Welcome to the first edition of the Christian Reconciliation Carnival. If you hope for reconciliation, if you pray for reconciliation, even if you don't expect to see it in your lifetime, please participate in the conversation.
Food for thought: most current estimates show the Christian church divided into 20,000 to 30,000 different groups. If each theological difference causes a split, and each distinct group has a unique combination of beliefs, that works out to only about 15 actual differences. (2 to the 15th being 32,768.) Beyond that, there are far fewer major groups (maybe a dozen). Unfortunately all 15 of the same issues are probably still in the picture with the dozen groups.
General Interest
The General Interest folks get a free pass from needing to disclose denominational affiliation, since if it's really general interest, everyone should be able to appreciate it.
Ales Rarus asks Have Christian Bloggers Lost the Plot? in this valuable vintage piece on humility over fault-finding from the Funky Dung archives.
Dr. Platypus considers open communion, closed communion, spiritual needs and spiritual witness in Landmarks, Lutherans, and the Liturgy. Being a staunch supporter of reconciliation, he also continues his Tuesdays with Mary series in Tuesdays with Mary: A Protestant "Hail Mary"?, and his examination of the general issue of fairness in our conversations with When Protestants Attack, which is in essence a plea: "Let’s just strive to behave Christianly—and intelligently—when we disagree, shall we?"
Henry Neufeld boldly steps into the Calvinist/Arminian divide with Decisive Verse, Decisive Choice, which ponders the debate from each side for a moment, comments on what we know for certain, probes where knowledge's limits lie and the extent to which peaceful coexistence is possible.
Mark Olson of Pseudo-Polymath writes on Race, Prejudice, and the Necessity or Urgency of the Ecumenical Movement, in which he makes and backs this claim: the ecumenical schisms of the modern church is a crisis of global proportions. I tend to agree. While denominational affiliation isn't asked for posts in this section, Mark did mention: he's Eastern Orthodox (OCA). And I was hoping we'd get Constantinople in on the conversation.
Alan of the Thinklings, after finding how few Calvinists and Arminians are willing to call each other heretics as opposed to simply mistaken, pushes the boundaries wider in So Who Is A Heretic?, which ends up being a nice reversal of the heretic-hunting mentality. This post was nominated rather than directly submitted by the author.
"I thought creationists were monsters, until I married one" is the leading line of Enemy Mine, a round-up submission written by Caleb of Connected Christianity, a new blog with real promise for those interested in re-connecting with our brothers and sisters in other denominations. The point, as with so many, is that we get nowhere by demonizing each other and much further when there is respect.
Question and Answer
Nobody submitted any questions. Questions can just be submitted by email and don't prevent you from submitting "real posts" to the Carnival. So I'll kick off the questions with a very low-key question: Can anybody think of a nifty graphic or logo for the Carnival?
Topic of the Month: Strawman Parade
For this month's suggested topic, each post explains common misrepresentations of their own group and what is the real truth of the matter.
Jeff "Japhy" Pinyan, in the first officially-submitted entry ever to the CRC, leads off with CRC: Do Catholics Worship Mary?. Japhy is Roman Catholic.
Codepoke, who admittedly avoids church membership, discusses why and the misrepresentations made of him as a Lone Ranger Christian. I'm really glad to see the Lone Rangers represented here; there are an awful lot of them. Let's call Codepoke's denomination "Lone Ranger".
Your hostess describes two straw men often seen in discussions about Scriptural interpretation: a common mischaracterization of Sola Scriptura and also the idea that a plain reading of Scripture renders it impossible to understand figures of speech.
Discussions and Debates
It's the very first Christian Reconciliation Carnival, announced barely a week ago. Nobody can possibly have had time to start a real discussion or debate yet. (Many of the potentially-interested parties likely haven't even heard of this Carnival yet because I'm terrible at promotion.) So here I offer two examples of discussions/debates that were conducted by people who really disagreed, but because they were patient and brotherly towards each other as well as passionate about the things of God, the end result was edifying. Debates between Christians that are more like honey than like fingernails on a chalkboard? Who would have imagined?
These posts are some examples of healthy debates I've noticed around the 'net myself.
