Deceptions on Campus

[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by kumbaya

In an effort to make this shorter, I'm just responding to new points....

I read your whole post but only want to address one point about names, because it is most related to this thread topic.

Why can't "the local church in" be both a name and a descriptor?

The surname Smith for example is a name today, but it once meant someone who worked with metal. It was once both a name, and a descriptor.

I believe Witness Lee emphasized that "the local church" is not a name because he did not want it to become merely a name, and lose its meaning as a description. But it can be used as a name (e.g. legally), and if so, then it is the only name allowed. I don't think Lee was contradicting Nee, who said:

"A church can only be named after its locality. It cannot have any other name." ~ Watchman Nee.

A denomination is not just "having a name", it is to have a name which is not a "proper name". For example, the proper name for a wife is the name of her husband, but her taking the name of her dog or any other name is not the proper name.

A suitable candidate for a proper name for the church, is the only name which the Bible uses for churches. The only name which the bible uses for churches, is the locality. "the church in ... etc". Some people argue that this is only descriptive and therefore doesn't have to be followed.

These same people probably believe in baptizing by immersion only (if they are baptists, for example, or influenced by that teaching) - these things are also only descriptive. Many Christians also believe that a person must speak in tongues - again, speaking in tongues is descriptive, not prescriptive. There are many things in Christianity which are descriptive, not prescriptive. If we were to follow only the clear prescriptive commands of the bible, much of Christianity would not exist. Another example is that there is no prescriptive command to meet on a Sunday every week for church. But Christians do that because the bible describes (not prescribes) people meeting on "the Lord's day".