Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake
Dr Tomes has a degree in economics. Maybe he is really great at economics. I don’t know. I do know that in this op-ed about what Brother Lee taught concerning Satan and sin he missed the boat badly. His methodology leads him to leave out important details... like ‘Satan as sin”.
I like that you bring in outside credible viewpoints like Dr. Burrows. Almost every forum participant has expressed indignation that Brother Lee did not surround himself with theologians to balance his ideas. That is water under the bridge but it is ironic that some participants have objected to your bringing in those outside viewpoints. Anyway, Nigel Tomes is entitled to his opinion and I am sure he is a nice brother but he is no more informed about biblical truths than anyone in this forum. Sometimes he acts less informed.
Drake
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Would you say that Brother Lee did not believe in the independent sinful self? (either independent of God, or satan). To me, Lee's teaching about every person being a "miniature Garden of Eden" suggests this - that there is no real escaping God or satan, they are always "in the Garden". This seems to be the focus of Dr Burrowes work, studying how beliefs changed from the early church period to the time of Augustine and beyond regarding the independent self. The matter of interpreting Paul's words in Romans regarding the flesh and sin, is part of that work.
I believe people are shocked regarding the teaching of satan in the flesh because we don't think of ourselves as being influenced by anyone or anything other than our selves. We think that our free will and free mind is "only us". This sort of independent thinking is particularly ingrained into us in the West. But to balance this teaching about satan in the flesh, is the teaching that God is in our spirit, and this balances things out. As Dr Burrowes implies, we retain free will, however we are not completely independent from the good and evil influences within us.
There's always a battle - a Christian is never in a place where he or she can let down their guard. A person is never in a place where "me and my sin" can rest a little while , while we choose whether we should serve God or the devil. All our thoughts must be checked as either from the devil or from God -" take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" 2 Cor 10:5.