ZNPaaneah
The word paradise is only found three times in the New Testament. And in none of those three times is the word defined or said to be the same as something else.
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Then how does he know we don't go to purgatory? How does he know we shouldn't pay the indulgences?
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How indeed? Since the Bible doesn’t say anything at all about purgatory. It’s a RCC doctrine based on other doctrines. The Bible sources that Lee used for his own version of purgatory refer to hell in the RCC. Same with indulgences, which the RCC defines today differently than in the 16th century, in that it is a Spiritual matter, not a physical one. But they still believe that the idea of indulgences is valid, which Protestants do not. Because some of the doctrines behind the idea of indulgences isn’t believed by Protestants either.
Not being a Protestant, I would say that Luther’s idea of Sola Scriptura and Sola Fides are based on personal interpretation more than on the Bible itself. But then, that’s just a personal opinion, and the opinion of the RCC, the largest of the denominations, and of Eastern Orthodoxy, which is no small denomination, though it seems so in America where it is a minority denomination.
I realize that Protestants get themselves in a quandary about the smallest matters as they try to define every detail of “the Faith” via Biblical interpretation. A natural result of thinking that the Bible is more in its own right than it really is. And many Protestant denominations are created because of disagreements about matters that aren’t very important. Whether or not to use musical instruments or a particular musical instrument in meetings, for example.
The maxim that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it is apropos here. The idea of reincarnation isn’t a Christian idea. Never has been. Nevertheless, there are Christians who believe in it today and can quote you Bible verses that substantiates the belief in their own mind. And some of them are Catholics, who you would think would know better.
The point OBW is trying to make, I think, is a concern that the next thing you may question is how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. There are many things we should be concerned about without trying to get into things that may be of no concern to us as an explicit explanation in our present life. And like OBW, I think that trying to explicitly define paradise and some of the other Biblical references to the future life may be in that realm. Better minds than those of us on this forum have tried to define such things and they disagree. Why should we think we are any better?
The RCC has defined some of these things. And even they don’t spend a whole lot of time on such matters according to their most recent Catechism, and other Catholic writings. They just say this is what the Church has thought for centuries and go on with more important things like the Mass and prayer and their importance as experiences of God today. Some Catholics may emphasize such things as appearances of Mary over the last couple centuries. The RCC itself does not. But that doesn’t bother those Catholics who emphasize such things.
A summary, for those who prefer short posts. There are important matters and not so important matters. And I think OBW is trying to steer us back to the more important matters. Such as, what does the term overcomer mean and what does it mean to us today?
MacDuff