granted enlightenment from heaven; and with that enlightenment has
come the perception that the church doesn’t even exist in the Christian
world anymore, because there is no religion there anymore.’
[ 3 ] “The governors said, ‘What are you saying? Doesn’t the church
exist wherever the Word exists, Christ the Savior is known, and the sacra-
ments are performed?’
“Our spokesperson replied, ‘Those things are part of the church in
the sense that they promote it, but they promote it within each of us, not
outside of us.’
“Our spokesperson went on to say, ‘Can the church exist where three
gods are worshiped? Can the church exist where its entire body of teach-
ing is based on a single statement by Paul that has been falsely inter-
preted, rather than on the Word? Can the church exist when people do
not go to the Savior of the world, who is the God of the church?
“‘Surely religion is abstaining from evil and doing good. Does a true
religion hold that faith alone saves and not goodwill as well? Does a
true religion hold that the goodwill that comes from people is only
moral and civic? There is no religion in that kind of goodwill, as anyone
can see. In faith alone there is no action or work. And yet religion con-
sists in doing. All non-Christian nations in the world believe that acts
of goodwill, or good works, have power to save. The whole of religion
consists in good actions, and the whole of the church consists in a body
of teaching that proclaims truths and uses those truths to teach good
actions. Glorious things might have happened to us if we had only
accepted the message of the document sent from heaven!’
[ 4 ] “Then one of the governors said, ‘Your argument aims too high.
The church is about the activation of faith. This is the kind of faith that
fully justifies us and saves us. Religion is about an ongoing state of faith,
which is the kind of faith that emanates from God and perfects us. Take
this in, my children.’
“But our wise spokesperson said, ‘Youlisten, O Fathers. According to
your dogma, people have no more ability to activate their faith than a
piece of dead wood. Can a piece of wood be brought to life and become
part of the church? Surely your idea of the ongoing state of faith is a con-
tinuation and progression of the activation of faith. Since, according to
your dogma, faith has all power to save, and there is no such power in
acts of goodwill that people perform, where does religion come in?’
“Then the church leaders said, ‘Friend, you say things like that because
you don’t know the secrets of justification by faith alone. People who don’t
know those secrets don’t know the path of salvation from within. Your path
singke
(singke)
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