Scimus autem quoniam diligentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum, iis qui secundum propositum vocati sunt sancti. And we know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints.

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Outside The Church There Is No Salvation

The saying is St. Cyprian’s.
I have addressed it several times over the years.

My favorite foil at Instapundit gave cause for me to address it again, today. Mark wrote: . . . Jesus remains the single most influential individual who ever lived. I commented:

While one appreciates the spirit of that assertion, one notes its facial factual inaccuracy. To be accurate, the statement requires a permanent referent. There is not one.

One can say Jesus remains one of several highly influential persons in history. One can say, from a Christian’s point of view, that Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ of God is the pivot of history. One can say that Christianity, with the figure of Jesus the Christ as and at its center of attention, is not the only legitimate, valid, and effective soteriological vessel on earth in history.

But to say that Jesus is the most influential individual who ever lived? Compared to whom, to what, against what standard of measurement? Moreover, people have been singing about Krishna since @ 4k years before Jesus’ Career and about Rama since many, many more thousands of years before that.

Repeating: one appreciates the spirit of the assertion — provincial enthusiasm, blush-of-first-love eagerness, and all that — but it is inaccurate and, if insisted upon, absurd.

Even as Cyprian used it, extra ecclesiam nulla salus has a context. It is a proposition, and as such provable. Extra ecclesiam nulla salus is not an axiom.

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Principle I

The United States have no interest in the domestic affairs of other countries and expect other countries to reciprocate by having no interest in our domestic affairs. The United States have interest in the lines of communication running between The United States and all other countries and expect all other countries to bear fairly the burden of keeping those lines open, safe, reliable, fair, and clean.

Principle II

The United States welcome alliance with our brother nations India and Russia for enforcement, from their perspective, of the ground of statecraft set forth in Principle I and urge Japan and Egypt to join us for that endeavor and commitment.

Principle III

An order to deploy which lacks or frustrates intent to compel a target to sign a declaration of unconditional surrender is an unlawful order by the Rules of Just War, the Conventions of War, Common Sense, and the Spirit of America. An order to deploy conveys this intent to the Commanding Officer: win this war / battle in a timely manner or do not come back alive.

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Everyone declares himself or herself as a sadhaka (spiritual aspirant). Every believer claims that he is seeking God. One must enquire whether it is the so-called devotee who’s seeking God or whether it is God who is searching for a true devotee. Is the sadhaka serving God or is God serving the sadhaka? The service that the sadhaka is doing is trivial. Offering to God what God has provided is like offering to Ganga, water from Ganga! The truth is, it is God who is rendering service to devotees. All capabilities gifted by God should be used in the service of the Divine. There is no need to go in quest of God. God is all the time searching for the genuine and steadfast devotee. The sadhaka is approaching God for the fulfilment of his desires. He is after petty and transient benefits. He does not seek to understand the nature of true love or the Divinity that underlies everything!

• Sathya Sai Baba – Divine Discourse, January 13, 1984 /  Daily Email, Sai Inspires: Subscription

Donald Trump won the 2020 election for POTUS going away. He is POTUS until 20 January 2025 and presently in exile. That is the truth. Just stick to it and all will be well.

“Just realize they took the two most pathetic candidates in the history of the Democratic Party: a vice president who didn’t even win a primary in her own state; and a demented pervert, among other things, who can’t even tie his own shoelaces or know where he is. And they crammed them up our nose with a fork of fraud so blatant that it is visible around the world.” Sidney Powell, April 2021

Anita Ekberg