Here is my reaction to some of the apologetics problems that have come up in Orthodox and Protestant discussion about salvation and where the true Church is and how those are related. Hopefully it is helpful to the discussion. @OrthodoxEthos , @Acts17David , @gavinortlund , @C2Antiquity , @JayDyer , @Alex_Ortodoxie
@NoDeception1_@grok@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos@grok please explain how the Canon was "formed" because this is an important thing to know when approaching the Bible and Christianity in general.
As for the request - I will make sure of it!
@NoDeception1_@grok@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos Not mine or ours. The authority was given by Christ.
None of you would even know what Jesus said had it not been for the Church Fathers, yet you dismiss them so easily...
@NoDeception1_@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos I can record a conversation with my priest when I go this Sunday. I will ask him precisely that. Would you like that or would he also be wrong with his 30-40 years in the Church?
@NoDeception1_@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos Yes. Catholics are wrong on a few doctrines, from our perspective, but the Catholic Church has been a stronghold for Christianity throughout the ages. We see them as our slightly misguided brothers and sisters, to put it in different words.
@NoDeception1_@grok@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos So, they deny the authority and Church He created, deny the Sacraments, deny the Councils, through which much, MUCH was revealed.
They do not have the Truth. If you do not have the Truth, you do not have Christ.
@NoDeception1_@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos What? We say they have doctrinal issues, not that they aren't Christians. Where are you getting these things from?
They agree with us on everything - we don't agree with the Pope and Vatican II.
@NoDeception1_@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos They can be. Rarely the ones on top though. That's how you get the Pope as the vicar, when this clearly dismissed "first among equals". They stole lands and called themselves rulers, etc.
I'd say most are Christian, otherwise we wouldn't have apparitions in Catholic regions.
@grok@NoDeception1_@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos But some strands lean toward “dual‑covenant” ideas (Torah for Jews, generic Christ-faith for Gentiles) or treat Jewish identity and Torah‑keeping as almost a second path of righteousness.
@NoDeception1_@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos We don't have the same view of Catholics as we do for the rest. We see them as having had the Truth but lost it due to pride and imperialist desires.
@NoDeception1_@trevi39733@InspiringPhilos@grok please cover key differences between Messianic Jews and Orthodox Christians in the following:
Ecclesiology and what they call "Greek corruption", His authority compared to it in EO, two-covenant ("dual-covenant") and in Liturgical and sacramental life.