Discussions in the Baptist section-Scripture the rule of faith?

[tall73]

I thought with a faith icon of the Bible that Baptists would be more interested in discussing the details of particular Bible texts when engaging in debate.

Yet in the Scriptures thread, the alcohol thread, etc. it seems that often times folks will take their position and then ignore Scriptural arguments presented against that position. Why are folks avoiding the specifics? We can all learn from the discussion of the specific texts, and who knows whether one or the other, or both will have to change their view in light of what the Scriptures say?

In previous interactions in General Theology (admittedly most in years past), I found people would not just pass over specific texts raised in opposition to their view, but would try to examine them and address evidence one way or the other. Here if someone presents a text that at first glance does not support a person's view it seems like folks ignore it and restate their view. This doesn't result in either side looking at things more closely. The sometimes well kept secret is that even in General Theology where there can be tremendous disagreement folks will at times change their mind on a position when they see it from Scripture that they were incorrect. I have done this more than once, and there is no shame in changing views because of Scriptural evidence.

I have not always been a Baptist. I was a Seventh-day Adventist for many years. I found after a great deal of study that I could not agree with a number of the doctrines of that church any longer as they did not seem to match up with the Bible. So I left that church. It was not pleasant at first to compare what I had believed with what I was reading in the Scriptures. However, I continued because the Bible is God's word, and I couldn't just choose to believe what I wanted and ignore it.

If we are so afraid of changing our position that we will not address the specifics of the texts presented to us, what good is the position we hold? Most of the times when I changed my views it was because I was defending what I later found to be an erroneous view and when looking at the details, it just didn't match up.

Let's pray for the Spirit to direct our studies, and go back to the Scriptures for each of our views. If you can't defend your position from Scripture then perhaps you should re-think your position. There are worse things than changing your mind in light of Scripture evidence. But neither side of a discussion benefits from not looking at the Scripture evidence.

 

[4x4toy]

You were a SDA , I like Veith and Batchlor , especially Veiths teaching on creation .. On alcohol , I don't see scripture forbidding it but warnings .. Paul even prescribes a little wine .. I used to hang out at some notorious beer joints even biker clubs and starting fights just to see how long it took to get throwed out .. I certainly feel free to drink a beer if I want but rarely do .. I don't like being around drunks anymore and that's a fact .. On scripture , I agree , if you want to get anywhere you have to do things the way scripture says if it's as simple as praying with hands lifted up or laying on of hands , anointing with oil and praying for the sick .. I've found if we do our job God does his .. I also find some very smart folks on these forums to glean from ..

 

[branchofthevine]

Tall, it's because people believe that their interpretation/understanding of Scripture is what Scripture is actually says, and so anyone who offers up a different opinion or understanding of Scripture isn't just disagreeing with their interpretation/understanding, but they are really going against the plain reading of Scripture itself.

People don't usually hold to Scripture Alone, usually it is something more along the lines of "my interpretation of Scripture alone" which is why they don't like to evaluate their beliefs, but only hold on to their evangelical traditions. And also, a lot of people just don't have the skills necessary to adequately reason through their own beliefs, and what Scripture says, so in turn people just trust their pastor/favourite speaker and not really question what their told most of the time because they can't come up with alternatives on their own.

Plus, no one wants to be wrong on the internet, nor proven wrong by some stranger who is more than likely being more 'arrogant' than we'd like. It definitely is an issue that needs to be raised, but it is also a more complicated one than what it first appears to be