Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
The issue is not whether 100 people can "stand as the church in New York."
The issue is those people's claim that doing so puts them in better stead with God than those who don't.
The nation of Israel argument sounds good until you realize that it doesn't map to any reality the Bible tells us to observe. Nowhere does the Bible tell us to meet as the church in the city nor to "stand" as the church in the city nor to compare either to the nation of Israel--let alone inform us that doing any of those things will put us in better stead with God.
So arguing about it is like arguing about things in the Star Wars universe. E.g.: Can an Acklay defeat a Gorog? It only matters if the Star Wars universe is real enough to you for it to matter. But it has no connection to actual reality except in the way in borrows from reality to create a fictional one. That's all the nation of Israel argument does.
The church in the city according to the LCM is a fictional reality. I'm sure fans of Gorogs have very logical arguments in defense of believing Gorogs can defeat Acklays. But in actual fact there are no Gorogs and there are no Acklays and the point is moot.
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That was not his point. What he said was that if you are a Jew and you move to Israel, what is wrong with naming your country Israel? You are taking a stand as Israel, on the proper ground of Israel, why not call yourself Israel?
To be fair to many in the LRC they don't use terms like "better" but rather "proper" or "normal".
The NY analogy doesn't work because no one calls themselves "the church in NY". But if you are in Houston, you meet with Christians as the church, and you need a name so that you can have an address, a phone number, be incorporated, etc. In that case, why shouldn't you call yourself the church in Houston?
You are arguing about the name not putting you in better stead with God. But, if you name yourself the "Roman Catholic Church" it is certainly significant and will affiliate you with certain people, groups and Christians. It will denominate you from others. So then the question is not about putting yourself in better stead with God but rather putting yourself in a better position to be one with all believers. If you agree that a name like "Roman Catholic Church" puts you in a worse position to be one with all believers then certainly there is at least one name that puts you in a better position.