All sins are worthy of eternal hell.
The only thing that is worthy of eternal hell is not being reconciled to God through the death of Christ. Hell is not a place. It is a state of being. People talk about hell as if it is a place separate from God.
Tell me, WHERE is it in the universe that God is not? Is there any such place where God does not reside, does not fill it all? Not according to the Psalmist.
Since Jesus the Christ has reconstituted the family of God and the federal headship thereof, the only sin that keeps us from God is refusing to return to the familial kingdom through Christ.
Stealing a loaf of bread if you are hungry is not the same as aborting a baby because you are a wanton fornicator. The former is not worthy of hell as is the latter.
I believe the Westminster Confession's interpretation is correct because I regard it as a faithful exposition of Scripture.
Which the Reformed Baptists would immediately say is hogwash (to use a fine old theological term) So would the Fundamentalists, the 7th Day Adventists, the Mormons, and a host of others who use the Bible as their Holy Book. Again, it goes back to knowing who has the authority to speak infallibly on interpretation.
Can Catholics show that their sacred tradition was actually handed down from the apostles themselves?
Of course we can, and moreso than any Protestant can. There is simply NO EVIDENCE that suggests that Reformed doctrines existed in the first, second, third.....etc. centuries. On the other hand, there is ample evidence that the interpretation of our Lord's words in scripture were understood in an extremely Catholic manner.
The problem for any such tradition is that it has no means of establishing itself as being handed down from the original authority so claimed.
This is ridiculous. Polycarp was trained by Apostle John. The very first generation after the apostles shows a distinctly Catholic understanding of our Lord's words. From WHOM but the apostles would they have learned this.
In a court of law, you would have no proof whatsoever that the Christian world of the first and second century was anything but Catholic. The evidence is simply not there for Protestantism, but is rich for the Catholic Faith. "To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant" (John Henry Cardinal Newman -- noted Anglican convert)
Now I ask you, is the Holy Spirit capable of guiding all believers into all truth without bestowing infallibility upon any of them?
As I have said before, from the evidence of the MULTITUDES of interpretations of the Bible outside of Catholicism, the answer is [color:"FF0000"]OBVIOUSLY NOT[/color]
Furthermore, you have no scriptural proofs that show that individuals have the right to private interpretation over and above the judgment of the Church. While it is true that the Holy Spirit can open a person's eyes to see his need of the Savior and point out that Savior in scripture, to think that individuals -- especially those who are unlearned -- can come up with a correct understanding of the deep and difficult doctrines of scripture on their own is just patently false.
[color:"0000FF"]2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.[/color]
I believe in the Trinity because it is scripturally warranted
Heretical bishop Arias didn't think so. It is recorded, in fact, that the sum of his whole argument came from scripture. Perhaps it is not as clear in scripture as you would like to believe.
Cordially in Christ,
Brother Ed
