Christian Theocratic Intellectuals Consortium

[IronHalo]

here those of us who are full in Christ and thirst for knowlege can come together and discuss the great questions that haunt us all. PLEASE be civil, this is not a fight club.

 

[Silent Enigma]

What's a great question to get us started.

 

[IronHalo]

I don't know, care to give it a shot?

 

[Silent Enigma]

Well, how do we discern the will of God without descending into petty rulemaking?

 

[IronHalo]

Good question. I guess in order to avoid legalism and yet stay in tune with the word of God, we have to not only consult, but accurately translate the scripture. I wouldn't call rulemaking petty, after all, it's the backbone of human civilization.

 

[Silent Enigma]

I wouldn't call rulemaking petty, after all, it's the backbone of human civilization.

Oh definitely. We shouldn't waver on moral absolutes. And the societies that do reap the consequences. I'm referring to the mindset that makes a sort of religious legislation out of grey issues. For example, some take the concept of one's body being a temple of the Holy Spirit and infer it to mean you have to follow a very stringent diet. Otherwise your "god is your belly". While they can quote a few miscellaneous scriptures relating to their point, they've gone beyond reasonable biblical exegesis.

I give that as an example. There are an unlimited number of doctrines a person can come up with, depending on the method of interpretation you apply to scripture.

One person may say "The bible doesn't say that you can (x) so therefore..." And also the reverse: "The bible doesn't say that you can't (x) so therefore..." Either way, a person can seemingly get unlimited doctrinal mileage out of either statement.

 

[IronHalo]

oh, i completely agree. I guess that the best thing we can do, is be in constant fellowship to prevent such uneeded fanatacism and try to avoid legalist mass mindsets in the process. do you agree?

 

[Silent Enigma]

What do you mean by "constant fellowship" and "legalist mass mindsests" ?

 

[IronHalo]

constant fellowship= staying in touch and in church with other christians
legalist mass mindsets= the other christians becoming influenced with the legalism and confusion trying to be avoided

 

[Silent Enigma]

Ah, I see.

 

[Sojourner<><]

Well, how do we discern the will of God without descending into petty rulemaking?

Greetings

My understanding as of lately has been that the essential element of Christ's love in our hearts is what makes the difference between true following of his commands and the dry legalism of the pharisees and sadducees. Paul writes about this in Romans and Galatians, and he says that "love is the fullfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10).

 

[IronHalo]

My understanding as of lately has been that the essential element of Christ's love in our hearts is what makes the difference between true following of his commands and the dry legalism of the pharisees and sadducees. Paul writes about this in Romans and Galatians, and he says that "love is the fullfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10).

nicely worded. i agree. how about you silent enigma?

 

[Silent Enigma]

Sounds very general, but good. Also, some very well intentioned people can become very legalistic out of fear. People with an obsessive-compulsive kind of personality. And they, out of love, want eveyone else to "make it to heaven" as well, so start getting rather pushy.

Plus, the term "legalistic" is used in many divergent ways, which muddies our discussion.

 

[Bizzlebin Imperatoris]

Well, how do we discern the will of God without descending into petty rulemaking?

You must see God

 

[IronHalo]

indeed.