Interchange #1: Was Bonhoeffer too legalistic? Between Rick Richie of Daylight and John H. of Confessing Evangelical. They're both Lutheran but differ on something they considered worth debate. For the earlier debates here, it's probably best if we don't try to tackle the biggest and nastiest problems first, without having met each other or mapped out the common ground and great divides.
Interchange #2: Charismatics and Cessationists, between Adrian Warnock for the charismatics and Dan Philips of Pyromaniacs for the cessationists.
Call for Hosts
If you are interested in hosting, please drop an email to the Carnival address along with a month that would work for you. Carnivals will take place at the very end of one month / very beginning of the next at the host's discretion.
Hosting guidelines are available; but long story short: make sure it stays civil, and make sure the discussion isn't hijacked or blogswarmed by any one group or topic. And if your blog's usual topic is "Why Everyone Else Is Wrong", I'd have to respectfully decline the hosting offer. Nobody who has contributed so far takes that line so I say this only to head off future trouble; this Carnival shouldn't be hosted at why_everyone_else_is_wrong.com.
Next Month
Next month's Carnival will be hosted by Dr. Platypus. Submissions are due by February 28th. Check Dr. P's blog for further announcements.
And thank you everybody for participating! I was encouraged to see how many people around the blogosphere are writing about Christian reconciliation.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Straw Men: Sola Scriptura; Conservatives and Wooden Readings
I have two straw men that I would really like to send to the straw man graveyard. I'm sure that like Freddie and Jason they'll both be back from the grave, but it would be nice to be rid of them for awhile. Both have to do with the interpretation of Scripture.
Protestants and Sola Scriptura
I have heard plenty of times that Protestants, in teaching Sola Scriptura, despise church tradition. I have met very few Protestants who despise church tradition; in my experience these are the exception to the rule.
It was fellow-Protestants who taught me to read the church fathers and built up my knowledge of patristics. Fellow-Protestants pointed me towards Athanasius and Irenaeus. Fellow-Protestants taught me to admire the heroes of the faith who had gone before. It was in Protestant churches that I learned of Ignatius and Polycarp, Cyril and Methodius, and of course Augustine. Protestants gave me copies of Thomas Merton and Vladimir Lossky.
The idea that Protestants as a whole have no respect for the church as a whole is really outlandish. Granted there are fringe groups that anyone can find who disrespect tradition; but what justice is there in finding someone who is not representative and using them as a representative of the whole? The original teaching of Sola Scriptura is that when a church teacher -- no matter how respected -- contradicts the Scripture, that such a dispute will be resolved in favor of Scripture. If Christ and the apostles teach something, it should not be overthrown; if another teaching is presented later than does not trace back to Christ and the apostles, that teaching's prominence can never reach the heights of the teachings that came directly from Christ. That is the point of Sola Scriptura: not that only Scripture be read, but that only Scripture is on that level. Many a church father's small or subtle errors have, over the centuries, shown what may happen as others compound an error that once was small. The church has Scripture to help it correct the errors of the theologians by a return to the source, Christ, and the apostles who taught us of him.
Conservatives and Wooden Readings of Scripture
I have heard a good few people say that conservative Christians -- "fundamentalists" that is, which is largely just a term of insult these days -- cannot possibly understand Scripture, or cannot really interpret Scripture according to such a plain reading as is claimed. I've heard that conservative Christians are obliged to believe that God has a mouth because there are places where it says, "God spoke" or "God said". I've heard that conservative Christians simply do not have either the mental ability or the interpretive framework to handle mere figures of speech. If all that were true, it's difficult to imagine how conservatives manage to watch a TV show or read a book, really, with such limited verbal skills as these outspoken opponents charge. In theory, conservatives shouldn't even understand children's books, shouldn't see why the children's book character Amelia Bedelia is funny when she dusts a house by putting more dust on everything.
The main pieces of evidence I've seen presented for the inexcusably wooden Scripture readings of conservatives are that conservative Christians are fairly likely to be either young earth or old earth creationists (with or without reference to the various ideas in the Intelligent Design movement) and that conservative Christians are fairly likely to believe homosexuality is immoral from a Christian moral framework. Interestingly, large numbers of Christians through many ages past also held similar opinions, and it didn't seem to have interfered with their ability to interpret Scripture or understand figures of speech. I think the whole charge that conservatives' interpretation cannot handle figures of speech is unjust; it's simply not an issue for anyone who can read the Sunday paper and understand it. Neither is the fact that the Sunday paper contains figures of speech seen as a reason why it cannot be read plainly.
