Steve's Theology Page
Steve Brandt / s-brandt@uiuc.edu
These pages should be taken as an invitation to discussion and
debate. If you are in unsure whether you should believe in the
Trinity, or are considering joining the Catholic Church, I would
welcome the opportunity to discuss this struggle with you.
I am especially interested in criticism about the content and
wording of my pages.
- Nicea
- Did Constantine dictate the doctrine of the Trinity to the Council
of Nicea? Did paganism dictate the choice of wording for the Creed?
Could the reason for the Creed have been something altogether?
Take a look!
- Baptism
- The Catholic Church baptizes infants. They, in fact, say that
baptism is required for salvation. It is well known, so many
will say, that Christ freed us from the rituals of the Old Testament and
that the New Testament requires faith alone. It is further argued that
if baptism is required, then our salvation depends on another person -
and this seems wrong. How is it, then, that Catholics assert that
infant baptism is Biblical?
- The Trinity
- The doctrine of the Trinity is usually (and wrongly) presented in a
manner somewhat like this. The Trinity is a mystery, that means you
cannot understand it. God is three, and yet he is one. We are then
left to think the doctrine is a logically nonsensical, that it is a belief
as absurd as 3 is equal to one. This is often compounded by a somewhat
inadequate translation of John 1:1
"the Word was with God, and the Word
was God." Again, we are left with the impression of a logical
contradiction - how can you be the person you are with?
- Is Jesus God?
- It is common to say that Jesus never calls himself God anywhere in
the New Testament, that he never claimed Divinity, and hence he should
not be seen as Divine. Is this true?
- Can Christians divorce?
- Many say that Christians can divorce, and that Jesus gives it his
okay when infidelity is involved. Is this Biblical?
- Bibliography
- Some of my favorite books
How did I get my bible verses to refer to the Bible server? Easy,
just take this script that I wrote for perl and apply it.
verse.pl
You can also undo it
unverse.pl
Mail me your comments