Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Ohio,
This is Igzy's post. There is a clear scriptural basis to teach that the believers are "branches" of a vine tree and that the entire "vine tree" is Christ. Likewise there is a scriptural basis to say that believers can be compared to members of the Body. Each member can be very different in function yet they still all have the same DNA as the body. They have the same life and nature. It is also true that the Body is sometimes referred to as a picture or allegory, but not always.
He does not mention that the church is the Body of Christ, this is not an allegory, it is a fact. So yes, pictures can refer to some Biblical references to the Body, but "plain words" refer to other references to the Body.
Now WL took this teaching to a very dangerous extreme, using language that the NT never uses, and concepts that are clearly forbidden in the OT, though somewhat ambiguous in the NT. Still, he never taught this without a Biblical basis. I have several issues with his teaching, but the one thing I appreciate is that he made it clear how he derived this teaching from the Bible.
Now Igzy is clearly stating that WL's teaching was wrong, I would like the Biblical basis on which he derives this conclusion. A simple and fundamental request.
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I agree with some of WL's teaching here, but most other posters do not. Some like
Igzy feel that the matter of "
relationships" in the Recovery is seriously damaged by this and other teachings of WL. I agree, because I have witnessed too much public shaming and abuse, and too much back room political backstabbing in the LC's, to believe that LC leaders have much of a personal relationship with our heavenly Father. When I consider all the time invested into so-called high peak truths, I see only rotten fruit, and nothing good to show for it.
That said, I have read other authors who have said similar things to WL, so it's hard for me to say WL's teachings on the subject are all wrong. Since he did pass on a judgmental spirit to the whole of the Recovery, perhaps that partly "muddies the waters."
Another factor in WL's teachings is his extensive use of allegorizing and drawing inference. He regularly draws conclusions in his teachings that are not implicitly stated in scripture. Notable is the conclusion that "
man becomes God." The Bible never states this, but LSM promotes it as if scripture did. I say, if this is some long lost recovered truth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, then this teaching ought to be a great blessing to the church, but it is not. In fact, the only effect I have witnessed is arrogance and pride. Not very good fruit.