The endless Protestant (Reformed) - Catholic (Orthodox) debate continues.
The book which is suppose to bring men in a united mission, has divided people into over 30,000 denominations.
A major point of contention: Soteriology: The study of obtaining salvation, how to obtain ever-saving grace.
Matthew 19:
But! Paul says .......
What is forgotten in this, is the notion of Theosis We are called to love our neighbor as ourself, We are called to forgive as we want to be forgiven, And we are called to pursue God's grace in the sacraments. WHY?` Theosis
We are not to be good people, we are to be 'perfect.'
Matthew 5
We are not only to love God and have faith in His providence, but we are suppose to be as God. Rather, we are suppose to love God so much, we want to be as God. Divine as, Loving as, Forgiving as, and Merciful as ... God
as God is Theosis which translates as becoming God-like.
This is the call, and this is the context of our salvation, that we fight the good fight for Truth and Love in order to be redeemed to God's Plan as humanity first was in the Garden of Eden, perfect!
Sounds challenging? Well, it can be intimidating, because Jesus effects our lives through His cross and resurrection, but the story isn't over, 2000 years of history have followed. We must allow God's plan to effect our lives, to effect our lives is to respond, to respond is to act.
Please take the time for some encouragement from this video.
I used to have a book which gave all these common sayings, but the interesting thing was, it paired very common and very insightful sayings which said the opposite thing of one another.
For instance, The early pigeon gets the worm. and Everything comes to those who wait.
I loved that book! And it was one of the things which showed me a great life lesson, everything in life is a paradox. Astounding.
And that is where we can look to GK Chesterton in his apologetics and see how he makes the case for Catholicism by examining the remarkable balance, or stubborn adaptive nature, the Church possesses. It can be a universal, international body, but at the same time, be very vernacular as we see the same Catholicism expressed differently in places like Italy, the Phillipines, and on the African horn. Astounding.
If you care to listen to GK Chesterton discern through the remarkable universality of Catholic thinking and thought, please indulge yourself with the video below.
"The only type of Christianity which contains every type of man."
And a far more better writer than me gives a discourse about the nature of the Church in the following:
My conversion to the Catholic
faith began in the world of Protestant fundamentalism. After being
brought up in an independent Bible church, I attended the fundamentalist
Bob Jones University. While there I became an Anglican; later, I went
to England to become an Anglican priest.
My pilgrimage of faith came to a crisis in the early 1990s as the
Anglican Church struggled over the question of the ordination of women.
By instinct I was against the innovation, but I wanted to be positive
and affirm new ideas rather than reject them just because they were new.
I decided to put my prejudices to one side and listen as openly as
possible to both sides of the debate.
As I listened I realized that from a human point of view, both the
people in favor of women’s ordination and those against it had some good
arguments. Both sides argued from Scripture, tradition, and reason.
Both sides argued from practicality, compassion and justice. Both sides
honestly considered their arguments to be persuasive. Furthermore, both
sides were composed of prayerful, church-going, sincere Christians who
genuinely believed the Holy Spirit was directing them. How could both be
right?
From a human point of view, both arguments could be sustained. This
led me to a real consideration of the question of authority in the
Church. I realized that the divisions over women’s ordination in the
Anglican Church were no different, in essence, than every other debate
that has divided the thousands of Protestant denominations.
Some groups split over women’s ordination; others split over whether
women should wear hats to church. Some split over doctrinal issues;
others split over moral issues. Whatever the issue and whatever the
split, the basic problem is one of authority. If Christians have a
sincere disagreement, who decides?
Wobbly Three-Legged Stool
Evangelical Protestants say the Bible decides, but this begs the
question when the two warring parties agree that the Bible is the final
authority. They eventually split because they can’t agree about what the
Bible actually teaches. I had moved away from the Protestant
understanding that Scripture is the only authority, and as an Anglican,
believed that authority rested in Scripture, tradition, and reason.
Anglicans call this the "three-legged stool." By turning to
Scripture, tradition, and human reason they hope to have a secure
teaching authority. I came to realize, however, that this solution also
begs the question. Just as we have to ask the Protestant who believes in
sola scriptura, "Whose interpretation of Scripture?," we have
to ask the Anglican, "Whose reason and whose tradition?" In the debate
over women’s ordination (and now in the debate over homosexuality), both
sides appeal to human reason, Scripture and tradition, and they come up
with wildly different conclusions.
