Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
Those dimensions would be the boundary of the future church wouldn't they ?
So the scripture in Revelation gives a clear physical boundary of the church in the new age and yet you deny the physical boundaries of the church in this present age (being the dwellings of each city).
You have put forward the idea of the fellowship of the apostles but apparently you have forgotten that they (who have defined our doctrine by providing us with scripture) are comprised of a total of 12 individuals not two or three. This only reinforces my claim that two or three are insufficient to establish (important) doctrine.
I cannot see how you can continue to claim that two or three can define doctrine when all the evidence is against it - both scriptural (the 12 apostles) and historical (the councils of Nicaea etc).
|
You are using a picture of this future reality and making it the black and white rule for a current church meeting. This is a major error.
1. The doctrine must be based on the black and white word, such as that in Matthew 16-18.
2. Allegories like the NJ in Revelation can be used to add depth and clarity to a doctrine but not to create it. There is a very direct connection between the Breastplate of Judgement in the OT and the Wall in the NT. This connection has been commented on by many Bible expositors including Witness Lee.
To say that the church must be "bound" by the fellowship of the apostles is based on the black and white word of the NT. I am not using the allegory to make the doctrine, merely to make it easier to visualize the doctrine.
But when you say you must have "12" to be a church you have pulled this number out of the absurdity of your "logical mind" and then justified it with this allegory. Your method of Bible exposition is completely flawed.