>Christ could have put down man very easily by saying that man evolved from
>>lower forms of animals. But He did not. Why?
>
Christ could have made a clear statement about the Trinity, and thereby
prevented the confusion in the early Church over this doctrine.
Christ could have clarified whether the Spirit proceeds from the Father
only, or from the Father and the Son, and thereby prevented the split of
the Church into east and west.
Christ could have clarified the appropriateness of infant baptism, and
thereby prevented the splitting of the protestants into Reformed and
Anabaptist warring factions.
Christ could have clarified the meaning of 'this is my body' and thereby
prevented the splitting of the Lutherans from the other Reformed churches.
Paul could have clarified the value of the charismatic gifts. John could
have clarified the sequence of events around the Millenium. We could go on
and on, indefinitely. And these are all topics that are directly pertinent
to the Church, whose unity Christ prayed about fervently. We haven't even
mentioned all the other less urgent topics, such as the 'origins' questions
that preoccupy many here.
But when would you have enough clarifications?
"There are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them
to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books
that would be written." John 21:25.
Paul Arveson, Code 724, Research Physicist, Signatures Directorate
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division
9500 MacArthur Blvd., West Bethesda, MD 20817-5700
arveson@oasys.dt.navy.mil bridges@his.com
(301) 227-3831 (301) 227-4511 (FAX)