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earthless -> RE: A Case of Demonic Possession (5/8/2008 10:01:18 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cow451 quote:
ORIGINAL: earthless I don't see how you can choose what to believe and what not to believe if you claim to be a Christian that says the Bible is the Word of God. But you are doing it every time you interpret scripture. Everyone does. Again, context is key. The Bible is not a "well, that's just your interpretation........." issue. The core essentials of Christianity, what makes it Christianity and not something else, are plainly laid out all throughout the context of its 66 books. Secondary issues do exist, yes. But the core of what makes our belief system what it is are cemented in its writings. In a perfect world, every believer would dutifully study the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15) in prayerful dependence upon the Holy Spirit’s illumination. But we know this is not a perfect world. Not everyone who possesses the Holy Spirit actually listens to the Holy Spirit. There are Christians who grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30). Some reasons for this are also unbelief, lack of training, poor hermeneutics, ignorance of the whole Word of God, selfishness and pride, failure to mature, and undue emphasis on tradition. I like how S. Michael Houdmann puts it: quote:
On the essentials, the Bible is abundantly clear. There is nothing ambiguous about the deity of Christ, the reality of heaven and hell, and salvation by grace through faith. On some issues of less import, however, the teaching of Scripture is less clear, and this naturally leads to different interpretations. For example, we have no direct biblical command governing the frequency of communion or the structure of church government or the style of music to use. Honest, sincere Christians can have differing interpretations of the passages concerning these peripheral issues. The important thing is to be dogmatic where Scripture is and to avoid being dogmatic where Scripture is not. Churches should strive to follow the model left us by the early church in Jerusalem: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). There was unity in the early church because they were steadfast in the apostles’ doctrine. There will be unity in the church again when we get back to the apostles’ doctrine and forego the other doctrines, fads, and gimmicks that have crept in.
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