Quote Originally Posted by RGS View Post
You have by-p***ed the most important part of this scenario with the saved survivor. He has received reconciliation with God and he has done this without Catholicism or Protestantism. Do you deny this? It appears that you have, since you have failed to address this all important point. Please do not remind me again of your false theory that the RC's are responsible for the canon of Scriptures. Address the main and all pervasive point here - has this survivor been reconciled to God in your theology? If you fail to address this, then I will not play any further games with you. Be serious, or be silent.
God's salvation works within certain boundaries. Obviously, God cannot save the reprobate. As such, what should I say to you. Not playing further games, etc.?

So let us look at your premises. Premise one is that the "saved survivor" receives reconciliation with God. True. This applies to all Christians, Catholic or Protestant. Your premise #2 is that such a person has done this without Catholicism or Protestantism. At this conjuncture, I disagree with you completely. All Christians are to be discipled. Even if there is no discipleship person to person, it is clear that the transmission of the Scriptures is not something we can seperate from the Church. I do not see any epistles addressed to heretics or even the emperor that is included in the Scriptures. It is clearly all addressed to the people of God in community. As such, this message the core of orthodoxy in both Protestantism and Catholicism is carried out through the tenets of both. The bible you speak about found on the island by the saved survivor in WWII, who published it? If it is by the American Bible Society, it is clearly through the prism of Protestantism since it has 66 books instead of 72 books. The translations themselves bear a mark on the various denominations. Was it KJV, approved by the Church of England. Was it the Pilgrim's Bible (The Geneva Bible) or the Holman, clearly a Baptist translation. In many of these, the works of the scholars had word choices... they also include footnotes about early or later texts. There might even be study notes and introductions to each book. There may be a slant in those notes that appear to be Calvinistic or Arminean, perhaps even Charismatic tongue speakers verse the more traditional. Every version bears a mark of either handled by Protestants or Catholics. So absolutely no on premise #2.


Unlike some Protestants who say Catholics are on the fast track to hell, I recognize within mainline Protestantism... its Christology and theology of Trinitarianism, that these Protestants have every right to claim with the Catholics an authentic relationship with our Lord. So as to your later question "has this survivor been reconciled to God in your theology?" Yes. the WWII saved surviver has reconciled to God... in the core of our shared theology in the person of Christ and in the Trinity. But in matters not related to eternal salvation, he still may be carrying around some excess baggage. Since he is alone on the island, sharing his conviction and putting hist faith to the test on a social setting will limit his capacity. Salvation is important, but it is just as important to live the human experience in its potential, the way God created us not to just be people of God, but to be men and women, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, producers and servers of God to the world. It is in this capacity of fullness that I believe the Catholic Church is more capable than the Protestants who only discuss the essentials or fundamentals of salvation.