Just as nations are referred to as a community of destinies, the same can be yet interconnected destinies, bound together in their diversity.
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- CCEE Assembly. Bagnasco: “A divided Europe would be a damage to the whole world”
- Europe of peoples and States: diversity, identities, common destinies
In fact it encompasses the Greek-Roman Mediterranean culture which incorporated the experience of the ancient world inasmuch as it was conservative and steadfast, and the Germanic-Slavic continental culture constituting the dynamic, modern, forward-looking element. Christianity played a crucial role as a catalysing force of this synthesis.
The European world that resulted from it has always acknowledged its unity. Also owing to its cultural unity, whereby all differentiations are aspects or individual expressions of similarities, Europe progressed in a unique environment in social and economic terms. The uniformity of social development in European regions equally determined the simultaneous occurrence of crises and social circumstances that led to the emergence of groups or social classes prone to trans-national identification. This favoured integration, rooted in the historical development of a common culture.
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A radical rupture of this social integration movement took place after the Second World War with the division of Europe into two radically different social and economic systems. The historical developments that followed the Second World War showed that despite the tragic, moral devastation, and the material destruction it carried with it, the cultural and spiritual strength of the Old Continent has not been consumed.
Viewing their own history through critical lenses, while opening up to the new impetus of the new worlds of America, Africa and Asia, facing the challenge of Communism, European peoples developed renewed self-confidence. The European identity that ensued is marked by a determined proactive drive, which today, after central and east-European peoples joined the peoples of western Europe with an act of self-liberation, is called to face new challenges.
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Filtra la ricerca per. Follows a reflection on EU internal dynamics, taking into account nationalisms and particularism alike, exemplified by the Brexit option and Catalonia Enshrined within the European Union owing to its member Countries, more precisely, to its nation-States: It could be said that: European identity shapes national identities and vice versa.
Altri articoli in Europa. Europa Lascia questo campo vuoto Accetta l'informativa sulla privacy. Questo sito fa uso dei cookie soltanto per facilitare la navigazione Ok Info. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: What a difference it would make in the lives of Christians if they understood that physical death will not change what they are but rather will reveal what they are! But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: Each individual is held accountable for the light he or she has been given.
Since no person can come to Christ unless the Father draws him, it becomes clear that it is God who decides how much light each person will be given. Therefore we ought not to be harsh in our judgment of people. Let us notice, first of all, that Luke The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. It is our point of view that "stripes" do not indicate the Lake of Fire.
Stripes imply chastisement, punishment, not ultimate destruction. There may be many forms of punishment in the spirit realm. Assignment to the Lake of Fire is the supreme penalty. The Scriptures teach that the torment of the Lake of Fire goes on forever. The doctrine of "many" and "few" lashes signifies differences in number or duration , with the few terminating before the many; and possibly differences also in intensity.
The doctrine of "stripes" suggests correction, not banishment from God as in the case of the Lake of Fire. If we are correct in assuming that the "many" and "few" lashes are not referring to the ultimate separation and torment of the Lake of Fire, to what are they referring? What will it mean to the careless—and yet saved—individual to be beaten with lashes in the Presence of his Lord? The spirit realm may be thought of in terms of the natural realm for the two realms are more similar than dissimilar.
We can study the manner in which the Lord punishes us in the natural realm in order to gain understanding of how He may punish us in the spirit realm. The way of the transgressor is hard. The rebellious dwell in a dry land. Adam and Eve were driven from the garden of Eden and forced to live by hard work in a hostile environment. We are suggesting that the counterparts of these afflictions and tribulations exist in the spirit realm.
Destiny - Wikiquote
They do not cease necessarily when we die. What passage of Scripture states when we die we no longer can be disciplined? Our peace is in obedience to Christ, not in dying and passing into the spirit realm. Who knows what passing into the spirit realm holds for any one of us? The only guarantees we have are those found in the Scriptures. The remainder of our ideas are conjecture. A backslider can testify to the years of agonizing effort he has endured, or is enduring, in the attempt to regain the Presence and joy of Christ in his or her life.