In the end, the Anglican appeal to a three-legged stool relies on individual interpretation, just as the Protestant appeals to sola scriptura. The three-legged stool turns out to be a theological pogo stick.
A Son of Benedict Speaks
About this time I had a conversation with the Abbot of Quarr Abbey
(a Catholic Benedictine monastery on the Isle of Wight). He listened to
my situation with compassion and interest. I explained that I did not
want to deny women’s ordination. I wanted to affirm all things that were
good, and I could see some good arguments in favor of women’s
ordination. He admired this desire to affirm all things but he said
something that set me thinking further:
Sometimes we have to deny some lesser good in order to
affirm the greater good. I think you have to deny women’s ordination in
order to affirm the apostolic ministry. If the apostolic authority says
no to women’s ordination, then to affirm the greater good of apostolic
authority you will have to deny the lesser good of women’s ordination.
Because if we deny the greater good, then eventually we will lose the
lesser good as well.
He hit the nail on the head. His words led me to explore the basis
for authority in the Catholic Church. I already had read and pretty much
accepted the Scriptural support for the Petrine ministry in the Church.
I also had come to understand and value the four-fold marks of the True
Church—that it is "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic." As I studied and
pondered the matter further, however, I saw twelve other traits of the
church’s authority.
These twelve traits—in six paired sets—helped me to understand how
comprehensive and complete the Catholic claims of authority are. I came
to realize that other churches and ecclesial bodies might claim some of
the traits, but only the Catholic Church demonstrated all twelve fully.
It Is Rooted in History . . .
What are the twelve traits of authority, and how do they work? We
have to ask what a group of Christians who were deliberating a difficult
matter would need to make their decision.
First of all, it seems clear that their decision would have to be
made from a historical perspective. It was not good enough to decide
complex moral, social, or doctrinal issues based on popularity polls or
yesterday’s newspaper. To decide difficult questions, a valid authority
has to be historical.
By this I mean not only does it has to have an understanding of
history, but itself must be rooted in history. In addition, the
authority has to show a real continuity with the historical experience
of Christianity. The churches that have existed for four or five hundred
years can demonstrate this to a degree, but only the Catholic (and
Eastern Orthodox) Church has a living link with history that goes back
to Roman times—and then, through Judaism, back to the beginning of human
history.
. . . and Adaptable
The historical link is essential, but on its own is not sufficient.
Historical authority has to be balanced with the ability to be up to
date. An authority that is only historical becomes ossified. It never
changes. An authority that cannot be up to date is not only rooted in
history, it is bound by history. A valid authority structure needs to be
flexible and adaptable. Christians face complex modern moral and
doctrinal dilemmas. A valid authority system draws on the wisdom of the
past to rule properly on the questions of the present.
It Is Objective . . .
A third quality of a valid authority system is that it needs to be
objective. By this I mean it needs to be independent of any one person’s
or group’s agenda, ideology, philosophy or self-interest. A valid
authority transcends all political, economic, and cultural pressures.
The objective quality of this authority system also allows it to make
decisions that are unpopular or that go against the spirit of the times
and majority opinion.
An objective authority is based on certain universal basic
assumptions, immutable principles, and observable and undeniable
premises. From these objective criteria the valid authority system
builds its teaching.
. . . and Flexible
For the authority to be valid, however, it cannot rely on abstract
principles and objective criteria alone. The valid authority is suitably
subjective in applying objective principles. In other words, it
understands that the complexities of real life and the pastoral
exigencies of helping real people demand a flexible, practical, and
down-to-earth application. The Catholic authority system does just that.
Throughout the Code of Canon Law, for example, we are reminded that the
law is there to serve the people of God in their quest for salvation.
Individual Christians, or particular Christian groups, often fall
into one side of this pair or the other. The rigorists or legalists want
everything to be objective and "black and white" all the time, while
the liberals or sentimentalists want every decision to be relative,
open-ended, and flexible according to the pastoral needs. Only the
Catholic system can hold the two in tension, because only the Catholic
system has an infallible authority which can keep the two sides
balanced.
It Is Universal . . .
An authority that can speak to all situations can only do so if it
comes from a universal source. This source of authority needs to be
universal not only geographically, but also chronologically. In other
words, it transcends national agendas and limitations, but it also
transcends the cultural trends and intellectual fashions of any
particular time. Every church or ecclesial structure other than the
Catholic Church is limited, either by its historical foundations or by
its cultural and national identity.