Protestants and Sola Scriptura
I have heard plenty of times that Protestants, in teaching Sola Scriptura, despise church tradition. I have met very few Protestants who despise church tradition; in my experience these are the exception to the rule.
It was fellow-Protestants who taught me to read the church fathers and built up my knowledge of patristics. Fellow-Protestants pointed me towards Athanasius and Irenaeus. Fellow-Protestants taught me to admire the heroes of the faith who had gone before. It was in Protestant churches that I learned of Ignatius and Polycarp, Cyril and Methodius, and of course Augustine. Protestants gave me copies of Thomas Merton and Vladimir Lossky.
The idea that Protestants as a whole have no respect for the church as a whole is really outlandish. Granted there are fringe groups that anyone can find who disrespect tradition; but what justice is there in finding someone who is not representative and using them as a representative of the whole? The original teaching of Sola Scriptura is that when a church teacher -- no matter how respected -- contradicts the Scripture, that such a dispute will be resolved in favor of Scripture. If Christ and the apostles teach something, it should not be overthrown; if another teaching is presented later than does not trace back to Christ and the apostles, that teaching's prominence can never reach the heights of the teachings that came directly from Christ. That is the point of Sola Scriptura: not that only Scripture be read, but that only Scripture is on that level. Many a church father's small or subtle errors have, over the centuries, shown what may happen as others compound an error that once was small. The church has Scripture to help it correct the errors of the theologians by a return to the source, Christ, and the apostles who taught us of him.
Conservatives and Wooden Readings of Scripture
I have heard a good few people say that conservative Christians -- "fundamentalists" that is, which is largely just a term of insult these days -- cannot possibly understand Scripture, or cannot really interpret Scripture according to such a plain reading as is claimed. I've heard that conservative Christians are obliged to believe that God has a mouth because there are places where it says, "God spoke" or "God said". I've heard that conservative Christians simply do not have either the mental ability or the interpretive framework to handle mere figures of speech. If all that were true, it's difficult to imagine how conservatives manage to watch a TV show or read a book, really, with such limited verbal skills as these outspoken opponents charge. In theory, conservatives shouldn't even understand children's books, shouldn't see why the children's book character Amelia Bedelia is funny when she dusts a house by putting more dust on everything.
The main pieces of evidence I've seen presented for the inexcusably wooden Scripture readings of conservatives are that conservative Christians are fairly likely to be either young earth or old earth creationists (with or without reference to the various ideas in the Intelligent Design movement) and that conservative Christians are fairly likely to believe homosexuality is immoral from a Christian moral framework. Interestingly, large numbers of Christians through many ages past also held similar opinions, and it didn't seem to have interfered with their ability to interpret Scripture or understand figures of speech. I think the whole charge that conservatives' interpretation cannot handle figures of speech is unjust; it's simply not an issue for anyone who can read the Sunday paper and understand it. Neither is the fact that the Sunday paper contains figures of speech seen as a reason why it cannot be read plainly.
Christian Reconciliation Carnival Hosting Guidelines
The host's job is to promote Christian unity first and foremost by making sure the Carnival stays civil and making sure the discussion isn't hijacked or blogswarmed by any one group or topic. The host retains the right to decline posts at his or her sole discretion, whether for the tone of the post or because too many submissions have been on the same topic for the same month. While it is expected that each host will have his or her own distinctive views, the host blog should be generally courteous to those of other views. That's to say, if your blog's usual topic is "Why Everyone Else Is Wrong", I'd have to respectfully decline the hosting offer. I say this only to head off future trouble; this Carnival shouldn't be hosted at why_everyone_else_is_wrong.com.
The host should announce the Carnival with a reminder announcement at least a week before the posting deadline. The announcement should include the deadline for submissions and the intended post date of the Carnival. If the host wants to promote a topic of the month, that should be announced also. The host has some discretion in setting dates, though generally the Carnival will take place around the turn of the month each month.
If you are interested in hosting, please drop an email to the Carnival address along with a month that would work for you, e.g. "end of March" or "end of April".
The host should announce the Carnival with a reminder announcement at least a week before the posting deadline. The announcement should include the deadline for submissions and the intended post date of the Carnival. If the host wants to promote a topic of the month, that should be announced also. The host has some discretion in setting dates, though generally the Carnival will take place around the turn of the month each month.
