Dr. Paul's weak theological statement

[adpierce]

How about being specific about theological beliefs as a point of integrity? Yeah you've got different brands of Christianity with different bases of what they actually believe, and a theological statement with any doctrinal specificity might alienate some and cause others to follow him. I'm wagering the fact that he's willing to state definitively what he believes about Christianity will win more than he'll lose since it will say something about how he's not afraid to lose voters on this issue. It's the same perspective on how so many people look up to Dr. Paul for being a lone anti-war candidate in a field of warmongers. The fact that he's willing to do such a thing, regardless if he loses support in the GOP or gets ridiculed by his peers is incredibly telling about what kind of man he really is. In the same way being specific about your faith you might get people who disagree with you, but more people respect you for being willing to actually say what you believe rather than being afraid of losing support.

 

[adpierce]

1.) The Trinity is a divisive doctrine. It is alluded to once in Matthew 28:19 and it is under great dispute as possibly being added by the Papacy to create a baptismal formula that is antithetical to Acts 2:38, 8:16, 19:5



Sin is translated from the word 'Hamartia' which was an archery term that simply implied 'missing the mark'



I know of NO bible that has been properly translated from its original form. There are 4 different Greek words for 'coming' and the worst offense is the HELL word where you imply:



That is the most vile, religious, gobbledegook ever spewed from the pulpits. Hear me out:

The lazy King James translators took the words Sheol, Gehenna, Tartaros, Hades, The Grave, The Unseen, and The Imperceptible and translated EACH ONE of these to the word "HELL"

The Catholics turned it into this fiery place to scare the Protestants back to the fold. HELL is simply the place where people go when they die period

Ron Paul is best served by keeping his Statement Of Faith as (I hate to say it) lukewarm as possible

(end rant!)

That's my personal theological statement, you might disagree with it, but there it is I'm not afraid to state it, and I'm not afraid of you saying you disagree with it. In fact, I respect you all the more for saying why you disagree with it at least you have a reasoned opposition to my theological beliefs, which is better than most opponents to what I believe have to say.

 

[Green Mountain Boy]

I think it is good to remember that Ron Paul is not a theologian. He's a politician

 

[constituent]

"Heaven, heaven is a place,
a place where nothing, nothing
ever happens."

 

[theblatanttruth]

How about being specific about theological beliefs as a point of integrity? Yeah you've got different brands of Christianity with different bases of what they actually believe, and a theological statement with any doctrinal specificity might alienate some and cause others to follow him. I'm wagering the fact that he's willing to state definitively what he believes about Christianity will win more than he'll lose since it will say something about how he's not afraid to lose voters on this issue. It's the same perspective on how so many people look up to Dr. Paul for being a lone anti-war candidate in a field of warmongers. The fact that he's willing to do such a thing, regardless if he loses support in the GOP or gets ridiculed by his peers is incredibly telling about what kind of man he really is. In the same way being specific about your faith you might get people who disagree with you, but more people respect you for being willing to actually say what you believe rather than being afraid of losing support.

I'm sorry but I don't feel it's necessary.

 

[lucius]

Dr. Paul tells you, in his 'SOF', why he does not elaborate: "I have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the political arena."

 

[adpierce]

I think it is good to remember that Ron Paul is not a theologian. He's a politician

I'm not a theologian either, I'm just a man. I am however a Christian, and for all that entails I have a set of beliefs that accompanies that, and as far as I understand it part of being a Christian means you can explain what you mean when you say you're a Christian. I'm not one to go street preaching or anything like that, but if I were running for office and somebody asked me what my statement of faith was I wouldn't do what Dr. Paul did which is focus mainly on political matters. He did mention how certain Christian principles he believes in are applied to those political matters, but he essentially skirts the issue which is "What do you really believe Dr. Paul?" I actually hate to be so critical on this issue, because I'm such a huge RP follower but it's been a really nagging issue for me.

 

[nexalacer]

I'm not a theologian either, I'm just a man. I am however a Christian, and for all that entails I have a set of beliefs that accompanies that, and as far as I understand it part of being a Christian means you can explain what you mean when you say you're a Christian. I'm not one to go street preaching or anything like that, but if I were running for office and somebody asked me what my statement of faith was I wouldn't do what Dr. Paul did which is focus mainly on political matters. He did mention how certain Christian principles he believes in are applied to those political matters, but he essentially skirts the issue which is "What do you really believe Dr. Paul?" I actually hate to be so critical on this issue, because I'm such a huge RP follower but it's been a really nagging issue for me.

Why does his beliefs outside of what he puts in his statement of faith bother you so much? He is a politician, therefore, he talks about the parts of his faith that directly effect his decision making process in politics: his constant desire to protect life, whether through pro-life actions or anti-war actions. What more do you want him to say? What more really matters when it comes to a politician's religious point of views? You're not electing a pastor. You're not electing a priest. You're not electing any sort of religious official, because if you were, a large portion of Americans would be outraged.

I am tired of Christians demanding every single part of a person's religious beliefs be on display in politics. Separation of Church and State is not about limiting religious belief, but it is about not forcing one set of beliefs onto your fellow citizens. By not flaunting every single aspect of his religious beliefs, Dr. Paul is able to respectfully inform us how his faith directs his beliefs, yet not appear to want to shove them down our throats. As a non-Christian, I really appreciate that. He becomes a uniter instead of a divider by not putting his entire faith on display. He keeps faith private, where it should be, as private matters are matters that cannot divide us.

