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NASB | Matthew 1:25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 1:25 but he kept her a virgin until she had given birth to a Son [her firstborn child]; and he named Him Jesus (The LORD is salvation). |
Subject: Was Mary a virgin her whole life |
Bible Note: Well, if you do not know by now what position I take on the Calvinist/Arminian side of things, I might as well hang up my modem and go home. :) If you look back over my posts on the issue, I have argued my point of view based on the text of Scripture, the sole infallible authority. However, I have also cited Augustine, who clearly held to several of the "points of Calvinism" as well (thereby demonstrating that Calvin didn't fabricate them). Of course, Augustine used the same source material that I do. Both Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism, which are closely related to Arminianism's view of the human will but not identical, were condemned at the Council of Ephesus (431) and the Synod of Orange (529) respectively. Therefore, church councils, major church theologians and (most importantly) the whole Bible taken together supports a view consistent with Calvinism. Therefore, while Tim will disagree with me, I consider Arminianism to be inconsistent with Scripture. But you can review all of that for yourself in the hundreds of posts on the subject yourself. You wrote: "Oh, by the way, non-salvific issues - (ie: Sacrements) - I almost forgot. Some Protestant denominations say zero, some say two... And, aren't there Protestants that think sacrements are important - maybe not seven, but some?" Protestant churches hold that baptism and the Lord's Table, both instituted explicitly by jesus Christ, are both important. Not all of these denominations refer to them as sacraments, but the number is fixed at those two. The main issue on which the Reformers differed is in what the two sacraments "do." And those three different views on each of the two sacraments still exist in some form or fashion in the church today. Again, someone has to be wrong on the issues, but they are considered throughout Protestantism to be, in the final analysis, not issues on which our salvation depends. Still, we must come together and look to Scripture to discern the true meaning and efficacy of the sacraments, while carefully examining the various arguments the church has given regarding the number and role of the sacraments and weighing them against Scriptural authority. The early church only shows evidence of two sacraments. It is not until the Middle Ages that the sacraments were eventually fixed at seven within the community of Rome. Some scholars such as Bernard of Clairvaux, suggested that there were as many as eleven sacraments (that is the 12th century). It is Peter Lombard's influence (also 12th century) which resulted in the seven current sacraments to be adopted as the only ones, officially being made dogma at the Council of Florence in the 15th century. So who was right? The early Church (pre-medieval) or the late medieval Church? Again, why did the church expand the list of sacraments in the first place from the one containing only Eucharist and baptism? --Joe! |