The Anonymous Christian Theory

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HS and I would both be in that boat. But from what I see of HS post he is not saying anything that the rest of us wouldnt say and that would be a part of any lecture on the anonymous christian theory.

but..

On a side note. If there is a little boy in india that never hears the christian gospel. Can the Holy Spirit still work with him to bring him towards a relationship with the Divine? Can that child make a response based on the spirit in order to obtain a saving grace? Paul cites in Romans that

[quote]Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; 21for though they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.[/quote]


So this child in india, with the help of the spirit and the mark of the divine on creation can come to a knowledge of God that is important enough to attribute guilt, thus strong enough to invoke a saving grace. Do you agree or not?

Secondary side note. You believe that a person needs to make a mental acknowledgement of the name of jesus. But you do not see Baptism as essential for salvation. How does that work?

btw, cause I know you will turn back the question to me. The way the child is able to come to salvation without a sacrament in this case is something Augustine addressed when he wrote
[quote]"Man is bound by the sacraments, God is not"[/quote]
since this child has no knowledge of the sacraments he is not bound to them. I have even read some theology that says protestants, in not knowing the roll and importance of sacraments are envoked by the mercy of God in this way.

ok, that was alot of side talk. But the fact remains that we can not simply blow off every human that has never heard the gospel as damned. An all loving God that desires all to be saved does not reconcile to that.

I think that as we preach the gospel, and they come into the fullness of truth that there is "more grace" available for the person to respond to, thus coming to a saving relationship with God. Thus, as HS says even with the anonymous christian theory we are still driven to share the gospel and bring others into the faith so they have more grace to respond to. ("more grace" is a horrible term, but it works for now)

Do you disagree?

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B 4 B

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Bump for budge

[Farsight one]

[quote name='Budge' post='1378752' date='Sep 5 2007, 04:49 PM']Easier to subscribe to Catholics apologetics technique #3 isnt it then to argue against what God's Word says.

From list of Catholic apologist techniques.

This one by far is the most popular.

[b]

* 3: Accusation of hate technique
Insist vehemently that your opponent is full of hate.
It is always advisable to paint your opponent as hateful.
This technique should always contain a reference,
to your extreme caringness and the limitless bounds of your great humility.[/b][/quote]
That list is of 10 techniques, right? Cuz I've seen it alot before. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was on a certain message board when it was being created for the first time. The amusing thing is that it was made by a Catholic for Catholics to use in defense. I also watched as it was stolen by an anti-Catholic and adapted to be anti-Catholic. It is strange that the anti-Catholic version is not quite popular.

I will also point out that the fact that some techniques are on a list somewhere, does not make the statements made by people untrue.

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Budge. Did you get my post?

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Budge, can you give me a response?

[Lil Red]

budge is banned for awhile, rev.

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Oh...Wish I knew that. Maybe I should find her website again?