God breathed as scripture is. John 20:22.

Jesus could have wrote us a book up to our standard of reliability and communication. He chose his own method, in its own language, with its own grammar. He chose People to be his paper with bread and wine to be his ink.

Jesus' Communion is the highest paperless "scripture" and can teach a person more than all the scriptures can ever hope.
Where do you find the scriptures called the body of Christ?

Please quote the scripture so we can observe what it says.
 

AustinC

Well-Known Member
What does scripture tell us about Jesus death and its function in atonement for sin?
It is in scripture we find the answer, not in Eastern or Western philosophy.
 

ntchristian

Active Member
What does scripture tell us about Jesus death and its function in atonement for sin?
It is in scripture we find the answer, not in Eastern or Western philosophy.

It certainly doesn't say that Jesus' death "paid the penalty" for our sins. It does say that Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many. The word "redeem" is also used, which means "to buy back". That's Biblical. Penal substitution is not.
 
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