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Not All Ad Hoc Is Created Equal

It's the height of ad hockery to appeal to an authority in one case, and reject it in another, for no other reason than disagreeing with its conclusions. Like ecumenical councils, for example. Thus, the question of orthodoxy hinges, it seems to me, on jurisdiction, and only secondarily on the content. Or better said, we can only identify orthodox doctrine once we identify the Church in a non-question begging way, and then the rule of faith she uses.

I focused in like a laser on how putative Christian visible communities function, because frankly, only the visible communities have any pretense of real authority over the individual. But that's just it: a purely invisible "Church" is wide open; you can believe anything you want, and still also believe you  are part of the "Church" of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another added benefit is that you don't have to ultimately claim any of those nasty conclusions from those "imperfect" visible communions, unless of course, they aid you in distancing yourself from another doctrine that you dislike. But you can seem brilliantly above the fray, while you wait for the "pure Church" to emerge.

The Voice Of Humility: Wait a minute, dude! The Lord God is not waiting for me to determine what constitutes His Church, and what it believes! I'm not that smart. Who did I receive the gospel from? Who'd he get it from? Are those guys the Church?

As soon as you can picture an Arian or Monophysite saying, "Hey, man. Take it easy. We all love Jesus, right?" your indifferentism will die.
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