For example, the Eastern Orthodox find it very hard to transcend
their national identity, while the churches of the Reformed tradition
struggle to transcend the particular cultural issues that surround their
foundation. The national, cultural, and chronological identities of
other ecclesial bodies limit their ability to speak with a universal
voice. When they do move away from their foundations they usually find
themselves at sea amidst the fashions and trends of the present day.
They also find that they lose their distinctive identities when they
drift from their foundations. A universal authority system, on the other
hand, transcends both chronological and geographical limitations.
. . . and Local
However, this universal authority needs to be applied in a
particular and local way. An authority that is only universal remains
vague, abstract, and disincarnate. For a universal authority system to
be valid, it also must be expressed locally. Catholicism speaks with a
universal voice, but it is also as local as St. Patrick’s Church and Fr.
Magee on the corner of Chestnut Street. Not only does the universal
Church have a local outlet, but that outlet has a certain autonomy which
allows it to be flexible in its application of the universal authority.
Catholicism travels well, and because of the universal authority
structure, it can allow far more varieties of enculturation at the local
level than churches which are more bound by the time and place of their
foundations.
It Is Intellectually Challenging . . .
The fourth pair of characteristics that demonstrate the validity of
the Catholic authority system include its intellectual satisfaction and
its accessibility. If an authority system is to speak to the
complexities of the human situation, then it must be able to hold its
own with the philosophical and intellectual experts in every field of
human endeavor. What other ecclesial system can marshal experts from
every area of human expertise to speak authoritatively in matters of
faith and morals? Time and again, the Catholic Church has been able to
speak with authority about the spiritual dimension of economics, ethics,
politics, diplomacy, the arts, and philosophy.
This authority must not only be able to hold its own with the
intellectual experts in all fields, but it must be intellectually
satisfying and coherent within itself. A unified and complete
intellectual system must be able to explain the world as it is.
Furthermore, this intellectual system must continually develop and be
re-expressed—always interpreting ageless truth in a way that is
accessible for the age in which it lives. This intellectual system must
be an integral and vital part of the religion, while also being large
enough to self-criticize. Only the Catholic faith has such an
all-encompassing, impressive system of teaching.
. . . and Accessible to the Uneducated
Nonetheless, while the authority system must be intellectually top
notch, the religious system must also be accessible to peasants and the
illiterate. A religious system that is only intellectual or appeals
merely to the literate can speak only for the intellectuals and
literate.
Some denominations appeal to the simple and unlearned, but have
trouble keeping the top minds. Others appeal to the educated elite, but
lose the masses. Catholicism, on the other hand, is a religion of the
greatest minds of history and the religion of ignorant peasants. It is a
religion that is complex enough for St. Thomas Aquinas and simple
enough for St. Joseph Cupertino. It has room at the manger for both the
magi and the shepherds.
It Is Visible . . .
As a Protestant I was taught that the Church was invisible. That is,
it consisted of all people everywhere who believed in Jesus, and that
the true members of the Church were known to God alone. This is true,
but there is more to it than that. Invisibility and visibility make up
the fifth paired set of characteristics that mark the truly
authoritative church.
The Church is made up of all people everywhere who trust in Christ.
However, this characteristic alone is not satisfactory because human
beings locked in the visible plane of reality also demand that the
Church be visible. Even those who believe only in the invisible church
belong to a particular church which they attend every Sunday. Those who
believe only in the invisible church must conclude that the church they
go to doesn’t really matter.
. . . and Invisible
The Catholic system of authority recognizes both the invisible
dimension of the Church and the visible. The Church is greater than what
we can observe, but the church we observe is also greater than we
think. The invisible Church subsists in the Catholic Church, and while
you may not be able to identify the extent of the invisible Church, you
can with certainty point to the Catholic Church and say, "There is the
Body of Christ."
A few small Protestant denominations claim that their visible church
is the true church, but their claims are ludicrous because they have
none of the other twelve traits of true authority. Because it has all
these traits, only the Catholic Church can claim to be the living,
historical embodiment of the Body of Christ on earth.
It is Both Human and Divine
Finally, for the church to speak with authority it must be both
human and divine. An authority that speaks only with a divine voice
lacks the authenticity that comes with human experience. So Islam and
Mormonism, which are both based on a book supposedly dictated by angels,
are unsatisfactory because their authority is supernaturally imposed on
the human condition.
