Hot answers tagged protestantism
32
This is a very difficult issue. And for someone trapped in the chains of sexual sin, there is no easy answer - but there is the stunning grace of God for freedom.
I would answer this question by starting with another question: Do you want to live your life seeing how close you can get to sin without actually crossing the line? Are you motivated to be the ...
23
Murder and killing are not necessarily the same thing. The King James Bible adds confusion to this debate by translating Exodus 20:13 as:
Thou shalt not kill.
Which historically has been interpreted to mean a commandment against all forms of killing, including capital punishment, war, and in some cases, even against killing animals. In the context of ...
18
1 Corinthians 6:18 comes to mind which says "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body"
I think this is telling us that asking "where is the line and how close can I get to it" is not the right way to think about it. Rather that we should be seeking to avoid ...
15
Evangelicalism is not in itself a "confession". It is more of a general grouping of similar confessions. As such, it is a bit hard to pin down on a specific point of doctrine like your question calls for.
That being said, we could paint with a broad brush and describe some of general leanings. Every one of these will be wrong for at least some Evangelicals.
...
14
As I understand it, the term Sola Scriptura isn't about personal interpretation so much as it refers to a closed canon, the notion that the Bible is complete and contain all necessary knowledge for salvation, and that no other words from any other source can legitimately be added to it and hold canonical status alongside the Bible.
As for its basis, there ...
14
One well-known example of God specifically testing someone is when he commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as an offering unto him. (Genesis chapter 22)
Also, the Bible contains several references to God testing people in general to see if they will obey. For example:
Exodus 16: 4
I [will] prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
...
14
What's clear from the account of Jonah is that God would have destroyed the city if it were not for the people's repentance. Jonah's prophecy was accurate in that it articulated what God was going to do, but God relented. There was no failing in Jonah's ability to discern and communicate the will of God prior to the people's repentance, but that remarkable ...
14
The Bible is very clear that Jesus did not begin to exist in the womb of Mary. As the Second Person of the Trinity, He exists outside of the physical universe of time, space, and matter and with the Father and Spirit created the physical world.
He is holy, was holy, and will always be holy... and sinless and righteous and pure and blameless.
When Mary ...
13
Actually, it never worked.
Hebrews 10:4 (ESV)
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
All the OT sacrifices were useless in an of themselves. What they did all along was not actually solve something but point people to the idea that something needed to be solved and the way that had to happen was through sacrifice. ...
12
In the Old Testament, priests would appeal to God on behalf on sinful men through sacrifices. Jesus is the Great High Priest who 1) offered Himself as a sacrifice once for all and 2) who ever lives to intercede for us.
The old priesthood order was of the line of Aaron, but in 70 A.D. in the destruction of Jerusalem, the ancestral records were destroyed, ...
12
Per the Nicene Creed, He was begotten not made. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, but born of the Virgin Mary.
The idea is that since he was born of woman but not man, as God's son, he did not inherit sin. Catholic doctrine goes further, adding the idea of an immaculate conception - for Mary - that Jesus might be born sinless. ( I know, I always thought that ...
12
My first answer wasn't very good; I want to take a different angle. I hope this approach helps make this issue more clear.
TL;DR
You don't have to stage a protest to be Protestant. It's a matter of heritage.
Of fallacies and analogies...
Your question commits some basic fallacies that can easily be addressed.
cite an accurate historical reference ...
11
I think Matthew 5:27-28 sums it up well, by setting the standard not at sexual immorality, but even at the thought of sexual immorality.
Therefore, if lusting after a woman is sin, then surely "less than sex" outside of marriage in a lustful context, is also sin. This means that even kissing, holding hands, or hugging could be sin, if it is done lustfully.
...
11
You are asking the wrong question. Even tempting your mind to follow that line of reasoning will leave you open to temptation and making mistakes that need not have been made.
Don't imagine that there is a line in the sand that you magically cross if you do one action too much. Don't see how far you can go. Instead, flee. Run the other way. See how far you ...
11
It seems that "the two shall become one flesh" is regarding sex, although it could have other connotations as well.
In 1 Corinthians 6:15-17, it says
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall
I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a
prostitute? May it never be! 16 Or do you not know that the one
...
