Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
The James 2:24 "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone."
But instead of outright rejecting the whole book of James . . . .
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This is such a ridiculous interpretation of the thrust of the writing of James.
James was not discussing eternal salvation. He was discussing the outward testimony of those who claimed to be Christians. Some like to think that the outward testimony is not important. Only the inward "reality." But if our initial creation was, among other things, to bear the image of God, then the outward testimony is quite important. If we claim that Jesus changes lives, then it would behoove us to demonstrate lives that are not just like everyone else.
And being more "spiritual" does not do it. You have to actually live in the manner that God would desire. And that means to be righteous.
So when you are being observed, your faith is of no consequence if your living is like someone who does not believe. Who feels free to be unrighteous.
Belief is more than thought. The thoughts are irrelevant if there are no actions. Jesus said that those who obey are the ones who believe. Not those who think the right thoughts.
And reading the scripture doesn't teach you the truth that sets you free. Truly following (obeying) does.
There is no flaw in the book of James.
As for the parts of the Psalms that you choose to despise, You should note that Lee despised many more parts. Not just those where David wanted his enemies destroyed.
BTW. Are you aware that in those times hyperbole of speech was the norm. Victors always destroyed the losers. But destruction implies annihilation. Yet that never actually happened.
There is one time that it appears it was actually supposed to happen and it still didn't. Do you think that God is a monster because he intended that the Canaanites were supposed to be destroyed?
And if God promised that he would defend Israel against their foes, and promised David that he would be king, then why would a prayer to God to take the steps necessary to ensure that both happened be wrong? I do not simply wish evil on my enemy. But neither do I just let them run over me or refuse to defend myself against attack.
Once again, the statement concerning love of neighbor was not simply absolute. It was not "love them without condition." It was "love them as you love yourself." Difficult to deal with that kind of statement. I don't think we love ourselves in a way that we would allow ourselves to be run over by evil. But we also don't (or shouldn't) love ourselves at cost to others. So even defense has limits.
To be honest, I understand the ancient idea that if someone is simply unwilling to abide by societal rules, then they forfeit their right to live in that society. And in the larger context of nations, you could say the same thing about whole groups, like ISIS. But I do not believe that the logical result of that kind of thinking — simply fire-bomb everything from one border to the other of what they control and destroy them all — is acceptable within the context of "love as I love myself."
But that does not mean that war is simply not to be fought even if pushed upon you. (Or at least that is the way I understand it.) You have to declare that you are an absolute pacifist to rightfully declare that David praying concerning God's intervention to stop the persecution of His people by its enemies is anything but just. We are commanded to love. But there is a demand for righteousness by the One (God) who has the full right to punish the unrighteous, or refrain from such punishment.
It is hard to see Lee's declarations concerning James as much more than a need to not be held to that standard. As long as you are only held to a theoretical or positional standard of deemed righteous, then actual righteousness is unimportant. And there is evidence that Lee learned from one who was almost openly unrighteous. And then Lee himself had to deal with his unrighteous business ventures and his openly sinful sons being put in charge of the LSM and therefore in charge of much of the affairs of the local assemblies of the LCM.
I know you will make some hollow claim about slander. But these are far from slanderous. They are far from statements of untruth. They have been established as absolutely true over and over. Only the ignorant could say such things. Ignorant because the truth has been blocked from them. Or ignorant because they have forced their hands over their ears as they close their eyes tightly and shout "blah blah blah blah" over and over to drown out the words of truth that they refuse to hear.