Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
That verse sounds pretty prescriptive to me, and it's also backed up by many other verses. Ever hear that principle of letting the Bible interpret the Bible?
If every descriptive verse in the Bible was prescriptive, then we should all have "all things common." Right? Hey can I borrow your car this weekend?
Do you have any idea what your kind of Christian life would be like? Just cast your net on the other side! Don't worry, just pick up that rattlesnake! When in trouble just appeal to Caesar! Just bring two fish to the love feast!
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Yes I let the bible interpret the bible before when I gave two verses, one mentioning elders in the city, the other mentioning elders in the church, and add to that Revelation which mentions one church per city, and also Paul's letters written only ever to one church per city. In fact, I have word searched church and city in the bible (easy to do online) and it is remarkable just how consistent the words church and city are.
Hypothetically, if the Bible was written today and 2000 years from now people word searched the words "church" and "city" what would they get? Nothing as consistent as revealed in the ancient manuscripts.
You have not thought this prescriptive/descriptive argument through very well because I can just as easily point to these prescriptive verses:
Matt 5:29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.
Matt 5:30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away.
And no where does it say that these commands are not to be followed to the letter. No where, does it say you can disobey these prescriptive commands.
In fact, why don't I quote this one, which says if you disregard obeying Matt 5:29,30 you will be called least in the kingdom:
Matt 5:19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven
Obviously we need to rightly discern between prescriptive/descriptive commands. The situation today is that denominational Christians will study and revere Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Paul's letter to the Ephesians (well, except the parts about head coverings, prophesying, and sectarianism), and never once realize that if the churches that Paul wrote to in the Bible were named by their city name, why on Earth are they are in a church with a different name or a church which does not believe it encompasses all the believers in the city ? I am sure that if there were any sects existing at the time of Paul (e.g. "the Church of Peter's Jewish Compromise", a denomination of Jewish believers who disagreed with Paul's view on mixing with gentiles) and the church in Corinth (the genuine church), they would not have been reading and revering Paul's writings. Furthermore, I am sure that Paul would not have intended his letters to be read by a divisive sect, or sub-division within all believers in the city. For example, I am sure that Paul did not intend his letters to be received by "the Jezebellian Church of Hedonism" within the city of Thyatira.