yes halloween is evil, grace and peace be with you dear searcher. Whether you call yourself a Protestant or not does not change what you are but if it will make you happy then I will not call you one. Coming from a Seventh Day
Baptist background I am well aware who the SDAs received their teachings regarding the Sabbath from also
It is good that you call yourself a Christian but unless you are able to connect your baptism with the Apostles then I am afraid that you actually have no right to call yourself a Christian any more than a Mormon or a JW does. Do you consider these to be Christians also?
Regarding the Lord's birthday, practically every iota of information which floats about Protestant circles regarding this issues stems from Hislop's work. If you haven't read Hislops work then you have probably just read different people quoting him anyway. For a start, do you know that there are shepherd in that part of the world who keep their sheep in the field
all year round? Are you aware of how many ancient records state that Christ was born on the 25th of one month or another? Some mistakenly transfered the date to their own local calendars and thus came up with what would appear to us to be random dates but even before the census records were made available to Christians (at which time Christ's birth date was confirmed) it was known by some here and there who had received The Faith when our Lord Jesus was born - the 25th of December. The Biblical record also (when examined correctly and not with misunderstanding as those who date the Lord's birth to about the Feast of Tabernacles or other such dates do so) attests that the Lord ought to have been born about this time. Agreed though that the Holy Bible does not state the exact date nor is it a matter neccessary for salvation. Hence my noting that even many here may disagree if they haven't thoroughly read history on this topic. {On a side note, I'm hoping to create a page about this hopefully around November once I have some free time. I'll let you know once it's launched God-willing.}
You are right that you can quote others and please don't think I was objecting to what the MS Encarta was saying about this topic. I was simply letting you know that many may not regard it for this reason. Make sense?
Regarding baptism again, where you baptised by triple immersion? I believe the word "βαπτιζοντες" (baptizing in St. Matthew 28:19) is plural. (Somebody with greater Greek knowledge confirm this please?) Did you also receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands (which is the mystery of chrismation in the Orthodox Church)?
From the perspective of The Church which Jesus builds (that is the one holy, catholic and Apostolic Church), The Church is the Ark of Salvation. Just as none survived the great flood without the ark so too can none be saved without The Church. While being shipwreaked St. Paul noted a similar thing to those with him, "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved."
You said, "I am a member of the Church." In that case, St. Ignatius (the disciple of St. John the Beloved of the Lord) has these words for you, "Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop" (Epistle of St. Ignatius to the Ephesians, ch. IV). Again, "It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality: as some indeed give one the title of bishop, but do all things without him. Now such persons seem to me to be not possessed of a good conscience... be ye united with your bishop" (Epistle of St. Ignatius to the Magnesians, ch. IV-VI). And again, "Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop" (Epistle of St. Ignatius to the Smyrnæans, ch. VIII).
So then my friend, if you are a true member of the Christian Church, who is your bishop? Mine is His Grace Anba Daniel, Coptic Orthodox Diocesan Bishop of Sydney, New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Teritory, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Kingdom of Thailand, Japan, China and affiliated regions, who is in full cannonical communion with His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Patriarch and Lord Archbishop of the Great City of Alexandria and the See of St. Mark being the 117th Successor of St. Mark the Apostle. (If you would like the list I can send it to you upon request.) The Faith we received from St. Mark is the Faith we keep today and forever unchanged.
My friend, though you may not now believe me, I was once like you are now and I know that it's not easy to find the original Church against which the gates of hell/hades will never prevail in such an unexpected place, but by the grace of God and for the love of His Son please, consider what it is you are now doing. For if we are all mad fools you lose nothing, but if the words I speak be truth then you stand at what may well just be the greatest fork in the road of your spiritual journey until now.
Have you read much of the writings of the disciples of the Apostles? Those of St. Clement or of St. Polycarp's martyrdom or have you read any of St. Justin Martyr's writings?
Look forward to hearing from you again but perhaps starting another thread under "Faith Issues" or "Convert Issues" would be more appropriate than continuing in here. Otherwise, my offer stands for discussions outside of this site if you would prefer. Also, have you seen my personal message to you yet? If not, please click on "My Messages" near the top of the screen to find it. Thank you.
Whatever you decide, by the mercy of Christ may you see the Light of the World in that Day.
Please keep sinners like me in your prayers. Thank you.
(Note: I wrote the above before the threads were split. Does anyone else seen the name of the thread as something rather strange with lots of "\\\\"? Is this an error sorry?)
