Why do people struggle to understand this?

Those canons contradict each other though.

The oldest extant NT manuscript is not the same as the oldest text in the bible, which is the material Job probably borrowed from

The Bible is the text. The text predates the use of a single codex. There probably was not a biblical codex prior to the 4th century, probably later.

What relevance does this topic have to our discussion?

Yes the manuscripts were copied and shared. Different places had a fewer and greater number of texts at different times. I'm not accepting any more gotcha questions now, thanks.

Dirk, I just want you to know that the reason you are disrespected isn't because you're a tripgay. It's because you're a coward who runs away in every thread because you can't actually answer the questions posed. That happens a lot because you're both invested in an incoherent belief system and you're too stupid to come up with good apologetics for it, but running away like a little b***h-boy doesn't actually make you any more mature.

I don't really think IQfy is for you. Have you thought about finding a website more your speed? Say, Knittingparadise.com?

The Gospel of John, like all the gospels, is anonymous.[14]

*remains unrefuted*

Because Jesus did it. That naked boy in Gethsemane.

Yes the god of the Bible (my god) mocks his enemies, and homosexuals are enemies of my god

I'm married
If you're not a gay don't make gay posts

No

Being married to a man does in fact make you gay, Dirk.

Cope

Read Romans 1, Ecclesiastes and the imprecatory Psalms

I've studied hermeneutics and historical theology
So commentaries

Are you ever going to explain how your specific form of Christianity existed from the beginning of the religion or are you just going to engage in irrelevant arguments about homosexuals?

I don't claim it has

Sure, there's an absence of disagreement between what my church teaches and what the church through the ages has declared as orthodoxy. Most importantly I follow a new testament derived practice of Christianity.

So like, why even pretend at this point?

Pretend what?

Again, I am married

Pretend at being a Christian

In that regard my ecclesiology is ante nicene
But read the Cambridge platform, there's no reason a congregationalist system can't organize a synod

To a man. Yes, we've gone over this. That doesn't make you less gay just because the government gives you a tax benefit.

That wouldn't be a marriage

Why do you accept decisions made by ecclesial leaders who you no longer accept now? And I'm assuming that you don't believe that Christ is physically present in communion which was previously the consensus of the Church, how do you account for that?

Do you accept all of the Orthodox Church's claimed ecumenical councils? What are the criteria which determines an ecumenical council's validity? Obviously you don't accept the later Catholic councils.

OK so you accept the seven Orthodox ecumenical councils. Why don't you accept the physical presence then? Both the western and eastern churches eventually adopted the position and it was never seriously challenged until the Reformation.

Alright that's one of those semantic disputes. Why do you think that bishops have been the dominant form of Christian organization if autonomous congregations is the ideal? Orthodoxy is insistent on their importance and Catholicism went so far as to make one of them the supreme head of all Christians and it remains the largest form of Christianity today. Why would God allow this distortion of his original plan for the Church?

But why did the episcopal form originate in the first place if bishops were only supposed to be elders? Was it previously fine and then only became unwise after entanglement with the state authorities? What would you have done if you lived in the Middle Ages, start an underground church?

Why does God permit this though? He regularly intervened throughout the periods described in the Bible, what is preventing him from providing divine inspiration to Christian leaders in more recent times on the correct theology? Surely the Pope's self-designation as Vicar of Christ would anger him if it were not true.

OK but it seems strange that only some parts of the world would be Christian and even those places would have considerable internal divisions about the religion. Do you believe that explicit personal acceptance of Jesus is necessary for salvation? Are all pre-Columbian Indians burning in Hell?

God appears fairly malevolent in this scenario although since I'm assuming you're a Calvinist you believe they were predestined to be damned anyway. What makes you believe these things? Why doesn't the much simpler explanation of "religions emerged from different cultures to explain the world around them" appeal to you?

Why do you believe in the Bible? What makes it more compelling than the Koran or any other religious text?

And there we have it. The inevitable departure of faith from reason.

I don't make sweeping spiritual determinations from sleep paralysis though.

Well yeah if you suppose that a spiritual realm exists but I see no reason to believe that it does.

Why do you think it takes until the book of Revelation for God to finally judge the prostitute of Babylon? Everything that is written in Scripture about the false prophets, the wolves in sheep's clothing spoken of in Acts 20:28-32, the false prophets in 2 Peter 2:1-3, the doctrines of devils in 1 Timothy 4:1-5. All of those prophecies have to be fulfilled. But in the end Catholicism will be no more, once Jesus Christ comes back and defeats the false prophet.

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
- Matthew 7:13-14

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."
- Psalm 19:1-3

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"
- Romans 1:20

Going by the timeline of Genesis, every living soul that descended from the forefathers of mankind had a chance to hear God's word, since the first prophecy about Christ in Genesis 3:15. We learn that the Old Testament saints were saved by faith in the coming messiah, and everyone since the Fall in Genesis chapter 3 had plenty of reminders of this.

People like to speculate and come up with hypothetical worlds where this isn't the case; they like to believe in those worlds, but they cannot prove that is what really happened in reality. Getting bogged down with hypothetical scenarios where God forgot some of His creations is defeated by simply believing what God told us in His word, where in Romans 1:20 the Bible says that they are without excuse. In other words, anyone who rejects God's word will rightly be judged for their sins, for as it says the wages of sin is death. And there is no exception to this. We are asked to believe in the justice of our Creator and I firmly believe in the Lord based on His word.

>Could you explain that to me please?
Well first off, like it says in Psalm 19 and Romans chapter 1, that which may be known of God is manifest in men. See Romans 1:18-20

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"

So you see, that shows that all are without excuse for their rejection of the truth. This is regardless of how much or how little they know, they still have a responsibility for their sin. There is no escape from being too ignorant, even the most ignorant nonbeliever to ever live has still sinned, they have still rejected God and need to be saved. The Bible says they are "without excuse." That includes everyone who ever lived.

Now as for the fact that most cultures forgot about God, that is dealt with in Holy Scripture as well. It's not like I'm not aware of the fact that the majority of cultures to exist have forgotten God and replaced Him with idols. It says this is the case in many places in Scripture. For instance, here is what it says in the 9th Psalm.

"The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
- Psalm 9:15-17

So you see, it's possible for entire nations to suffer for the fact that they forget God. Of course, I believe there is the potential for anyone to be saved, but the sad reality is that few are saved while many go down the broad road of destruction.

Yeah, the fallen world is a really sad thing. Death is a really sad thing. We shouldn't hide from that fact, but realize it's a result of the sin that we're guilty of. Fortunately, there is a way out of this, and a Savior for those that are God's own.

Well like Christ said, "He that is of God heareth God's words" (John 8:47). And I just started believing as I was reading soon after I had thought about that. Also I found out later, Jesus also says in John 18:37, "Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."

>but you can't expect someone else to adopt your beliefs with this explanation.
I expect some will and some won't.

>wasting your time trying to rebuke scoffers and fools

So like, why even pretend at this point?

Read Mark 14:45 and 51-52.

Being married to a man does in fact make you gay, Dirk.

How do you know that this guy is an enemy of God?

Then when were the details of Christian theology fully fleshed out? Who were these true Christians and who are their modern heirs?

wait until you learn how many centuries it took for this guy to become the god of Israel

>Jesus is not God.
then youre either a israelite or a muslim or of some other religion or of none at all.

Same difference.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
- John 1:1

Some other religion then