BUT, of course, in order to be truly saved by Almighty God, a person ALSO needs to have personal faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ in order to be truly saved by Almighty God.

That fact is stated over and over again in the Word of Almighty God, (the Bible.)


Chess Fan

I read an interesting observation about historicity and faith the other day, that had never occurred to me:

Even if it could be proven that Jesus never existed, that wouldn't have to bear any consequences for the Christian faith. God could have chosen to present his revelation in the form of stories about a mythical figure whose example is to be followed.

Why do you think it IS Satan? The reference is to a serpent. There is no connection at all in the rest of the text to indicate that the serpent is Satan. It's just a serpent. Show me in the Bible where they say (metaphorically or no) that the serpent in the garden of Eden is Satan and I'll change my tune.



I know Chess Fan didn't get a chance to pose the question but his was the most recent quote I could grab without backtracking.

On another note, I have to ask if praying is considered "worship"? If this is true, is the praying to saints part of Christianity (Catholicism for sure) breaking a commandment?

Rev 20:2

"He laid hold of the Dragon - the ancient serpent - who is the Devil and the Adversary, and bound him for a thousand years, and hurled him into the bottomless pit."

Praying is indeed a form of worship, as I understand it. But Catholics don't pray to saints (and so do not worship saints), although "praying to St. YourNameHere" is often how people talk about it. Catholics ask for the intercession of saints, and so pray with saints. It's like asking a favor of a highly-placed friend--please use your influence with the Big Guy to help me.

It's a delicate distinction that (I realize) many people don't accept. But that's how Catholics view the custom.

I ran out of time when I wrote my original post but I meant to refer to revelation. Thanks for this.

That is how it is translated from the ancient Greek. But this author thinks that translation is wrong.

edit: I should say its still pretty clear that we should have faith in God and Jesus. But in this interpretation our faith isn't the focus. Its the faith of Jesus. I haven't gone through all the different places where this phrase "pistis Iesou Christou"

Under this translation Jesus is a model of faith. He had faith enough to follow God's will to the cross. God rewarded this faith by raising him. If God didn't raise him then his faith was in vain.

Its not clear to me that this would substantially alter how we act as christians but this does change a central belief of the vast majority of christians. IMO not in a bad way.

MH
Thats how I understand Catholic teaching as well. We ask ask saints to pray for us. Unfortunately, I think many catholics don't realize this distinction.

You're right, of course, NFM. I was explaining the official view. But many Catholics (good, pious, loving people) make a practice of over venerating the saints (usually a favorite saint) because of a personal or cultural tie with that saint. It's a very human thing to do, but it doesn't conform to official Catholic doctrine.