On the other hand, a religion that is purely a construct of the human
condition is merely a system of good works, religious techniques, or
good ideas. Christian Science or Unitarianism, for example, is developed
from human understandings and natural goodness. As such, both lack a
supernatural voice of authority.
The Judeo-Christian story, however, is both human and divine. The
voice of authority is always expressed through human experience and
human history. Divine inspiration in the Judeo-Christian tradition is
God’s word spoken through human words. This incarnated form of authority
finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who hands on his totally
incarnated authority to Peter and his successors.
Built upon the Rock
Some Churches may exercise some of the twelve traits, but only the
Catholic Church is able to field all twelve as a foundation for
decision-making. When the Catholic Church pronounces on any difficult
question, the response is historical, but up to date. It is based on
objective principles but applies to specific needs. The Church’s
authority transcends space and time, but it is relevant to a particular
place and time. The response will be intellectually profound, but
expressed in a way that is simple enough for anyone to apply. Finally,
it will express truths that are embedded in the human experience, but
spring from divine inspiration.
This authority works infallibly through the active ministry of the whole Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
says that it is Christ who is infallible, and he grants a measure of
his infallibility to his body, the Church. That infallibility is worked
out through these twelve traits, but it is expressed most majestically
and fully through Christ’s minister of infallibility: one person—the
Rock on which the Church is built, Peter and his successors.
Ever thought of the significance of Baptism? Priesthood? Anything?
Ever found it honestly strange, if I go into one Christian community, I will find one group kneel in front of Mary, and others decry her ever-virginity?
How I go to one place, and there is an altar, and the other, a stage?
And, yet, to some, this probably never sinks in, that how can Christianity be that way?
It's
like going to Biology class and in one pocket says, biology is only the
study of plants, the other says it is the study of animals, and the
last say it is the study of microorganisms ....
But the truth, it is the study of the plants, of the animals, and of the microorganisms....
Well .....
These questions have better answers than you may realize concerning Christianity
In protestantism, there is great and a singular theology centered on the Bible alone. Well, in one way, it makes the response easy: Ok, so the Bible alone, if you can show me how and why, I will believe you.
And depending where this leads, it will be quizzical. Should it start with history, i.e., the historical record of the Bible, they will be pointed to the Council of Rome where the apostolic Church convened to determine what scripture was and wasn't .... alas, the New Testament.
CHURCH FATHERS
Before circa 350, we have Christian writers, and we can use them to know much about the TRADITION of the early Church. In reading about this TRADITION we find many glorious things which point to the Catholic Church as well as an emphasis on TRADITION over a book.
Then there is this last question:
Who founded your Church? Protestants often protest that Catholicism is man-made, and all the rules are also just man-made, but what is funny is we know exactly what 'man' made all branches of protestantism, it takes very little scholarship to find these out.
How Old Is Your Church? (EWTN)
If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex- monk of the
Catholic Church, in the year 1517.
If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in
the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.
If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the
year 1560.
If you are a Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of
England founded by Samuel Seabury in the American colonies in the 17th century.
If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland
in 1582.
If you are a Methodist, your religion was launched by John and Charles Wesley in
England in 1744.
If you are a Unitarian, Theophilus Lindley founded your church in London in 1774.
If you are a Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra,
N.Y., in 1829.
If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched
it in Amsterdam in 1605.
If you are of the Dutch Reformed church, you recognize Michaelis Jones as founder,
because he originated your religion in New York in 1628.
If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in
1865.
If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion
was born and to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.
If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as 'Church of the
Nazarene," "Pentecostal Gospel." "Holiness Church," "Pilgrim
Holiness Church," "Jehovah's Witnesses," your religion is one of the
hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past century.
If you are Catholic............... look it up, the founder of the Catholic Church is..........
I dare say: When time and mind is put on the question, there is but one conclusion:
God's Church is all of Catholicism, All of Catholicism is Christianity, and only some of Christianity is God's Church.
Heaven is, well, heaven, right? Greater than 7th heaven, lovelier than the heaven above, and sweeter than sweet heaven.
But what if I told you, you aren't the only one invited, and not only you, but those who you struggle with here on earth?
Does this make you think twice? Does heaven sound like heaven, a place where that mean, annoying, inconsiderate person is there with YOU for ETERNITY !
Although, she does a very unchristian thing in her title, she invites someone to avoid heaven, very unchristian, in fact the opposite of everything a christian should do.