If you are interested in hosting, please drop an email to the Carnival address along with a month that would work for you, e.g. "end of March" or "end of April".
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Reminder: Christian Reconciliation Carnival entries due today
Reminder: Christian Reconciliation Carnival entries due today by midnight. I expect it will be tomorrow evening before it's up (work and all that).
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Teenage Sunday School and the Psalms (Week 2)
Thinking about a Life-Time of Bible Study
Opening question: go around the room and have everyone name a movie they have watched more than once (more than twice ... well, ok, far too often). Ask them if, the later times, they had noticed anything in the movie that they had missed before. Everybody said yes. (The Star Wars fans tell me that in Star Wars III, E.T. makes a brief appearance in the council-hall scene ... I'll have to watch that again.)
Ask for a show of hands for how many people have figured out why that's the opening question. Several hands are raised. Yes, they figured it out correctly: when you re-read parts of the Bible you've read before, you notice things you didn't notice before.
Studying a Book of the Bible
Ask for a show of hands: Who knows who C.S. Lewis is? All the hands are up; everybody has read at least one of the Narnia books, two have read all the Narnia books, and all have seen the first of the Narnia movies.
Mention that C.S. Lewis wrote books for grown-ups also, and he's still a good writer on that level too. I've brought some samples: Reflection on the Psalms which is a Bible study book he wrote on the book of Psalms, and Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. I also showed them two study books on Psalms that our pastor keeps in his library and allows people to borrow. I just want them to be aware that, if they ever want to get into more in-depth studies on their own, there are some materials out there they might want to consider.
Selected Psalms
Split up the reading around the classroom and have them read the following Psalms.
Psalm 51: Ask who knows the back-story about David, Bathsheba, and Uriah. Most of them do, but we go over it to make sure the details are fresh: David had slept with another man's wife, gotten her pregnant, then killed her husband. You can't go too much lower. Ask for a show of hands who has ever done something they wish they could take back. Everybody's hands are up, some more slowly than others. We read Psalm 51. They recognized various parts of it, especially "Create in me a clean heart" which we sing fairly regularly in church. This is a psalm to read through and pray through when you've done something you're ashamed of doing.
Psalm 119:94-105: After this set of verses is read (and after I get them to stop singing that Amy Grant song based on verse 105), mention that I really admire the psalmist's dedication to God's word, and that this section is a prayer for when it feels like someone is out to get you, just won't leave you in peace. A few of them know what that's like by now.
Psalm 127: After this one is read, mention that the most-remembered and most-quoted part is how if God's not on our side, if we ever find ourselves working against God or ignoring God, it doesn't help us how clever and careful our plans are.
Psalm 22: After this one has been read, one of the students has picked up on this being a prophetic psalm already. Mention that this psalm works on a couple of levels. First, for our own use, it's good for times when we feel that life is horrible and God doesn't care. Ask for a show of hands who has been there. Most of the hands go up. Interestingly, one of the students who usually pretends things are fine comes clean first on this one. He recently had a grandfather die.
Next had the students stay on Psalm 22 while I read from Matthew 27 so they could see how it worked on a prophetic level.
Psalm 150: This one is for celebrating, and I wanted to end on a high note.
Opening question: go around the room and have everyone name a movie they have watched more than once (more than twice ... well, ok, far too often). Ask them if, the later times, they had noticed anything in the movie that they had missed before. Everybody said yes. (The Star Wars fans tell me that in Star Wars III, E.T. makes a brief appearance in the council-hall scene ... I'll have to watch that again.)
Ask for a show of hands for how many people have figured out why that's the opening question. Several hands are raised. Yes, they figured it out correctly: when you re-read parts of the Bible you've read before, you notice things you didn't notice before.
Studying a Book of the Bible
Ask for a show of hands: Who knows who C.S. Lewis is? All the hands are up; everybody has read at least one of the Narnia books, two have read all the Narnia books, and all have seen the first of the Narnia movies.
Mention that C.S. Lewis wrote books for grown-ups also, and he's still a good writer on that level too. I've brought some samples: Reflection on the Psalms which is a Bible study book he wrote on the book of Psalms, and Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. I also showed them two study books on Psalms that our pastor keeps in his library and allows people to borrow. I just want them to be aware that, if they ever want to get into more in-depth studies on their own, there are some materials out there they might want to consider.
