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The Paradosis Center was established to bring together

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Catholics, Orthodox, and Evangelical Christians to have

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meaningful theological exchanges centered on Scripture

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and rooted in the great tradition.

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The old slogan for ecumenical discussions used to be

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'Doctrine divides, Service unites'

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The Center is not that.

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We believe that yes, doctrine can divide but it also can unite.

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And we are asking everyone that's a part of the center to

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come fully with your convictions, with your theology

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and bring that to the table.

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If we're going to be the Church of Jesus Christ worldwide,

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somehow at least, we need to indicate to people who are not believers

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that we can at least talk to each other.

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We have different student activities and lecture series.

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We did the conference last September and will host another one.

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We go to conferences and we also reach out to local clergy.

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The goal of the Center is that we might move more deeply

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into our Christian faith.

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Not reduce our Christian faith to just the bare minimum of agreement.

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The Center is primarily geared for students.

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JBU has a diverse student population and so the conversation between

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Catholics and Evangelicals are actually already on going in dorm rooms

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and in classrooms and over the lunch table.

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The Paradosis Center has definitely enriched my faith and

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my experience at JBU in a really positive way.

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First off, it's gotten me involved with different leadership opportunities

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and it also has just opened up for me to get into the conversation

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in a really intelligible and a respectful way.

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Is there really any way to sit down at the table of somebody

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who you vehemently disagree with and really have a civil conversation with them?

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I think the future of the Center is continually reminding students,

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yes, that's possible.

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And to do so then, we must bring our theology, we must bring our doctrine,

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we must bring everything that we have to the table in order to help each other

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move further in all that Christ has to offer us.

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It's really, really powerful to be a part of something that

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has meaning and has eternal implications.