Quote:
Originally Posted by Jo S
It seems that a lack of confidence in one's own thinking is what gets most LC'ers in trouble. . . It's not actually the use of your own critical thought that causes divisions. It's not the end all be all, God's word is, but it can help to guard you.
Perhaps Lee's logic did cause divisiveness but if his followers had not given validity to his thoughts then it would have had the power and effect that it had.
My point is, don't be afraid to use logic to understand or defend scripture but it has to be your own. It may help at the very least act as a buffer to protect you from following those that have great confidence in themselves and their own flawed logic. The only danger is solely relying on one's own understanding and letting that seperate you from the one that will never lead you astray.
If I have confidence in myself, it's not really me that I have confidence in but the one who is in me. Needless to say it's a strong foundational relationship with Christ, first and foremost, that will ultimately keep you out of harms way.
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I agree with the above. An irony of the LC (there are many) is that they forbid in others what they celebrate in Mssrs Nee and Lee, viz, the right to think, to inquire, to question, and to make determinations for oneself. LC troops are whipped into an emotional froth by incessant shouting and repetitive chanting then are told if they try to think it will ruin everything. Big Brother has done all their thinking for them.
Paul said, "Whenever you come together, each one has . . . an interpretation". In the LC there is only one interpretation, which came from Lee. Offering alternatives is labeled independence, or divisiveness, or ambition, or rebellion against God's deputy authority.
When the disciples came together there was "much discussion" in coming to group consensus of God's will. The story in Acts 15 uses this phrase repeatedly. The LC fears this kind of open discussion as evidence of instability, and prefers the tight, top-down control that their oriental heritage considers normative.
Back to my initial point, though- the danger is if we love our ideas more than the brothers and sisters of the faith. The faith is simple - did God raise Jesus from the dead on the third day, yes or no? This was clearly the central issue of the NT corpus and for me it remains that. If you ever want a chilling account of perpheral ideas running roughshod over actual human beings, look at the 4th century. In my view, whatever was left of "christianity" as a unified representation of Jesus Christ dissolved completely. Riots, murders, angry and bitter polemics. . . Heart-breaking stuff to read.
That's why I made the sarcastic remark about Mary being the Mother of God - don't implicitly trust your own logic. Let it be tried by the group. (When I say 'you' I'm being general).