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Please don't play semantics, Q; such a game is not fitting for a subject like this one. We all know that by "co-saviour" the OP is questioning where Mary fits into the Christian faith-- specifically, as Jesus is saviour, is Mary saviour. The answer is a categorical no. Anybody who prays to Mary...

No, eternal damnation (which is the basis of the doctrine of Hell) is mentioned plenty of times. The question is this: does "Hell" exist right now, or will it exist at the time of the end?

As anyone can portray anyone on the internet, I am not entirely inclined to believe you at this point, Roger. You certainly have knowledge, and are not a fool by any means, but you speak with the stubborn absoluteness that is more fitting of somebody my age (30) than somebody your age. In my...

I said gay church; not gay Bible! :) A church is many things, and a place to worship is just one of those things. More than anything else, a church is a community (that's what the word's literal translation is, yeah? Congregation, or community of people). And as long as institutional churches...

Apparently, you are not married. Trust me: if you were married, you'd kick your own a&& for saying that. :p

Agreed. Mary was a wonderfully faithful woman, and truly a mentor for anyone who ends up facing a difficult task for the glory of God. However, in terms of redemption, Mary is as irrelevant as anybody else is, because she is just like the rest of us: a hundred percent human. When Mary died, she...

I think you are right here; the family is indeed the building block of the society in which it exists, and changes to the family unit will no doubt have profound effects on that society. I am curious about your use of the term "our society" though. Based on the level of opposition you are...

Homosexuality has come up quite a bit in other threads lately, so I thought this topic would be timely. What do you think of the concept of an institutionally gay church? A church where homosexual people would be welcomed? Where they would be allowed to worship freely? Where the sermons would be...

This line of reasoning only works because it's impossible to say, either way, how our decisions are made. The mind is much too complicated, and there are far too many variables to take into account. It reminds me of Michael Crichton's simplified rendition of chaos theory in Jurrasic Park: a...

Soleil, I'm afraid that Brian is right; while you are so worried about the "attack" on Christian marriage, you are blind to the fact that you are, in fact, IN THE MARITAL MATRIX! It's true; the institutional church has pulled the wool over your eyes, instituting practices that God did not intend...

You've misunderstood, Avi. See, the issue is not as clear cut as saying I'm on CZ's side or Soleil's side. Yes, I believe that homosexuality likely did not exist at the moment of creation, because I believe it was God's intent that men should be with women instead of with other men. Thus, if...

Agreed. Honesty is most important. Sometimes the truth can be unpopular, though-- and by truth, I mean the subjective truth that exists within a person's mind when they strongly believe in something.

I agree. Just as one wouldn't recap the details of their night of hot sex in front of their girlfriend's mother (particularly if one had not been out with said girlfriend the previous night), so too one should be sensitive to the feelings of all others. :)

Naughty, naughty, Avi; don't be takin' my words out of context like that. I was on Soleil's side when I was defending Soleil's freedom of speech, not when Soleil was asserting that Christianity is at war against homosexuality. Read my initial post in this thread to see where I stand on this...

What a crock! I haven't shown you the truth? How can one person show another person the truth? The very concept indicates that you are not interested in finding any truth, Penelope; you're just interested in deconstructing scripture as if it were paperback fiction. The Bible is an avenue to...

No, I don't want to talk about people behind their backs. Honestly, the only time I ever discuss this topic with anyone is on this forum. This forum is, among other things, a place for debate; people's feelings should be taken into account, but that does not mean that we must hide what we truly...

I certainly agree that within this exchange, your.... er, side, has displayed more sensitivity than Soleil has. I think everyone sees that, or at least hopefully they do. But consider this post: Now, I know you're not a big fan of people implying things, but it's pretty hard for me not to...

A BTh, MDiv, or any other degree is bestowed upon the recipient by people-- people who have decided what knowledge was necessary to obtain the credential, and what assessment technique would be used in order to determine if the knowledge had been obtained. The same holds true for the...

Duuuuude, don't be so sensitive! Credential (from Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge): An attestation of qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant de jure or de facto authority or assumed competence to do so. What is implied by...

The marriage between Christ and the church is a parable, just like the rest of Jesus' teachings, and it was created for the same purpose as the other parables were: to confuse those who aren't really listening. You're right when you say that a literal marriage between Christ and Christian...