Marwil llasos biography of george

Jeannine Hill Fletcher

Ars Disputandi

In this densely packed collection of short essays, expert theologians from across the range of Christian confessions engage in conversation on Mary, Mother of God. The reader benefits both from the content of the discussion, and the way the collection illuminates the distinctiveness of individual confessions as well as the overlap of methodologies, sources, and doctrinal concerns that they share. Thus, the collection provides a very powerful witness to the theological points of contact between Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Baptist traditions, and the important work of ecumenical dialogues. [2] Fundamentally, the exploration of Mary is rooted in her appearance in the shared text of Christian scripture. Developing this point of contact for all Christians are essays that focus on Mary as actor in the Gospels (e.g. Beverly Roberts Gaventa's focus on the Gospel of Luke), and other scriptural references to her (e.g. Lawrence S. Cunningham takes Galatians as his point of departure). The first step toward ecumenical agreement on Mary can be, as David Yeago articulates in his contribution, 'to register the fact of her presence [in the shared text of Christian scripture] as a theologically significant personage.' (Yeago, 63) Acknowledging her presence in scripture, the essays of Gaventa, Cunningham, Yeago and Timothy George all embark on a similar aim, namely, 'to recover a fully biblical appreciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her role in the history of salvation.' (George, 102). But, Mary does not function only in scripture, as other essays illumine. She has been honored liturgically (in the practices of Eastern Orthodoxy examined by Jaroslav Pelikan and Kyriaki Karidoyanes Fitzgerald; and the Western Church's archetypal devotion, the Ave Maria, that is the point of departure for Robert Jenson's essay), in th

A CONFESSION FROM A FORMER MEMBER of IGLESIA NI CRISTO

I was born and raised in the Iglesia Ni Cristo. My membership made me feel secure because we were taught that it was the right church and only those who are part of it would be saved. I grew up believing that Jesus was just a man, not God. Reading the Bible was also not encouraged because we believe that following the doctrines taught by the leaders was enough. Removal from the church was tantamount to being condemned to hell because this strips you off of your salvation. The tendency then was to live double lives where we appeared to be righteous in church but worldly and proud outside of it. I grew up fearing God, but I feared the church more.

When my life went downhill, it made me reexamine if it was because I was unable to fulfill my duties as a member, one of which was to convert at least one person a year. Thus I decided to invite my friend, who was a Christian, to my church. I thought if I could convert him, then God would bless me again. It took a while before he agreed, but he proposed a deal: he would attend my church if I attended his. I agreed to his proposal out of my desperation.

He went to our worship service but instead of being enlightened, he asked me a lot of questions that I couldn't answer. Then came my turn to join him in his church.

I kept praying for God to protect me from any lie. Little did I know that God would answer my prayer by revealing his truth to me. I found myself crying and speechless at the end of the service because for the first time I witnessed and experienced a loving God.

A part of me wasn't ready to give up being a kapatid but God is faithful. He kept providing opportunities for me to get to know Him.

I was eventually invited to a bible study in my office. It was my first time to actually open and read the Bible. I kept crying after every session because of the revelations that I discovered. I was in awe and confused at the same time. How