But aside from the words of choice, her message is clear, and just might be the golden ticket to Heaven.
If we treat everyone in the world as if we'll have to live with them for an eternity in Heaven, maybe we'd find it a little more practical and wise to ...... love your neighbor.
If we live this realization out, maybe we'll see that we should ...... forgive as He has forgives.
I mean, if God can accept them into Heaven, or at least give them an invitation, shouldn't we treat them at least worthy of that invitation which they also received?
To me, it seems this can be a very useful mental practice, to remember that there are great chances that our mother-in-law, our annoying neighbor, our helpless loved one, or our wayward boss just might all be right there sitting across from you at the Heavenly Banquet to which we are all invited.
If you're Catholic, think of the patience and unpleasant interaction we may experience with these people as a bit of purgatory on Earth. I would venture to say that most of the suffering in purgatory would feel and look a lot like those moments we have on Earth when people upset us, or we simply don't like them.
Purgatory is probably a good mechanism to get us prepared to have these people as eternal comrades.
This is all right in the heart of the Catholic faith, we are called to communion of heaven and earth, man and God.
Maybe to get to Heaven, we may want to act like everybody is already an eternal being, as they already are !
It's just not our choice what is their final residence, which is why Jesus tells us ...... "don't judge."
We are not to judge the cruelty or evilness of any of our neighbors, God judges their destination. To hold away form someone because you think they are cruel, may come back on you in purgatory.
Thou shall not judge, means don't condemn in a way which makes you not value their existence because you think they are so... /%&E%¤&%( .. that you think of them as a "bad person."
Good people act bad as well, only the bad love the bad more than the good, however. Are we to be the judge of this? No, of course not, we judge only what we can measure and see, as in their action and the consequences of the action, but never their eternal good.
All are called to be forgiven, and all are called to love our neighbors and our enemies!
If not, one or either of you may lose sight of the eternal promises offered to you. Don't let hate or rashness ruin you chance at a seat at the Great Banquet !
It is often concluded and earnestly asserted that science and religion are separate. One is of the soul, the unseen, and the other of the world, and the seen.
It is often claimed that one can not assert truths. Well, oddly it is science which is putting a pause to this attitude. After a stretch of time where faith and religion was considered anti-intellectual, there are trimmers in the underflow of society which are gradually revealing to us, that what we thought we knew, was not what we expected. Science and faith actually do work together.
This makes complete sense to classic Christianity where God is the creator of the World and all, yes all, is under his majesty, even science. To think science is against the very nature of God, is completely missing the point. Science teaches us about God !
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me,
if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you
know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or
who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all
the sons of God shouted for joy? “Or who shut in the sea with doors when
it burst out from the womb,
But let's take thus further, if God created the world and He created us? How should we respond to Him? Well, Jesus, our Lord, tells us in the greatest Commandments.
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a]38 This is the first and greatest commandment.39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
This unequivocally takes down Protestant theology if you get to the core of the matter.
To love is to love in all three : heart (body), soul (spirit), and mind (thought).
Protestantism, neglects God's creation by separating the physical world with the spiritual. Their's is a faith of faith alone.
But the Bible teaches a love of action.
John 15 : 13; Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. This is clearly a call to action! And the Bible also tells us, that love is the greatest between faith, hope, and love.
New International Version
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Yet, Protestants reject the physical dimensions of faith, displayed through our sense in revealing signs we call sacraments.
I have covered this topic before in other posts, and will have links to those at the bottom, but there is more to say.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
In John 14, we see that the greatest of faith, hope, and love mean "to keep my commandments"
We have the 10 commandments, but also the commandments of ritual and authority.
New International Version And
he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
"This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
"Do this," not "You might remember.."
DO! in the imperative tense!
Clear ! Clear ! Is it not?
Love is doing, so this equates naturally to mean, faith alone is not a biblical teaching, but a man-made tradition (ironically).
We also see this in Matthew 28, when Jesus says in the "Great Commission,"
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
More examples of the imperative which can only be concluded to mean commands, not suggestions.
And let's not in the least look at the line, "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
This screams Catholicism!
First of all, let's notice that Jesus commands us to take part in ritual. That is he commands them to baptize. This is clear when taken in with the right context. Jesus taught ritual !
So this idea that Jesus came to tear down religion, is erred to the umpf degree !