To behold a backslider crying to God for mercy is a sobering experience. To those who may protest that the Scriptures indicate the backslider is forgiven instantly and there is no need for him to suffer agony, let us answer by saying that the salvation that comes from the Lord is more tangible than this.
It is something we can feel. Our salvation is more than belief in the text of the Scriptures. To those who truly have known the Lord, His rebuke and the removal of His Presence are an agony. They know when they have lost their joy and when it has been restored. They may have to walk faithfully by the Scriptures in dryness of soul for many years before their assurance is returned to them. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Fundamentalism is strong when it reminds us that the Scriptures are holy and eternally unchanging. Fundamentalism is weak when it teaches us to substitute a profession of belief in the text for a living experience with God. The Scriptures lead us to the living Jesus. Eternal life is in Him, not in the text of the Bible.
The spiritual dryness of the returning backslider is not to be confused with the dry deserts through which the Lord brings His Bride as He perfects her love, faith, and patience. We have to learn to walk in the cloud of blessing by day and according to the directions of the fire of His written Word by night. Ritchie, in his inspiring book, Return from Tomorrow Waco, Texas: Chosen Books, , tells of the fate of suicides.
Though in spiritual form they are required to dwell in the presence of people whom they have harmed by the sin of taking their own lives. Their repeated cries of remorse cannot be heard by their loved ones. This may be the least part of their "hell," their "stripes.
In no manner do we intend to suggest that every time we become ill, or a loved one becomes ill, or it becomes difficult for us to pray or to study the Word of God, that we have been disobedient to God. On many occasions these are the normal tribulations every Christian experiences. Such testings are for our strengthening. Afflictions teach us to pray and to stop our sinning James 5: After we have suffered sufficiently God will make us perfect, establish us, strengthen us, settle us I Peter 5: It is true also that the sinning, disobedient Christian often receives in this present life the consequences of his disobedience.
The Scripture suggests that his chastening will continue in the spirit realm when he passes from this world to the next unless he repents thoroughly. There is no sin in the Kingdom of God. It appears that many believers die with serious problems in their behavior unresolved. What passage of Scripture states their correction will not continue after they die? We Christians have many traditions concerning what happens to us when we die, and concerning the nature of Heaven, that are based in part on the visions of the saints.
The writer does not discredit these visions but regards them as inspiring. We always must keep in mind, however, that the bulk of our traditions concerning Heaven and what happens to us after we die, stem from the unfortunate use of the term "mansions," in the King James translation of John Our traditions concerning "dying and going to Heaven to live in a mansion" are not based solidly on the Scriptures. If this expression is referring to Lot being dragged out of Sodom, we are speaking here of a massive loss of inheritance.
Lot, a wealthy man, entered Sodom with much livestock. He left a widower and a pauper. God said, "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter the congregation of the Lord for ever" Deuteronomy The Moabites and the Ammonites were a thorn in the side of the people of Israel. It was the king of Moab who hired Balaam to curse Israel and who seduced the Israelite warriors to sin.
Is this what we want, to be saved as was Lot with no inheritance, our fruit causing anger on the part of the Lord? Compare the inheritance of Lot with the inheritance of Abraham. Many Christians use the concept of being saved by fire as proof that once having professed Jesus they never can be lost. This is because they do not understand the diversity of destinies possible in the Kingdom of God. Their assumption is that if they are "saved" their troubles are over. When the Lord comes they will be transformed into a spiritual giant, will sit in the throne with Jesus, and will govern the nations with a rod of iron.
If it is true, as we are maintaining, that being saved as by fire indicates the loss of our birthright as sons of God so that we enter blind, deaf, and naked into the spirit realm, there to await the scathing rebuke of the Lord in the Day of Judgment, then being saved as by fire is not such a blessed prospect. The believers of today who expect a "rapture" to take place momentarily have no conception of what it would be like to be brought into the Presence of the Lord in their sins, foolishness, and disobedience to God.