11
Protestants believe in a concept called the "priesthood of all believers". Check out this wikipedia article for in-depth info.
The basic belief is that each Christian has the authority to preach and teach, read and interpret the Bible, and confess their own sins directly to Jesus. We still have professional clergy, but without formal sacraments to ...
11
I do not think the NIV does the original Greek justice in this case. The English Standard Version (a respected relatively new essentially literal translation) renders the verse this way:
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way,
showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs
with you of the grace of ...
11
One of the defining tenets of Protestant Christianity is sola scriptura--that the Scriptures are the fundamental basis for all doctrine. This is in contrast to extra-biblical teachings. The idea is that if it were important enough for us to know, God would have told us in the Scriptures themselves and not have us rely on extra-biblical teachings. ...
10
I LOVE THIS TOPIC!!
God is a God of Love. God is also a God of Hate. If you love you must also hate. If you love children then you will hate abortion. God is angry with those enemies of his that practice sin. Here is a verse that describes the anger that God has towards sinners.
Hebrews 10:26-27 (NIV)
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we ...
10
There is no clear biblical evidence for the non-Virginity of Mary.
The Bible never says he had full blooded brothers and sisters. I don't want to delve into translations which I don't understand (Aramaic words for niece, cousin, nephew, etc...), but it is clear that Jesus does however call many people his brothers, and exhorts us all to call others our ...
10
In my view, this is saying that husband and wife should work together for the same goals.
This goes back to the very beginning when God made Eve from Adam's flesh as a helper
Genesis 2:20-24 (NIV)
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the ...
10
I'm going to have to limit my quotes from Scripture and leave some compelling verses out, because there are simply so many. This answer would be even longer than my normal long-winded answers if I included all supporting Scripture references. Please forgive me if I miss something you consider relevant.
First, there is the entire book of Romans, which ...
9
I don't think there's any harm in making the sign of the cross. I don't think we could equate it with the type of superstition that equates to idolatry or occultism. (I'm sorry if that sounds offensive to anyone who practices it. Please read on, and you'll see I don't mean to offend.)
It's definitely meant as a Christian gesture for the Catholics and the ...
9
There is a pretty clear distinction between Catholics and Protestants in that regard, though there may be Protestant denominations that do use the crucifix rather than the cross.
It seems that the main issue that Protestants today have with the crucifix is that it is specifically an image of Jesus, the Son of God. Such an image is believed to be strictly ...
9
The answer is in the verse just prior:
Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. (NIV 1 Corinthians 7:26)
In other words, given the 'present crisis' marriage posed various difficulties. The present crisis was the crisis of religious upheaval that would lead to great persecutions. In situations that call for ...
8
Um... The Bible is the basis for Sola Scriptura. That's sorta the point. Your definition (that no assistance can be used in interpreting what is written) seems a bit humpty dumptyish. Although I don't doubt some do follow such practices, it is certainly not commonplace...
...Indeed, Acts tells us of Philip the Evangelist offering assistance, and then ...
8
As far as I'm aware there's no biblical basis for requiring the church to gather at those specific times. For example there's no mention of Jesus' birth being explicitly celebrated as an occasion in Acts as far as I'm aware.
The congregation I belong to used to meet in a school as we didn't have our own building. We felt it was important to give the school ...
8
It's a role-delineation, not a "hierarchy" (at least, not in the way it is used in common English).
God has distinct persons making up His one self - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
They have distinct roles, as revealed in the Bible (more I'm sure can be added):
Father
Creator (Genesis 1:1, Romans 1:25, etc)
Judge (Genesis 15:14, Genesis 18:25, 1 Samuel ...
8
The question makes the assumption that "Protestantism" is easily defined, and can easily be compared.
"Protestant" simply means "Not Catholic or Orthodox", and could refer to one of hundreds of different denominations, all with subtle and not-so-subtle differences in beliefs. Some hold doctrine that is similar to Catholic doctrine, and some that is vastly ...
8
Some major problems with "KJV-onlyism" lies in the assumptions it makes and some of which you enumerated.
From an evangelical perspective, we accept the idea that the Bible is, indeed, the word of God. Specifically, "men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from
...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