Furthermore, it states to teach. Teaching, that is men are to teach, not only scripture.
Not only teach them, teach them to "obey!" Oh Oh, is this not DOGMA?
And surely, I am with you ALWAYS. What faith do we have in Jesus if we do not listen to His words?
BEAUTY OF RITUALS
God created us, He knows we are more than spirits, but we were made flesh and blood. God does not want us to only have faith in Him, he wants us to live out this Faith.
God is invincible to us, but this does not mean that we are incapable of living out out faith with our sense.
It is in fact God's design for us to experience our faith both inward and outward.
And if we are obedient, faithful, and most of all "LOVING." Then, will we be filled with the Holy Spirit and feel the true presence of God in our life, starting with the ritual of the Eucharist.
The Bible tells us, it was His breathe which created the world, and this breathe which the Word became Flesh, and it is this following of Christ in remembrance of His promises that the breathe of the priest will always remain in Jesus's trust, so when they do as Jesus said, Jesus will live up to His word.
This is faith! This is faith that saves! To believe in His word!
To be Christian, one has to believe that Jesus was who He and His Apostles said he was.
To be Catholic, before you get into issue after issue of its teachings, you have to ascertain if the Eucharist, is the Eucharist.
If it is truly His flesh and blood, then You Have to Be Catholic !
John 6 "For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink........The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give
us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you
have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. "
If it is not His flesh and blood, then You Have to abandon the Church!
Here is a video (really starts at 2:50) to help you discern these questions.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat
of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If
anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I
will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed
among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I
will raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever
feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the
living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever
feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that
came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died.
Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things
in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not
Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the
true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us
this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever
comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never
thirst.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am
the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and
they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one
may eat of it and not die.
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked
with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that
you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose
you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”
The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women
knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out
drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread
in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you
shall eat and not be satisfied.
And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I
have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil
in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and
prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
“Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and
I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send
famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast,
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your
labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat
what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade.
And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley
bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it
so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”
So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and
unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket,
and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the
terebinth and presented them.
On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to
break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day,
and he prolonged his speech until midnight.
But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they
said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and
give it to them to eat?”
And you shall know that I am the Lord. For
you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted
according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”
So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the
court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the
bakers' street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah
remained in the court of the guard.
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which
you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you
know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word
that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you,
which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being
saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you
believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I
also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the
Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in
accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to
the twelve.
Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one
of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for
he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.
And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre
and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and
was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is
severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And
his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is
crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord,
help me.”
And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven
and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands'
approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out
drink offerings to her?”
And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water
of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your
eyes shall see your Teacher.
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah
and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings
of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord
has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have
rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's
crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah,
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.
Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The
whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came
to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and
make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.” Then
David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon's house and
prepare food for him.” So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house,
where he was lying down. And she took dough and kneaded it and made
cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. And she took the pan and emptied
it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Send out
everyone from me.” So everyone went out from him.
Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of
Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one
carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and
another carrying a skin of wine.
And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him
for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me
in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”
The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or
beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the
taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil.
You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be
waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and
they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord.
Neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals
gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of
their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”
No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord's food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
And everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be
unclean. Whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces. They are
unclean and shall remain unclean for you.
“When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering,
it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened
wafers smeared with oil.
The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house
and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your
servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.
There were some present at that very time who told him about the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he
answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners
than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I
tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those
eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think
that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in
Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise
perish.”
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His
disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to
eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your
disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to
them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry
When I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for
destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and
more famine upon you and break your supply of bread.
So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, where he was lying
down. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and
baked the cakes.
Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins
of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain
and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and
laid them on donkeys.
Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common
salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend
for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of
joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the
heart.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no
one may boast.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them
because they are spiritually discerned.
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to
quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while
the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise
the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on
the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment
on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands
or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another
esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own
mind.
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended
to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending
to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
and their sacrifices shall not please him. It shall be like mourners'
bread to them; all who eat of it shall be defiled; for their bread shall
be for their hunger only; it shall not come to the house of the Lord.
Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the
supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with
anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.
No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say,
“Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I
roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an
abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
And distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of
Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a
cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his
house.
And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah
of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to
the camp to your brothers.
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in
the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed
himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn
aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet.
Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will
spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so
they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast
and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the
men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people
to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where
are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may
know them.”
