Scripture uses pronouns such as "we", "us", "our". Getting this wrong spells the universe of difference and can slide you down to errors of mega proportion.
1. Type I error: When Scripture uses "we/us/our" to refer to human beings collectively, but one interprets it as a reference to believers. With this error, no one could ever be a believer and the Scripture can never be availed of for comfort.
2. Type II error: When Scripture uses "we/us/our" to refer to believers, but one interprets it as a reference to human beings collectively. With this error, everyone is a believer and whatever Scripture says, nothing matters, since every one is a child of God hence, comforts the one in their sins.
In my study, Old Lutheran JBFA (repeat I mean BoC JBFA teaching), gets the above correctly and delineates between the two ways Scripture uses the above pronouns. I may be called biased but honestly, the BoC is a respectable document. I would prefer to read it second to the Scripture and I even prefer to read it rather than the works of Synodical Fathers. One should stop circling the wagons.
10 comments:
Many seem to dig a hole by having a doctrinal destination and then working their way to it by perverting Christ's Word. Others fall into the same hole because they follow men instead of Christ. Those who stand outside the hole warning of the danger are the troublemakers - making the hole diggers and the men followers feel bad. It becomes not a matter of exactly what Christ declared and commanded but how people feel about it - does it provide comfort - regardless of it's faithfulness to Scripture and the Confessions. Challenging times.
Brett,
Type I is committed by Calvinism.
Type II is committed by UOJers.
There are more emotional conversions happening than there are true Word conversions. This is my observation.
Some won't even look at what we are saying due to emotional attachments rather than Word attachments.
LPC
Ichabod linked a blog article that speaks of these issues.
Ichabod's thread: http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2010/08/perfect-description-of-welsels.html
quote from article:
"In the past, God’s unchanging Word was the ultimate test of right and wrong and our goal was knowing God’s will and aligning our thoughts to His truth. Now the goal is to bond diverse people into a “family” that must “respect” all kinds of Biblical interpretations and contrary opinions—even when conclusions clash with the Bible."
Quote taken from Churchmouse and Churchmouse Campanologist here http://churchmousec.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/rick-warren-the-church-growth-movement-and-dissenters/
Hegelian dialectic is thriving in the Lutheran churches and is leading them into the New Age Emergent religion.
LPC - I am sure you have experienced this: "Blood is thicker than doctrine." Lutherans forget that family shunning worked during the Reformation - to keep people away from orthodoxy.
Pr. Greg,
LPC - I am sure you have experienced this: "Blood is thicker than doctrine.
Yes indeed. Family pressure happens in Christian families too and not just say in Islamic ones.
I have seen a congregation reduced to skeleton because when one member of the family goes, he/she takes the whole clan with him/her.
LPC
LPC - I like studying the trivia of recent church history. I have seen many cases of Lutheran church leaders of one generation having apostate sons who led their sect to perdition. Fibby Fuerbringer (LCMS) is just one example. The sons cannot be criticized because their fathers were saints.
The linked article is from here: http://churchmousec.wordpress.com.
The article on dealing with dissenters, mentioned by Brett, is here:
http://churchmousec.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/rick-warren-the-church-growth-movement-and-dissenters.
Pr. Greg,
While I was traveling on my way to Lutheran Theology, I used to be friends with some Peskecostal pastors. Up in that time one of them was friendly to me. Until I told them to avoid the fad of Rick Warren.
Then I stopped being his family friend. The relationship went downhill since then.
Lately I just noticed how the LC-MS readers of mine have so much in common with my Peskecostal pastor friends of mine.
You can discuss the move of the Spirit with them but never discuss doctrine.
Thanks for the links, am reading them right now.
LPC
That's good. I am so glad when someone does all that work - and I can copy it.
Church Mouse is now linked on Ichabod: http://churchmousec.wordpress.com. He is doing more research on the seminaries at the moment.
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