Stop getting hitched on what words he says in regards to his faith... judge him on his actions... although, if you were a Christian, you wouldn't judge at all would you? Was it not in the bible it's written "judge not lest ye be judge yourself"?

 

[winston_blade]

The statement of faith is fine. Let's not argue.

 

[Cindy]

This posts scares me.

I don't want my daughter reading something by the man I am advocating to her to be the leader of our nation saying, " You will burn in hell eternally for sinning"

Like everyone here is saying, no need to over do it.

I thought our government was just suppose to protect our rights to religious freedoms and beliefs, not enforce their own on all of us.

Look at what the Christian fundamentals values elected TWICE, because they didn't look into the person, instead of his shallow words-

A man who has called for the murder of over 600,000 people.

A man who is stealing money from people to help the greedy Industrial War Complex and Oil companies profit.

A man that admittingly belongs to a secret devil worship society called Skull and Bones AKA the Death Order , which branched off from Hitlers Nazism ideals.

Nice values that come from God fearing Christians who voted for Bush twice these days.

I can't believe anyone is requesting mere words from Paul, to prove himself to them, with the high morality and integrity of the personal and proffesional life he has lead behind him.

 

[jblosser]

He talks about Augustine's Just War theory and you consider it weak? It's a breath of fresh air to me to see a politician release a statement of faith that actually has depth like that instead of repeating the same basic points that anyone can say without a clue what they mean. Paul's statement shows his faith actually effects his view on government and law, and his voting record absolutely supports that claim.

 

[adpierce]

Why does his beliefs outside of what he puts in his statement of faith bother you so much? He is a politician, therefore, he talks about the parts of his faith that directly effect his decision making process in politics: his constant desire to protect life, whether through pro-life actions or anti-war actions. What more do you want him to say? What more really matters when it comes to a politician's religious point of views? You're not electing a pastor. You're not electing a priest. You're not electing any sort of religious official, because if you were, a large portion of Americans would be outraged.

I am tired of Christians demanding every single part of a person's religious beliefs be on display in politics. Separation of Church and State is not about limiting religious belief, but it is about not forcing one set of beliefs onto your fellow citizens. By not flaunting every single aspect of his religious beliefs, Dr. Paul is able to respectfully inform us how his faith directs his beliefs, yet not appear to want to shove them down our throats. As a non-Christian, I really appreciate that. He becomes a uniter instead of a divider by not putting his entire faith on display. He keeps faith private, where it should be, as private matters are matters that cannot divide us.

Stop getting hitched on what words he says in regards to his faith... judge him on his actions... although, if you were a Christian, you wouldn't judge at all would you? Was it not in the bible it's written "judge not lest ye be judge yourself"?

His actions are of the highest caliber, I'm not questioning his actions, and I'm not judging or impugning him for not being more specific. I'm just saying it would speak towards his integrity (for reasons previously stated) for him to not skirt the question of what he believes, but to be direct and specific. (Also just as a sidenote the bible says that those who are in the Church are to be judged by the members of the Church, only non-Christians get a pass on being judged - often seems like it's always the other way around doesn't it?)

 

[M.Bellmore]

As a Christian, it's all about works demonstrating the faith. His SoF is just fine for me if you look at his voting record and career history. I would watch the debate on the 19th that is geared toward Christians.

 

[Craig_R]

cant please everybody all the time

 

[nexalacer]

His actions are of the highest caliber, I'm not questioning his actions, and I'm not judging or impugning him for not being more specific. I'm just saying it would speak towards his integrity (for reasons previously stated) for him to not skirt the question of what he believes, but to be direct and specific. (Also just as a sidenote the bible says that those who are in the Church are to be judged by the members of the Church, only non-Christians get a pass on being judged - often seems like it's always the other way around doesn't it?)

Funny, the New-Testament was compiled by a council of politicians and theologians loyal to the Emperor of Rome, and it says that those are in the Emperor's sanctioned Church are to be judged by the Emperor-controlled Church's members.

 

[adpierce]

He talks about Augustine's Just War theory and you consider it weak? It's a breath of fresh air to me to see a politician release a statement of faith that actually has depth like that instead of repeating the same basic points that anyone can say without a clue what they mean. Paul's statement shows his faith actually effects his view on government and law, and his voting record absolutely supports that claim.

Actually you may have a point, I haven't checked out any other politician's statements of faith if they have them at all, Ron Paul's might be as good as it gets. I think he could go a little further than he does, but you make a really good point.

 

[catwoman]

The man is running for President of the United States, not head of the Christian Church. Personally, I believe that HIS personal religious beliefs have no bearing on what he is doing. It would not matter to me what religion he was or was not. What matters to me is how he is going to straighten our country out and get it back on track constitutionally. He is beholden to the constitution, not the bible.

 

[Lois]

The more he says about "faith" (Religion) - the worse it will be, because each and every person on earth has his/her own set of "rigid beliefs", so there will just be more "belief statements" for others to disagree with, because no two persons has the exact same set of 'beliefs' on Religion.

 

[Lois]

Gee - think of what a great world it would be if everone on earth totally eraced Religion from their monkey mind.

 

[nexalacer]

Gee - think of what a great world it would be if everone on earth totally eraced Religion from their monkey mind.

In the immortal words of John Lennon:

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one