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Hi, Kendrell!
You stated in your question:
- Where in the
Bible did God give man the power
to decide whether a person will go
to Heaven or Hell? (This question comes from a priest
blessing people on their deathbed.)
Umm, He never did. Anyone who told
you that priests were deciding whether
those people went to Heaven or Hell
was in grave error.
However, the priest can, in the name
of Christ, forgive sins (cf. James 5:14-16, John 20:21-23), which can
affect a person's salvation. The
priest is not making a decision,
he is simply ratifying what the person
himself does.
| James 5:14-16: "14 Is any one
of you sick? He
should call the elders of the
church to pray over him and anoint
him with oil in the name of the
Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in
faith will make the sick person
well; the Lord will raise him
up. If he has sinned, he will
be forgiven. 16 Therefore
confess your sins to each other
and pray for each other so that
you may be healed. The prayer
of a righteous man is powerful
and effective." |
John 20:21-23: 21 Again Jesus said, "Peace
be with you! As the Father
has sent me,
I am sending you." 22 And
with that he breathed on them
and said,
"Receive
the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive
anyone his sins, they are forgiven;
if you do not forgive them, they
are not forgiven." |
You stated in your questions:
Heaven was not opened until Jesus
rose from the dead.
People who died before Jesus' Resurrection
went, not to Heaven, but to Sheol (or Hades), a joyless place of shadows
and darkness. Eschatology (the study
of the Last Things) was very poorly
developed (and mostly unrevealed)
during the time that Ecclesiastes
was written. Another related factor
is that the concept of reward in
the Old Testament was strictly earth-based;
if you go through all the passages
detailing the rewards that God gave
His people, they were all earthly
and material.
Ergo, someone who is dead would have
no further reward by virtue of the
fact that his earthly life had ended.
So, Ecclesiastes
9:5 was not wrong
for the time it was written.
You stated in your question:
- Where did God
give any Church the authority to
change His Laws, not just the
Ten Commandments, but all of
the laws?
I'm not sure what you mean by "ALL
of the laws". First of all, if
you are referring to the Mosaic laws
(Deuteronomy and Leviticus), those
only applied to Jews in the first
place. They were given to Jews as
a penance for their infidelity in
the desert. They were never intended
to be a means of eternal salvation,
nor were they ever intended to apply
to Gentiles, such as ourselves.
As for the Ten Commandments, if you
are referring to the Catholic Church,
we affirm all ten.
Our interpretation of those commandments
though, is different than your interpretation
of them. To justify that, I can refer
you to Matthew 16:18-19.
" 18 And I tell you that you
are Peter, and on this rock I
will build my Church, and the
gates of Hades will not overcome
it. 19 I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of Heaven; whatever
you bind on earth will be bound
in Heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in Heaven."
Matthew 16:18-19 |
I hope these help! Please feel free
to write back if you have any questions.
Eric
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