Luther said that if you held the bible upside down
the book of James would fall out. he was indicating that
talk about "good works" as redeeming was faulty; therefore
James was faulty; therefore James was fallible; therefore scripture
was fallible.
the reason he was so puzzled about James is that he and Calvin and most=20
all of the early reformers held to the logically consistent=20
omnipotent/omniscient poewrs of god so that nothing humans can do=20
matters. it is all shit in the nostrils of a just and holy god.
other reformers (radical) and later reformers (methodism) held=20
doctrines less bound by aristotilian logic. the basic issue is=20
discussed largely in the history of the church as the arminian vs,=20
calvinist views.
there is paradise/heaven for prots. they just take a "rational"=20
discussion to figure out who gits in; whereas the RCs take a=20
ritualistic/sovereignly authoritative (indulgences, briberies, etc.).
On Sun, 28 Mar 1999 23:48:48 -0300 Anaspinoza=20
<anaspinoza@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It,s clear for me that hell does exist for protestants, but advancing=20
with my modest investigation (that has not directly to do with this=20
subject), I found out that for Luter and for Clavin it=B4s impossible for=
=20
a human action to obtain God=B4s reward (eternal beatitude). For Luter=20
even a good action reflects men corruption (the original guilt)=20
(Denzinger Baunwart, Enchiridion, Symolorum 771-771). When they say=20
that Luter was against merit=B4s doctrine, are they refering to this?=20
This attitude against merit can be read exclusively as a battle against=20
the payment for indulgences, or does it have another meaning?=20
Protestants believe in hell but not in paradise? Can that be possible?=20
Aren=B4t both part of the same figure? >=20
> (Trento=B4s Council supports mertit=B4s doctrine: a good person WINS=20
eternal life) But protestantism rejects the extortion of paradise? As=20
far as I read, protestants aduce that the bible doesn=B4t even have the=20
word merit, but catholics answer that although the word doesn=B4t exist,=20
you can find the same sense in many parts. >=20
> Kant=B4s rejection of merit=B4s doctrine (that is, that for him an action=
=20
has to have a finality in itself, it has to be a consecuence of a law=20
of the reason, and not a way to reach a prize or a punishment) has the=20
same sense of Luter=B4s rejection of merit=B4s doctrine, at least in was=20
has to do with de prize-paradise part? Rejecting merit both reject the=20
way it promotes egoism and reduces virtue to calculus? > =20
> I promisse that my next letter wont=B4t have as a title: Does=20
purgatoire exist for protestants? Actually I think that it doesn=B4t. > =20
> I will be very grateful if somebody can answer my escatological =20
urgence (I promisse it will be the last) > =20
> Ana Spinoza
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