re rw is robert weiss the only orthodox christian in article librba byuvm bitnet librba byuvm bitnet writes rick anderson writes ra robert you keep making references to orthodox belief and saying ra things like it is held that cf kermit thread on what ra exact body of theology are you drawing for what you call orthodox orthodox is a compound word it comes from orthos straight true right and from doxa opinion doctrine teaching i use orthodox to refer to right teaching right teaching is derived from letting god speak to us through the bible this can be from reading simple truths in the scriptures and by using the bible to interpret the bible ra who is that holds that luke meant what you said he meant i think that it is apparent from reading the scriptures that are pertinent luke records christ s promise to the repentant thief who hung on an adjacent cross truly i say to you today you will be with me in paradise but was it not until later that christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven if christ himself was not in heaven until sunday how could the repentant thief have been there with him the answer lies in the location of paradise when jesus died apparently paradise was not exalted to heaven until easter day jesus refers to it in the middle of the story of the rich man and lazarus as abraham s bosom to which the godly beggar lazarus was carried by the angels after his decease luke thus abraham s bosom referred to the place where the souls of the redeemed waited till the day of christ s resurrection it was not yet lifted to heaven but it may well have been a section of hades hebrew sheol reserved for believers who had died in the faith but would not be admitted into the glorious presence of god in heaven until the price of redemption had actually been paid on calvary or even that none would precede the presence of jesus back to glory with the father doubtless it was the infernal paradise that the souls of jesus and the repentant thief repaired after they each died on friday afternoon but on sunday after the risen christ had first appeared to mary magdalene john and her two companions matthew presumably he then took up with him to glory all the inhabitants of infernal paradise including abraham lazarus and the repentant thief we read in ephesians concerning christ ascending on high he led captivity captive he gave gifts unto men verse continues but what does he ascended mean but that he also descended to the lowest parts of the earth i e to hades verse adds he who descended is the same as he who ascended above all the heavens presumably he led the whole band of liberated captives from hades i e the whole population of preresurrection paradise up to the glory of heaven ra whenever your personal interpretation of biblical passages is ra challenged your only response seems to be that one needs merely to ra look at the bible in order to see the truth but what of those who ra see biblical things differently from you i think that this characterization is faulty whenever my personal interpretation is questioned i usually give a reason as for those that see things differently please put forward where there is a valid difference and we can discuss it i seem to be seeing from you the notion that any difference in how one views the bible is somehow legitimate except or course for the stuff that i glean from it put forward a contrary view and perhaps we can have a discussion on that topic but to decry something that i put forward without putting forward something else to discuss and to dismiss what i put forward while giving credence to other alleged views that have yet to be put forward is simply being contentious ra are we to simply assume that you are the only one who really ra understands it if you believe that something that i have drawn from scripture is wrong then please show me from scripture where it is wrong simply stating that there are other views is not a proof show it to me from scripture and then we can go on robert weiss psyrobtw ubvms cc buffalo edu
