This question has been going round in my head and I know that there are like Catherine of Cienna,
Someone asked me this question, a Catholic man and it has been going round in my head?
If I ever get a question like that can anybody be of assistance?
Check out the book, The Kingdom that Turned the World Upside Down. It gives some really good info about that and other things.
http://www.scrollpublishing.com/store/books-discipleship.html
Jordan
The next time anyone asks you that question, if you have your Bible handy, read them John, Chapter 3 and Chapter 17.
Verse 8 is particularily potent:
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." (JOHN 3:8)
"I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have beleived that thou didst send me. [b] I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are mine
Also, "Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, [b]the people in whose heart is my law
Also, "But [b]the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God
edit: Even if there is evidence of someone back then claiming to be born again, there's no way to prove or disprove who's born again and who's not - except maybe by their fruit.
This question haunts us even today when someone dies. Some we are certain and others? Well, they knew the plan of salvation, acted like Christians, BUT...and there the questions begin. My response to this is that all is in God's hands now, we can do nothing about it. The person knew and what he/she did with it, only God knows. It is useless to belabor this point because it belongs to God. I must get on, there is work to be done. And in the meantime I need to keep my relationship with God and keep growing in grace, mercy and peace.
My thoughts...
ginnyrose
Are we talking about the Catholics or are we talking about the early church?!
There has been a remnant in the church from Pentacost until now... only the ignorant believe in B.O.B.O. (Blink off, Blink on).
The true church of Jesus doesn't just disapear and then pop up again. Even in the time of the Prophets there were still men and women who hadn't bent a knee to Baal.
Martin Luther wasn't the only reformer... he wanted to stay IN the church but was forced out.
In the history of the church we see reformers on the inside until Martin Luther, and Martin Luther takes reform to the outside... but there were great men and women of God in 'the Church,' what is now the Catholic Church from the time of the Apostles up through the Reformation and even afterwards. There is according to many even a remnant in the Catholic church today.
Yes. I would suggest reading about the Waldensians and the Lollardy. These are two Christian groups before the Reformation that were persecuted by the Catholic Church.
God has always preserved a faithful witness throughout history.
Jay beat me to it... God has always had a remnent. Unfortunately most church history books follow the line thru the Catholic Church to the Reformation... and completly ignore the faithful Bible believers who have always been there.
I do not consider myself a protestant. My faith did not come out of the Catholic Church... and it came from the Bible. I am a Bible believing Christian.
Krispy
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