Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
If anyone is qualified to ascertain as to whether the "nature" of the business has changed for the worse, it is John the disciple. Paul wasn't there on the beach, nor was James. John was there. He saw the man Jesus. So I look to him for the "last word".
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And for my part, I wouldn't call this "elevating one scripture over another." I'd call this recognizing that all of the Holy Writ is God-breathed but some scriptures preserve negative lessons and we should not be so superstitious or proud to think that we necessarily possess "THE" proper and final interpretation either because it was handed down to us or on account of our own cleverness.
The thesis that you have put forward for some time now, aron, that there was active degradation in the assemblies before the close of the initial Christian period which was recognized and addressed by John in his writings is extremely helpful in my view. All Christian teachers who would give serious consideration to the matter would really have to view Revelation in just that way. The problem is that most avoid dealing with Revelation altogether (and we should be more than cautious as we proceed therein as well!)
I have come to believe that Lee's subjugation of James' epistle to those Pauline was somewhat inaccurate and overly harsh. But the truth is that they were different men who saw things distinctly, as indeed is the case with each New Testament writer. Lee spent a whole lot of time to get into Paul's mindset and I have been benefited by that review of Paul's epistles. But I'm not bound by Lee's interpretations any more than I am bound by any other teacher's, ancient or modern. And I'm encouraged to make a more holistic review of John's writings from the theoretical perspective that he may have had his own approach to the problems of the Judaizers, which I have postulated is the ultimate root of the degradation.
Superficially, at least, the fact the the Roman Catholic Church has "priests" is sufficient evidence for some about the origin of the "leaven" but the approach that further insight into sources might be gleaned from John's writings is unfamiliar to me and very interesting indeed. I intend to read again the body of his writings over this frosty weekend so as to hopefully be better equipped for my part in this discussion.
Grace to you!