I believe in #God, and his Son #Jesus #christ . #JesusChrist is the key to God.
It's not enough to just simply know God, you have to also know Jesus, and Jesus would have to know you.
Without Jesus, how else would one get to God, or to heaven without the path present to you by Jesus? The fact that Jesus died for our #sins on the #cross is why many of us are here today. (I would say all of us, but as we know #Satan is still here with us despite being a huge sinner, being one of the longest lasting sinners, going back even before Jesus was born)

and if any one does only believe in just God, that's fine with me actually, but fyi, my #Baptist #denomination, involves Jesus. (so do many others, notably not all do.)

The longer I live within, study, and watch the ecclesial scene, the more I have become convinced over the years that any real hope for a effective and fruitful #ecumenism (that really will issue forth reunification of Churches) is going to be found in the episcopal system (i.e. #catholic #orthodox #anglican traditions). It has been hard coming to that conclusion as a #Reformed #christian but it had become increasingly obvious to me. The question is, are Christians who are not part of a #denomination with an episcopate willing to make that shift for the sake of following our Lord’s prayer: “that they all may be one” (John 17:21)? That is a question I have been asking myself.

#theology #pondering

A quotation from Robert Ingersoll

Men and women have been burned for thinking there is but one God; that there was none; that the Holy Ghost is younger than God; that God was somewhat older than his son; for insisting that good works will save a man without faith; that faith will do without good works; for declaring that a sweet babe will not be burned eternally, because its parents failed to have its head wet by a priest; for speaking of God as though he had a nose; for denying that Christ was his own father; for contending that three persons, rightly added together, make more than one; for believing in purgatory; for denying the reality of hell; for pretending that priests can forgive sins; for preaching that God is an essence; for denying that witches rode through the air on sticks; for doubting the total depravity of the human heart; for laughing at irresistible grace, predestination and particular redemption; for denying that good bread could be made of the body of a dead man; for pretending that the pope was not managing this world for God, and in the place of God; for disputing the efficacy of a vicarious atonement; for thinking the Virgin Mary was born like other people; for thinking that a man’s rib was hardly sufficient to make a good-sized woman; for denying that God used his finger for a pen; for asserting that prayers are not answered, that diseases are not sent to punish unbelief; for denying the authority of the Bible; for having a Bible in their possession; for attending mass, and for refusing to attend; for wearing a surplice; for carrying a cross, and for refusing; for being a Catholic, and for being a Protestant; for being an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, a Baptist, and for being a Quaker. In short, every virtue has been a crime, and every crime a virtue. The church has burned honesty and rewarded hypocrisy. And all this, because it was commanded by a book.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1874-05-03), “Heretics and Heresies,” Free Religious Society, Kingsbury Hall, Chicago

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

#quote #quotes #quotation #belief #Bible #burning #Christianity #church #denomination #disbelief #doubt #execution #heresy #intolerance #miracle #orthodoxy #persecution #punishment #questioning #religion #religiousintolerance #religiouspersecution

Lecture (1874-05-03), "Heretics and Heresies," Free Religious Society, Kingsbury Hall, Chicago - Ingersoll, Robert Green | WIST Quotations

Men and women have been burned for thinking there is but one God; that there was none; that the Holy Ghost is younger than God; that God was somewhat older than his son; for insisting that good works will save a man without faith; that faith will do without good…

WIST Quotations

A quotation from Jefferson, Thomas:

«
Nay, we have heard it said that there is not a quaker or a baptist, a presbyterian or an episcopalian, a catholic or a protestant in heaven: that, on entering that gate, we leave those badges of schism behind, and find ourselves united in those principles only…
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/jefferson-thomas/56116/

#quote #quotes #quotation #afterlife #Christianity #conscience #denomination #labels #path #schism #sect #sectarianism #universalism

Letter (1814-09-26) to Miles King - Jefferson, Thomas | WIST Quotations

Nay, we have heard it said that there is not a quaker or a baptist, a presbyterian or an episcopalian, a catholic or a protestant in heaven: that, on entering that gate, we leave those badges of schism behind, and find ourselves united in those principles only in which god…

WIST
After vote to repeal LGBTQ bans, many gay Methodists are now fully out

DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) — On the first Sunday after the conclusion of the denomination’s General Conference, many queer United Methodists celebrated their release from the tight and narrow spaces that had confined them.

Religion News Service
Methodist Church OKs split of 261 Georgia congregations after LGBTQ+ divide

The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to allow 261 congregations to break from the denomination amid a schism over theological differences and the role of LGBTQ+ people in the church.

NBC News
Anyone here know anything about #Skarfskerry (or #Scarfskerry) in #Caithness #Scotland? I'm looking for a source of info on #TheManse in the late 1800s. Eg what #denomination, was it used as a #manse or was it also used for other purposes? I had relatives who lived there but none of them were #ministers.
Most #Americans don’t belong to a #church or #denomination. Most also don’t believe a damn thing #DonaldTrump says
https://flip.it/3xqqR8
Most Americans don’t belong to a church or denomination. Most also don’t believe a damn thing Donald Trump says

Most of us may berlieve in God, but we no longer believe in churches or denominations that put political bias over faith. We also don’t believe in a …

capitolhillblue.com

A quotation from Polk, James K.:

«««««
I told him that, thank God, under our constitution there was no connection between Church and State, and that in my action as President of the U.S. I recognized no distinction of creeds in my appointments to office.
»»»»»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/polk-james-k/42317/

#quote #quotes #quotation #America #appointment #churchandstate #Constitution #creed #denomination #freedomofreligion #president