I would think you are busy getting into the new school year Mr Mandias! Blogging time must be of a premium for you!

Now, let me get to your question. I can’t promise this will be brief… or some might say very illuminating… but you asked for it Oz!

To comment on your analogy, if you, Mr Mandias were to go along to a new Evangelical church, I would assume that the language involved in announcing this church would provide some indication as to the context of where you were going to worship. If you to head a long to a Baptist church, there would be some expectation from yourself about the nature of this church (I would think). Yes, you may be surprised when you turn up, but words signify or point to something, which is the content of their meaning, and this is generally formed by their usage, which can grow and develop over time.

Therefore, when Parachute announce a Catholic Mass, there is a content of meaning that these terms point to, and should those who attend this event, find that the individual in charge of this is none other than Bishop Brian Tamaki, there would be some confused expressions… and some might say some poorer punters… which means it is pretty clear what Parachute were putting on!

The real question than is this: Is this a problem, and more than that, what would constitute a problem? Let me answer it this way…

Now in terms of the expectation of agreeing with everything if you were to intend, which you referenced… if one can only be rightly called a Christian if one agrees with everything in a given set of teaching, than you would be in trouble if you didn’t, in the end, adhere to every belief. If you were heading along as a new believer, you may very well swallow all that they teach. However, say you go there as a biblically committed cessationist… one who believes that certain “sign gifts” ceased in the first-century… If you realised after a number of weeks that they were mildly charismatic, if you did not agree with this, would it be a problem? Yes, you may find that the outworking of how they worship and live for God does no fit who you are, and you may not agree that it is biblically correct or sound, however, there would be no salvation issue with you continuing to attend, as this is not a Gospel issue that divides. Otherwise, either charismatic or cessationist Christians really aren’t saved!

This last affirmation highlights an important point, which is this: there are some beliefs in the Christian faith that “Christians” disagree on, which are disagreements within the family, which also underscores and explains why there are so many different denominations. Is the Catholic church just one of these different Christian denominations? The key to answering this question is to answer another one, which is this…what beliefs must one hold to be a Christian?… Or, another way of stating it is, what does the Bible teach as to how one must be saved?

In the post, the point I was making was that in Catholic dogma, it is my understanding that they teach a different Gospel to not only what we believe in Protestantism, but as taught in the Word of God. If this is so, the Catholic church holds to a different Gospel, and Paul makes it clear in Galatians 1 that a different Gospel is a false Gospel!

If such is true, there is really only one conclusion that one can draw. The problem is that such does not sound palatable in this day and age, but it really is not a personal issue at all, as it comes down to what these two belief systems adhere to as it relates to getting inside the group, and as far more informed people than myself who have debated together on this issue affirm, on this issue there is a divide, and if the pure Gospel message is that important that Paul would say that if he or even an angel would bring a different message, then he instructed the Galatians and all those post this period to view such a message and such messengers as accursed, then, I don’t see how the Word of God allows us any wiggle room!

Now if other people are reading this comment, then I realise that some affirm that the New Perspective on Paul and even the Federal Vision in what most accept as being in the tradition of Reformed Theology may throw a different light on how one is to understand this debate, but I am not convinced!

Now, I have done enough talking Oz… what say you?

My thoughts are this and they will be random as I cant be bothered thinking too much.
1. Parachute probably did it to get more people through the gate.
2. Parachute probably did it without really looking into the differnces into Catholic belief and their own.
3. In saying that I think there can be a big differnce in what Catholics believe ‘at grass roots level’ and what their doctrine states. Hope you get my drift with that point. We also must remeber that the Catholic church is very big and has many different groups that emphasise different aspects.
Take this example;
Imagine I go to a new Evangelical church in my town and start going their on a regular basis. If I worship there and enjoy the church does that mean that I adhere to EVERY belief under that organisation?? Would be interested in your thoughts Jonny King.
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