Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
It is still the church and to speak in such a negative way about it says more about the one speaking than it does about the church.
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I'd looked at the recent forum thread on Spurgeon putting a curse on the denominations. Specifically he said "a plague on denominationalism". But apparently we have to wait a week to comment so I'l just post here.
First off, the "denominations" didn't exist for the first 1,500 years of Christianity. There were no Lutherans before Luther. So did Luther err? Was "justification by faith" a rebellion against God-established order. Hardly, we'd say. So why bash his followers for taking a name? "We're the church who follows Luther's teachings on justification, but we don't have a name"? Would that help?
No, I think the person putting a plague on denominations just wants to bash his fellows, who conveniently provide an easy target. But they are the church of Jesus. So why not receive them as God has done, in Christ Jesus? Why put a plague upon them? Does this really please the Father? I personally don't think so.
And for all its faults, which perhaps are many, the Eastern Orthodox stands as a continuous testimony of Jesus Christ. How many cults has the EO spawned? Not many, that I can think of. Can the church that followed Luther, Spurgeon included, make such a claim?
And the Abbyssinean (Ethiopian) Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Orthodox Church and many others who trace their spiritual lineage to the first centuries. . . easy enough to judge them. But why judge the church of Jesus?
No, we are called to bless, to bless and not to curse.
On a mostly un-related note, the analysis of the LSM LC by the CRI was abysmal; it gives "shallow" a new standard... but if Hank Hanegraaff aka the Bible Answer Man wants to join the Eastern Orthodox as part of his spiritual journey why not. I don't see the two issues as related. So let's bless his journey.
But his writing is poor. (That is not a curse but a simple assessment.) He & Gretchen Passantino lack critical thinking skills. Perhaps they've been fuddled by funding issues. . . if you look at his lifestyle (lavish) and his writing (marginal to poor), well what can I say?
Too much of the talk is on the church and not Christ, and too much of what we call "Christ" is unrelated to scripture's portrayal. Look at the LSM LC "Christ" - doesn't care for the poor, doesn't care for basics of human rightness or righteousness ("we don't care about right and wrong"), doesn't care for one's neighbors but "the church", spends considerable time bashing "Christianity", hides its cultural lenses as if they were "transformed" away magically, doesn't respect scripture (calling it "fallen human concepts"), is proud, won't learn from anyone or humble itself before its fellows.