Selected Psalms
Split up the reading around the classroom and have them read the following Psalms.
Psalm 51: Ask who knows the back-story about David, Bathsheba, and Uriah. Most of them do, but we go over it to make sure the details are fresh: David had slept with another man's wife, gotten her pregnant, then killed her husband. You can't go too much lower. Ask for a show of hands who has ever done something they wish they could take back. Everybody's hands are up, some more slowly than others. We read Psalm 51. They recognized various parts of it, especially "Create in me a clean heart" which we sing fairly regularly in church. This is a psalm to read through and pray through when you've done something you're ashamed of doing.
Psalm 119:94-105: After this set of verses is read (and after I get them to stop singing that Amy Grant song based on verse 105), mention that I really admire the psalmist's dedication to God's word, and that this section is a prayer for when it feels like someone is out to get you, just won't leave you in peace. A few of them know what that's like by now.
Psalm 127: After this one is read, mention that the most-remembered and most-quoted part is how if God's not on our side, if we ever find ourselves working against God or ignoring God, it doesn't help us how clever and careful our plans are.
Psalm 22: After this one has been read, one of the students has picked up on this being a prophetic psalm already. Mention that this psalm works on a couple of levels. First, for our own use, it's good for times when we feel that life is horrible and God doesn't care. Ask for a show of hands who has been there. Most of the hands go up. Interestingly, one of the students who usually pretends things are fine comes clean first on this one. He recently had a grandfather die.
Next had the students stay on Psalm 22 while I read from Matthew 27 so they could see how it worked on a prophetic level.
Psalm 150: This one is for celebrating, and I wanted to end on a high note.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Unforgiven Wrongs: The Breeding Ground of Hatred
Every once in awhile I write a post where the title nearly says it all. It needs to be said, and there it is: unforgiven wrongs are the breeding ground of hatred. Hatred of other people is destructive and sinful. Unforgiven wrongs breed hatred more than my favorite bayou breeds mosquitoes. We live in an age of grievances. We all have grievances. And we live in an age where much work is done towards justifying and maintaining grievances. Why seek to justify a grievance rather than reconcile? It may be that the other person has not recognized right and wrong; but it may be that grievances are useful for getting concessions from other people. That often descends quickly into a kind of dishonest manipulation; the "victim" becomes interested in payback and using the injury as an unassailable position of strength from which to take advantage of the other.
When it comes to grievance-mongering, we should have long since asked: is it worth the price? What are the limits? There's something for us to ponder next time we pull the grievance card: how much are we ourselves the obstacle to better relationships, whether in the private or public realm?
When it comes to grievance-mongering, we should have long since asked: is it worth the price? What are the limits? There's something for us to ponder next time we pull the grievance card: how much are we ourselves the obstacle to better relationships, whether in the private or public realm?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Christian Reconciliation Carnival: Call for Submissions
Update 01/26/2007: Submitting a question for the Question and Answer section does not prevent you from also submitting a regular post the same month. Questions do not need to be submitted as a blog post and may be mailed directly to the Carnival at the submitter's option.
I have noticed something interesting in certain parts of the Christian blogosphere. I have seen debates that degenerated into people trying to understand each others' positions. I have seen Christians praising members of other groups, a growing body of recognized common ground, and people with crossover appeal beyond their own group. Of course, I've seen nastiness and divisiveness too, but the opponents of nastiness and divisiveness are becoming bolder, more outspoken.
To that end, I'm proposing a Christian Reconciliation Carnival. It's intended as a "Road to Reconciliation" Carnival, a place where we do not expect too much of ourselves except humility, and a Carnival that is a cease-fire zone.
I'd like for us to try a Christian Reconciliation Carnival on a monthly basis, the first one to be hosted here on January 31. Please send in your links by midnight on 01/30/2007.
Topic of the Month: If you would like to blog on the theme of the month, this month's theme is The Strawman, a false representation of your group's position that often gets attacked by opponents. Name one way in which your own group is commonly misrepresented, and what is the truth of the matter. The trick: doing it without returning insults. (On the off chance that I get multiple posts of the same problem, I'll reserve the right to post the first one received for that particular problem.) Other topics are welcome too.
