Your ADHD (aka narrow attention span) is a wonderful tool Peter. I have been fascinated by this triune topic for a while now as I study the writings of the early church leaders (I shy away from calling them church fathers). Arianism was the majority belief in Christianity for a couple hundred years, sprouting in the Eastern Church and then going westward with the Germanic migrations.
I'm not sure whether not believing in the Triune means salvation is not attained. As a Triune believer myself, I feel a measure of compassion on those who don't believe. I wonder if the dogmatism and treatment by orthodox believers against those they label as heretics is taken into account by God when he sits in judgement over His church. I for one am thankful that God looks at our hears and is the one who renders judgement on His created vs our fellow man.
Strictly speaking, no, it does not. Repentance and embracing the Redemption gifted us by Jesus Christ through His Crucifixion and Resurrection are the essential elements for that. If you do not repent, if you are not born again, then you in a very literal sense have not accepted God's forgiveness and have not been redeemed.
The more relevant question is can one accept the gift of Redemption via the Cross at Calvary and not worship the Trinity? Obviously, I do not see how that is possible!
However, the ultimate question of who is saved and who is damned is never ours to answer. Whenever I get into theological discussion I make an effort to be mindful of that important constraint. People may disagree with me, but that disagreement in and of itself will not send them or me to Hell, simply because that's not our call to make.
I agree. I do however wonder about those who never heard of Jesus but lived their lives in a manner that aligns with his message of “not the least of these.” God’s grace is bigger than we can comprehend. One of my favorite passages is at the very end of John where John states that all of the books in the world cannot contain all of the works of Jesus. This makes me smile when I read this. God’s love, grace, compassion, etc. are just too massive and mysterious for humanity to entirely grasp.
Your “very narrow attention span” is a gift from God, Peter. You have an amazingly great ability to focus, with laser focus. God will use this to manifest some new understandings and solutions for the world. Just keep believing! You are daily being blessed, if you just trust God’s (unseen) plan for you.
And you are loved more than you can conceive, as we all are!
Your ADHD (aka narrow attention span) is a wonderful tool Peter. I have been fascinated by this triune topic for a while now as I study the writings of the early church leaders (I shy away from calling them church fathers). Arianism was the majority belief in Christianity for a couple hundred years, sprouting in the Eastern Church and then going westward with the Germanic migrations.
I'm not sure whether not believing in the Triune means salvation is not attained. As a Triune believer myself, I feel a measure of compassion on those who don't believe. I wonder if the dogmatism and treatment by orthodox believers against those they label as heretics is taken into account by God when he sits in judgement over His church. I for one am thankful that God looks at our hears and is the one who renders judgement on His created vs our fellow man.
Thank you!!
Thank you for your kind words.
Does worshipping the Trinity assure salvation?
Strictly speaking, no, it does not. Repentance and embracing the Redemption gifted us by Jesus Christ through His Crucifixion and Resurrection are the essential elements for that. If you do not repent, if you are not born again, then you in a very literal sense have not accepted God's forgiveness and have not been redeemed.
The more relevant question is can one accept the gift of Redemption via the Cross at Calvary and not worship the Trinity? Obviously, I do not see how that is possible!
However, the ultimate question of who is saved and who is damned is never ours to answer. Whenever I get into theological discussion I make an effort to be mindful of that important constraint. People may disagree with me, but that disagreement in and of itself will not send them or me to Hell, simply because that's not our call to make.
I agree. I do however wonder about those who never heard of Jesus but lived their lives in a manner that aligns with his message of “not the least of these.” God’s grace is bigger than we can comprehend. One of my favorite passages is at the very end of John where John states that all of the books in the world cannot contain all of the works of Jesus. This makes me smile when I read this. God’s love, grace, compassion, etc. are just too massive and mysterious for humanity to entirely grasp.
Your “very narrow attention span” is a gift from God, Peter. You have an amazingly great ability to focus, with laser focus. God will use this to manifest some new understandings and solutions for the world. Just keep believing! You are daily being blessed, if you just trust God’s (unseen) plan for you.
And you are loved more than you can conceive, as we all are!
Thanks!
My constant learning is how much my capacity for reason is a complement rather than a stumbling block to faith.
But there are rewards to finding ways to unite reason and faith!