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<blockquote data-quote="paul1149" data-source="post: 68803284" data-attributes="member: 280608"><p>Excellent observations and questions. I think the answer is manifold, but there is one root to the whole problem. The hebrew concept of knowledge wasn't compartmentalized, it involved the whole man. For the ancient hebrew, knowledge was<em> yada</em>, which ultimately implied oneness (<em>"In addition to the essentially cognitive knowing already presented, this verb has a purely experiential side. The "knower" has actual involvement with or in the object of the knowing" - Vine's</em>). The greek analog of <em>yada</em> in the Septuagint is ginosko, which is a knowledge so intimate it invokes the sexual union between man and woman. It is the word we derive gynecology from.</p><p></p><p>However the greek culture, which dominated the West at the time of Christianity's birth, exalted head knowledge. Luke writes in Acts that the men of Athens liked nothing better than to sit around and talk about novel ideas. Head knowledge was the coin of the realm, and to a great extent it took over the church.</p><p></p><p>There is a need to define the content of the faith. Heretics like Marcion arose soon after the birth of the church and had to be defined and warned against. Quite a bit of Paul's letters are devoted to defining the faith and guarding against error. We're never going to escape this on this side. And when we focus on "love" without adequately defining it, we quickly get into trouble. (See the current controversy about acceptance of homosexuality, which is roiling the church.)</p><p></p><p>But it's very easy to get so caught up in the intellectual aspects of faith that we forget its goal, the very union that we have with Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When we do this, we end up devoid of Spirit and in rancor and division.</p><p></p><p>The history of Christianity, at least its headlines, is writ too large in this regard, and many have come to see it is a serious error. Many have realized they must put Jesus first and doctrinalism later. There is, of course, a time and place for correction, even strong correction. Jesus himself did so. But we have to rely on the Spirit to discern when that time is, or we will end up with a faith focused on doctrine, while we go around wounding people's souls.</p><p></p><p>In truth, faith feeds love, and love feeds faith, in the same way that faith and works feed each other when understood correctly. But ultimately we will have no need for faith, because we will "know in full" (Paul uses the heightened form, <em>epiginosko</em>).</p><p></p><p>Your criticism is valid, and points to a need for correction in our perceptions and vision.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="paul1149, post: 68803284, member: 280608"] Excellent observations and questions. I think the answer is manifold, but there is one root to the whole problem. The hebrew concept of knowledge wasn't compartmentalized, it involved the whole man. For the ancient hebrew, knowledge was[I] yada[/I], which ultimately implied oneness ([I]"In addition to the essentially cognitive knowing already presented, this verb has a purely experiential side. The "knower" has actual involvement with or in the object of the knowing" - Vine's[/I]). The greek analog of [I]yada[/I] in the Septuagint is ginosko, which is a knowledge so intimate it invokes the sexual union between man and woman. It is the word we derive gynecology from. However the greek culture, which dominated the West at the time of Christianity's birth, exalted head knowledge. Luke writes in Acts that the men of Athens liked nothing better than to sit around and talk about novel ideas. Head knowledge was the coin of the realm, and to a great extent it took over the church. There is a need to define the content of the faith. Heretics like Marcion arose soon after the birth of the church and had to be defined and warned against. Quite a bit of Paul's letters are devoted to defining the faith and guarding against error. We're never going to escape this on this side. And when we focus on "love" without adequately defining it, we quickly get into trouble. (See the current controversy about acceptance of homosexuality, which is roiling the church.) But it's very easy to get so caught up in the intellectual aspects of faith that we forget its goal, the very union that we have with Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When we do this, we end up devoid of Spirit and in rancor and division. The history of Christianity, at least its headlines, is writ too large in this regard, and many have come to see it is a serious error. Many have realized they must put Jesus first and doctrinalism later. There is, of course, a time and place for correction, even strong correction. Jesus himself did so. But we have to rely on the Spirit to discern when that time is, or we will end up with a faith focused on doctrine, while we go around wounding people's souls. In truth, faith feeds love, and love feeds faith, in the same way that faith and works feed each other when understood correctly. But ultimately we will have no need for faith, because we will "know in full" (Paul uses the heightened form, [I]epiginosko[/I]). Your criticism is valid, and points to a need for correction in our perceptions and vision. [/QUOTE]
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