well, we get the truth here a little there a little, and imo a congregation immersed in the Bible is as good a place to get a root, get established, as anywhere. Doctrine gives one a starting point, and we all get started somewhere. If you are led into knowing, rather than respecting that you only have beliefs, and that your mind should be changing, well then you are going to find what you seek, right? And there will be Scriptures that one will break down at, such as what brokentuningfork is suggesting below, that one can then use as a guide, or cling to denial, and the choice is in the individual, not the religion imo.
After all, the doctrines did not spring from nothing, right? If we didn't have them, we would have to reinvent them anyway, on the way to "believes all things." I would be much the poorer if i had not studied in a congregation that had Rapture doctrine, because i would not have seen the Body of Christ in the same light as i have, now having observed what i'll call the competing doctrine (arguably) in practice. And you know what? For all i know, there is going to be a Rapture. I cannot prove otherwise, and i really never meant to even try. I meant to suggest that no one knows, and that there is a competing doctrine which if contemplated will illuminate one's walk with Christ, and might also help to put "beliefs" in their proper place.
brokentuningfork said:
Byrd I have nothing against you personally I have read your other posts and I see that you have a heart against religious pride which blinds people and for that I like you but your doctrine and theology is so loopy you are far too liberal.
You teach so much stuff that is s that is just based on your emotions
rather than scripture. The Spirit will guide us its true but to continually read the scriptures for that is how each and every one of us learned about Jesus. When we became christians we knew very little. Without the Bible or someone quoting scriptures to you from i.e the Gospel of John it would be very hard to know who he is... yes let the Spirit guide you, to the right place... just because you have conservative theology doesn't make you a pharisee. No, that is determined by how you treat people in your daily walk. You need to read the Bible again without your liberal goggles byrd, stop picking and choosing what you like and what you dont like almost like its a grocery store.
I'd be curious which ones you think i don't like, as i can't think of any, and this might speak to mjr's point of "different doctrines," which i agree with, and we might see that the Bible teaches no doctrines such as we imagine, those are developed in the minds of men, revealing their hearts, as those who hold the competing doctrine will make clear when they quote their verses, that establish theirs. Not even considering which may be right, and which wrong, i think it is more important to see that the Sword has already functioned in this scenario, and one is prompted to either start defending their doctrine, or finding their way to "believes all things," but obviously one cannot do both.
So i agree, conservative theology does not make one a pharisee at all. Imo, doctrines do that. Or for that matter, anything that creates a division in one's mind, that separates them from their neighbor, in any of the many ways that the Book invites one to do, if they will only bite on one of the false dichotomies presented; which i'll let you pick one that i don't like, and we'll see, but i'm confident that the end result is going to be "no one really knows," see, which i guess i would do better to be emphasizing that rather than attacking someone's doctrine by way of introducing doubt, because once someone "knows" a thing they are naturally going to defend it i guess.
