Thank you for correcting me! Of course you are right and my error obvious.

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Warmly, Darla Juliana
"Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle" (Philo of Alexandria)

It's a VERY easy mistake to make - I believe I thought the same thing at one time too - until someone pointed it out.

Some books that were rejected from the Canon of Scripture were rejected for the very reason you stated. AND often Protestants call all sorts of books that were rejected from the Canon "Apocrypha" (another good reason not to use that term - because we don't want Maccabees confused with say, the "Gospel of Judas"! ) -then the logical next step is . . .

So, it's not really an obvious error - until some horribly blunt person like me puts it the way I did

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

Just an additional note - of the Churches that do not see the Deuterocanonicals as a part of the Scripture - to the best of my knowledge, all of them that make a statement on them at all see them as "Spiritually Beneficial" reading or something to that effect. (Similar to reading a book by a contemporary Christian author).

I know of no Christian Church that seems these books as harmful, heretical or otherwise bad. (In contrast to books like the so-called Gospel of Judas - which no one credible sees as good at all)

The debate is over good, better and best - not good & bad.

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

Sorry it took me so long to respond, I had no real internet access and even now I am using a cell phone as a hot spot in order to be online. And goodness I noticed all my spelling errors from last time and think I should have just not posted!
First of all, I have to say Wow! I have never seen God as angry with little love. In fact it's quite the opposite. God made us in his own image, but then Adam and Eve sinned. At that point he could have deided to stop what he made and start all over, but he didn't. But God is Just and has to punish sin, so he made a way for us to be reconciled to Him. He could have allowed all of us to go to Hell, but he shows his mercy by making a way for us to be with Him in eternity. That is LOVE.
However, to think that God is all LOVE and is also wrong. If he was all LOVE, he'd let everyone off the hook and we wouldn't need Jesus. He is JUST, and so he WILL punish sin. In the OT, he hardened hearts, struck people dead, turned a woman into a pillar of salt and so on... Is that a loving God? That's a just God who can and will do whatever he WILLS. Was it fair that he used different people in history for his purposes? Who are we to question that. I see it that God loves me so much that when he could have sent me to hell, instead he chose to have mercy on me. I don't know if I would have done the same!
As for being called reformed or calvinist, I don't like either references. I am a born again Christian who has been saved by the grace of God through faith alone in Christ alone. Scripture says that God predestined and chose from the beginning of time. Who am I to question God? From what I understand of the "reformers" was that the reason they are called reformed, was not because they reformed God's message, but that they reformed from the added laws and restrictions from the corrupt church at that time.
I already know that we will not see eye to eye on this subject. I was just sharing how "I" see the "reformed" faith compared to how you see it. We both have our own opinions and ideas of it. It's not my place to correct you and it's not your place to correct me. I believe God will reveal the truth to us in His timing.
I don't take any offense to what you write and I hope you don't take any offense to what I write. I think that's how true Christians handle these discussions.

Oh and I wanted to share that it wasn't until the last 2 years that I saw God in a whole new way. I see now just how HOLY he is. I think we all need to see the HOLINESS of God. It is so overwhelming to see just how great and wonderful He is. And at the same time to see how huge and powerful He is. I tremble in fear, respect and awe of Him while at the same time I love Him so much and need Him so badly.

It's funny, we have a similar thought/experience in the last few years (based on your last paragraph), but still a very different belief about what a faith that brings that about looks like. For us, and the apostles/church fathers, the centerpiece of the faith is the Eucharist -- the body and blood of Christ. We believe the bread and wine truly become his flesh and blood when administered as a sacrament by the priest, to nourish us spiritually, bringing us into communion with God. It's literally "Christ IN us, the hope of glory." We're literally with God during the Divine Liturgy. To approach the chalice takes fear and trembling, to be sure -- in our preparations for receiving this gift, we are full of sorrow, awe, thanksgiving, and Godly fear. Our lives are all about being changed so that we can receive these Gifts, and be with God. It's truly awe-inspiring as well.

Bless you, Shawny.

ETA - Regarding the statement about "angry with little love" -- that's what I get in trying to imagine a God that will create some for perdition. How can creating some for hell be considered loving? It's contradictory to me. Rather, "He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." That's pretty clear to me, and is what the early church fathers taught, having been taught this by Christ and the apostles.

By the way, I see what you mean about the word "reformed" and you're right -- the reformation was in response to the changes/abuses that were happening in the Roman Catholic church, in the west. The Eastern Orthodox Church didn't have a "dog" in that fight (as it were), though, since it wasn't uppercase-C Catholic or in the west. We just kept on keepin' on as we always had after the Catholic church broke off from the united church in 1054 AD. The protestant movement was in the west, in response to Rome. Not that we didn't have any other groups break off as well over time, and remain in the East; we did. But it's like handfuls compared to thousands upon thousands in the west.

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Warmly, Darla Juliana
"Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle" (Philo of Alexandria)

Quote:

ETA - Regarding the statement about "angry with little love" -- that's what I get in trying to imagine a God that will create some for perdition. How can creating some for hell be considered loving? It's contradictory to me. Rather, "He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." That's pretty clear to me, and is what the early church fathers taught, having been taught this by Christ and the apostles.

Everyone has a choice of being with God or not. Some will chose not to be with Him, not everyone will be there with us. There are people out there that will not repent. Period. I know several of them, and they do not care about God, because he has done nothing for them.
I have a nephew right now that is having some adult problems in his life, never really became an adult, his parents are not Christians, so now in his time of needing their support he does not get it and they donot encourage him. I have been trying to encourage him on Facebook. Let him see he needs God. Praying he will start asking us questions.

God loves us. Period, no matter what we do. Thank goodness for that. But he has to discipline us. We are his Children, and I think we forget that sometimes. I have to tell my self all the time especially here lately, that God is in control. He has a plan. I know I have to trust that His love is real and He knows I love him.

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