Recent content by Melethiel

But as other people our age agreed this morning, the conveyance of the Word can be marred when the pastor reads the passion narrative in the tone of voice you would use to read a children's story. You've completely missed the point. You've responded to the exact opposite of the point, in...

Adam is warned that in the day he eats of the tree he will die. And yet Genesis states that Adam lived for 900+ years after that. if we're reading this so literally, shouldn't Adam have dropped dead right then? And if it's referring to physical death and Adam was immortal prior to the fall...

To be fair, Christmas Eve is a vespers, a vigil service. It's not a divine service or a feast in and of itself. The church I attended actually did have communion, and I found it very odd. It's just as weird as having communion on Good Friday.

An old pietist tradition that should be done away with ASAP. It probably started in rural areas where churches might not have a pastor every week, but now it's defended with lame excuses, like pointed out above.

....but that's the whole point of stylized, non-realistic icons. I also don't see the problem.

There is a reason that traditional iconography (as opposed to later Renaissance art) is decidedly not realistic. It is precisely because we do not know what Christ truly looked like that iconography as is fully realized in the Eastern tradition is very symbolic in its forms. Regarding your...

Well, if there's no liturgy and no Eucharist, it's not really church...

Ouch. I think I just wouldn't go on the non-DS days...I'd just leave angry.

Agreed. I actually depend on the music quite a bit and find it rather frustrating when it's just the lyrics up on the screen with an unfamiliar tune. If people don't read music, it probably doesn't matter either way for them, so why not stick to the hymnal?

Because that's just the way it is.

What's next, requiring baptism for communicants?

My previous church (which was WELS) only had one service. They offered communion twice a month. I asked about it and got the "it won't be special" reply. There was active resistance to even the thought of weekly communion. I was told to stop bringing it up. So that mentality is definitely...

Is going to church required for salvation? Is listening to a sermon required for salvation? Is reading the bible required for salvation? Nice straw man.

It's only legalistic if you think that the Holy Eucharist is adiaphora. To insist that you must use a pipe organ instead of a piano would to be legalistic. To insist that we maintain the example of the early church, and that we really think through our belief in the real presence, is not...

Not just in the Confessions. We're told in Acts that the church met weekly for the breaking of bread. Seems the apostles didn't buy the "it won't be special" nonsense. We also know from history that a service without the Eucharist as the focal point would have been unthinkable - even for...