I'll hear no more of your apologies. Shape up or shut up.

[razeontherock]

<staff edit>

False dichotomy. Jesus said go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. He wasn't physically around 4 years later to comment. What you're seeing in Paul's letters in almost every case is exactly such follow-up, only commenting on problems that couldn't wait til his physical return.

So what you see is Paul enforcing what Jesus said, which is perfectly appropriate for an Apostle / Bishop. You just need to factor in the amount of time involved

 

[razeontherock]

<staff edit>

This is a fair question, and the matter of "Church discipline" does indeed get dealt with differently by different sects. And you can probably already guess it is a topic that gets much attention within Calvinism

Again, what the Bible teaches is not that it is a question of who gets helped within the Body, vs who can only be helped by being removed from it. It is a question of time. Jesus' words to the point:

"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. (Matthew 18:16) But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell [it] unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican."

So you see, Jesus really did make provision for the hard case being kicked out of Church. Yet notice that the issue here is not the offense, or even the repetition of it. Rather, it is whether the offender is willing to come clean about it. Which is why restitution came to the forefront, then penance, and then indulgences ...

Somewhere in there is purity, and then with power in came corruption. Back to purity, coming clean (via confession and making amends, where necessary) will produce in us new habits, and the ability to live within a community w/o offense. And this is where modern Christianity comes up short; we lose community, and try to make it all about the individual. It just doesn't work like that!

The person willing to confess their faults one to another, is willing to receive the help needed.

 

[Philothei]

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[someguy14]

I did enjoy it. Thank you.

God bless friend.

 

[LOCO]

Or if you grow up in it and aren't expose to much else. It wasn't until my 20s
that I started to learn that learn that most Christians weren't as wacked as the people I grew up with.



I am currently attending RCIA and one thing I am learning is the biggest real differences between Catholics and Protestants is cultural, not theological. Protestants divide up into warring sects whereas in Catholicism, you find all variations, from the perfectly sane to the downright loony, all under one roof.

I think that Catholics have the right idea in that sense.

Did you grow up in a cult?

 

[Aeneas]

Did you grow up in a cult?

I don't know about that, but he certainly tends to make sweeping generalizations about Christianity based on what appears to be experience limited to one apparently dysfunctional church.

 

[razeontherock]

A lot of that here lately ...

 

[Aeneas]

Yep