Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Agreed. In the LC I grew so weary of missing the plain words of scripture and always looking for some hidden significance, which only the "ministry" could provide.
|
So, so true. I think the LC appealed to a lot of guys because men like hidden meanings more than women. We like prophecy, we like having the Big Picture view, we like answers. And to be sure, the Bible is replete with symbols, parables, allegories, cryptic passages, strange numbers with hidden significances. 666 comes to mind. The book of Lamentations has a built-in acrostic. Jesus compared himself to the manna, the bronze serpent of the OT. Nathan told David a fake story to catch him in his own "virtue." Revelations is a book of "signs."
But the Bible is also a book of poetry, history, narrative, simple teaching, regulations, epistles ... it's got it all. I came out of the Baptist camp so the LC was just another step in figuring it all out. I think (and remember, I'm a defender of W. Lee in most respects) Lee tried to avoid emphasizing this side of the Christian life, the analytical/puzzle/truth side, by adding the word "Life" to his studies. It didn't work, at least as far as I can tell. A kind of life did develop but it was as narrow and, tbh, boring as any Baptist product.
As I age (I'm approaching the big 7-0) I yearn to know Christ in a fresh, quick, living, to the point way, to semi-quote someone in the vicinity. I feel like Jacob returning to Bethel, this time with a lot of wrinkles and scars.