Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
A couple of thoughts on the ground of locality.
(1) Another issue is if you accept the teaching, how do you determine which leader or set of leaders actually is over the church in the city? The LC model says the "apostle" decides." but then who decides who is the apostle? Clearly this model will lead to wrangling, politics, power plays and accusations--and has. The LC's way is to ignore any leaders or churches who do not cowtow to the movement. Surely that is wrong.
(2) I read recently somewhere, and I'm sorry I can't remember where, that it was actually common practice in the first century for letters to be addressed to people or groups in a city, and no more specifically, and to expect those letters to be delivered or read to the appropriate people. For example, a letter might be written to the Jews in Rome, or the Romans in Jerusalem, and the letter would find its way to the proper people. So it was natural for Paul to address letters the church in the city, because that was the general practice, and nothing else was meant or implied by it.
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There exists no doctrine of one church one city in the New Testament record. If it were all that important there would have a well developed doctrine on it. There's not.
The truth is that Nee's ground of the church doctrine is
Cargo Cult (click) thinking and methodology.
The idea is, if we can reconstruct the ships, compound, and antennae, just so (just like the early church) then God will send the cargo.
But God is not a combination lock.