[ndigila]

Hey, I carried over your response from the Ten Commandments Thread

But Grip, if this church fell into apostasy, why do then trust it's decision when it was canonizing the books of the New Testament?

This must be carefully studied. At the time of NT canonisation, there still were different groupings of believers with some still attached to the apostolic teachings whereas the majority were joining the pagan philosophies of the time. The Church's organisation before a full enactment of the Papacy, especially before the Pope acquired secular authority and infalability, the church still used the OT and Jesus teachings to arrive at truth.

Grip, the Christian canon was finalized by the third synod of Carthage in 397E. What you've presented so far as Pagan philosophies were already intact in the church at that time.

By the way, when I refer to tradition, I refer to the Tradition of the Orthodox Church, not the Catholic church


A method generally followed was as recorded in Acts 15 which compared accepted teachings with the Law (Torah). Apostasy did not occure in a split of time, but was very gradual with twists and turns, which would mean acceptance of pagan practices over time.

What we do learn from Acts 15 is the authority of the church council. The apostolic council of Jerusalem set a precedent for the 7 ecumenical councils later on.

One could also easily make the argument that Christian Rock music and Holy Hip Hop is mixing Christianity with the secularized culture.

There is a direct statement in the bible that asks people to do everything to the glory of God. Whenever a chosen instrument will give glory to the opposing force, that instrument must be forsaken.

So why is Christmas and Easter considered falling into paganism? Aren't the churches doing it for the glory of God?