Submission Content Guidelines
Submission Format Guidelines
Please send your submissions to christianreconciliationcarnival@yahoo.com. Each submssion should contain:
Participant Guidelines
The participant guidelines are fairly broad, but are here limited to those who have some realistic hope of unity at some point in the future:
I have noticed something interesting in certain parts of the Christian blogosphere. I have seen debates that degenerated into people trying to understand each others' positions. I have seen Christians praising members of other groups, a growing body of recognized common ground, and people with crossover appeal beyond their own group. Of course, I've seen nastiness and divisiveness too, but the opponents of nastiness and divisiveness are becoming bolder, more outspoken.
To that end, I'm proposing a Christian Reconciliation Carnival. It's intended as a "Road to Reconciliation" Carnival, a place where we do not expect too much of ourselves except humility, and a Carnival that is a cease-fire zone.
I'd like for us to try a Christian Reconciliation Carnival on a monthly basis, the first one to be hosted here on January 31. Please send in your links by midnight on 01/30/2007.
Topic of the Month: If you would like to blog on the theme of the month, this month's theme is The Strawman, a false representation of your group's position that often gets attacked by opponents. Name one way in which your own group is commonly misrepresented, and what is the truth of the matter. The trick: doing it without returning insults. (On the off chance that I get multiple posts of the same problem, I'll reserve the right to post the first one received for that particular problem.) Other topics are welcome too.
Submission Content Guidelines
- All submissions should tend towards unity, understanding, or common ground.
- Attitude problems, when discussed, should be assumed to be sins which are common to all groups.
- Pieces focusing on divisive sins should be based on the principle of taking the log out of our own eye first.
- All submissions should speak the truth in love. This is to say that neither truth nor love can be omitted.
- All submissions should seek to embody Christ's charge to do unto others -- particularly our estranged brothers and sisters -- as we would have them do unto us.
- One-sided presentations of partisan issues are only allowed from pairs of bloggers who each represent opposing sides, who are on good terms, who treat each other with respect, and who have an ongoing exchange so that posts from each side of the disagreement are presented together. In this way the exchange between the two bloggers, taken as a whole, is not partisan but an exploration of both sides and an exercise in how to advocate and question without descending into hatred and hostility. The Carnival will link new posts in a continuing Discussion/Debate series from the same pair of bloggers, if they are still posting new material in the current month, for up to three consecutive Carnivals. The intent of the time limit is to discourage overworking any one topic and to encourage people starting discussions with other bloggers than their usual link-partners.
Submission Format Guidelines
Please send your submissions to christianreconciliationcarnival@yahoo.com. Each submssion should contain:
- Your name or pseudonym
- Link and title of post
- Category of post, if applicable:
- General interest: Any topic of general interest to people regardless of church affiliation
- Question and Answer: Respectful questions only, for example "Can someone from (name the group) please explain why you believe (a certain thing)?", or a respectful answer to such a question from a previous Carnival if the question has not already been answered. No baiting-a-trap questions, only request-for-understanding questions.
Update 01/26/2007: Submitting a question for the Question and Answer section does not prevent you from also submitting a regular post the same month. Questions do not need to be submitted as a blog post and may be mailed directly to the Carnival. - Reconciliation: Posts on obstacles to re-union, common ground for re-union, building a framework for re-union, acknowledging work being done in the field of mutual understanding, and other work directly related to reconciliation
- Topic of the Month (announced in advance at host's option)
- Discussions and Debates: Where two friendly bloggers from opposing camps seek to do justice to their own and each others' views.
- For any category of post besides general interest, please make note of the church affiliation of the person writing the post (or each post, in the case of Discussions and Debates).
Participant Guidelines
The participant guidelines are fairly broad, but are here limited to those who have some realistic hope of unity at some point in the future:
- Participant must wish for re-unification of the church
- Participant must accept one of the normally accepted canons of Scripture as the entirety of Scripture, whether the Roman Catholic, Protestant, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox in any of its minor regional variations.
- Participant must accept that the apostles of Christ faithfully passed on his teachings to at least the first generation of Christians, and that the necessary teachings of Christ and his apostles are still known (knowable) to us today
- Participant believes that the church had not fallen into wholesale error before the Council of Nicea, so that Christian teachings up to and including the Council of Nicea can provide common ground.
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