Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassidy
Ohio, I am one of those that believe the Bible does not contradict itself. If there appears to be a disconnect the problem lies in our understanding of the passages.
How do you reconcile the Lord's statement with Paul's?
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There are probably good ways to reconcile the two. But before I even attempt that, we should consider one thing:
Paul was speaking within the bounds supplied by scripture and the words of Christ, not the other way around. If we think there is a problem in aligning two passages that we believe should align, and one of them consists of the words of Christ, then the other passage must be understood within the context of Christ's words.
Of course, the problem really is context.
Jesus was speaking concerning the sins of the Jewish leaders within the context of a nation that was still, at some level, a theocracy. Yes, they were governed by a distant Roman rule and local puppets of that rule. But there still existed the Jewish courts. You could still be hauled before the Sanhedrin. Despite the presence of many non-Jews, it was still the Jewish nation.
Paul is speaking to churches outside of the Jewish nation and admonishing them to avoid taking one another to the civil courts. The dispute is not a matter of civil law, but of brother-to-brother.
And, like in Jerusalem and Israel, there may be others present, but a dispute within the body, even if seen from the outside, is not taking the matter to the civil court. The ruling, whatever it will be, will come from within the church, not from the state.
To declare that there is a "court of opinion" and that must be avoided is only partly true. The true part is that the correct spiritual resolution is not simply a matter of opinion — even among Christians only. But it is not true because the opinion — official or otherwise — by the outside observers (including any worldly court) is not welcome or accepted. (That does not mean that the world cannot arrive at the same conclusion — only that the church will arrive at its own conclusion regardless of the opinion of the world at large.)
One question for you.
You have raised the issue here with the apparent intent of convincing us that we should not be having these discussions. Would you care to state your position on the lawsuits by the LSM and the Local Churches (and Lee in earlier years) against so many Christian organizations and people? Were these proper according to scripture?