The Lord Jesus warned us clearly in the Gospels that when He returns He will hold His servants to strict account for their behavior. This is the teaching of the Scripture and it ought to be emphasized. Those who claim we can never be lost after once having professed Christ employ I Corinthians 3: Their idea of being saved as by fire seems to be that careless, disobedient believers will inherit a two-story mansion instead of a three-story mansion. Do they think being saved as by fire will be a pleasant experience?
Do they not understand that even the righteous are saved with difficulty? It is our point of view also that the "stripes" the saints suffer in the present world, and perhaps in the next as well, are for their salvation. Stripes are not the same sentence as that horror of all horrors—to be cast into the Lake of Fire without hope of release. We assuredly do not believe that all people will be saved eventually. The Scriptures clearly teach the contrary, as we understand them. Neither are we suggesting the concept of a "second chance. Some may study our arguments and reason they can be disobedient to Christ in this life, suffer for a season in the next, and ultimately be saved and rewarded with glory.
Such do not understand that God takes the wise in their own craftiness Job 5: God knows the reasonings of their hearts and will deal with them accordingly. God may decide there is such wickedness and guile in their hearts their names should be blotted from the Book of Life—professed Christian or not! The Lord God cannot be mocked!
CCEE Assembly. Bagnasco: “A divided Europe would be a damage to the whole world”
If we are wise we will love Him and serve Him with all our heart. Being saved by fire is a fearful prospect indeed. The operation may prove to be very, very prolonged and very painful. The current Christian teaching is that only two destinies are available to people: It is true that we either shall be saved or lost. One major problem with the current Christian teaching is that we add to the two-destinies doctrine the idea that once we make a formal profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ our destiny will be to ascend the highest throne of glory after we die and we never shall experience pain, or even rebuke, in the spirit realm no matter how we behave ourselves in the present world.
This concept is unscriptural. It tends to remove the Divinely ordained motivation for overcoming sin, which is the rewards and punishments held before the believers.
Europe of peoples and States: diversity, identities, common destinies
Many passages of the Scripture point out the diversity of destinies available to the believers in Christ. They are dramatically different destinies in glory, in opportunities for service, in degrees of eternal life, in the type of body with which we will be raised, in authority, in power, in relationships with God and with people. These are not trivial difference in which all the saved receive approximately the same reward: The differences in destiny among the saved are substantial.
If God did not desire we be motivated in terms of punishment and rewards He would not have spoken so many times of these factors. When preachers and teachers dismiss such motives as being unworthy, or not factual, they are making themselves wiser than God. They are setting aside the Word and wisdom of God in favor of their humanistic teachings or because they have been deceived by the traditions of men. He answered them straightforwardly: And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Such incomprehensible glory will be the destiny of specific believers. The true members of Israel, the holy martyrs and saints, both Jewish and Gentile, will be raised in the first resurrection. They will be seated on the highest thrones of the universe and will reign with Christ for a thousand years Revelation It is not true that all the saved will rule with Christ to this extent. Over whom would they rule?
Obviously there must be nations of saved people for us to rule. Is it reasonable that an individual who believes in Christ but who never has gained victory over sin and self-will in this world will suddenly, by virtue of the fact of having died physically perhaps prematurely as a result of sin—I Corinthians Is this scriptural—or even sensible?
Some of the saved are as the "bruised reed" and the "smoking flax" Isaiah They must be plucked from the burning Jude 1: There are some who are immature but who are related to the Wife of the Lamb Song of Solomon 8: There are numerous queens, concubines, and virgins. There is one whom the Lord loves above all Psalms King David had his "mighty men," and even they were arranged in order of prowess II Samuel, Chapter The second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation hold out marvelous rewards to "him who overcomes" and warn the sinning believers of punishment.
The rewards are not given to all the members of the churches but to a few it appears whom Christ judges to be worthy to walk with Him in white Revelation 3: The rewards to the overcomer set forth in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation have nothing to do with dying and going to Heaven, it may be observed, but with tremendous endowments of authority, life, nearness to God, and service to mankind. Should we conclude, therefore, that all the other believers will be cast into the Lake of Fire, there to be tormented without hope for eternity, never again to behold the Face of their Creator?
Never again to have a prayer answered?