jt JD you are disingenious from the
start. While claiming to be a pastor and not a
theologian you title this little rant against God's
Word 'A heuristic consideration' which
is 'theological' - The word isn't even found in a regular
dictionary
JD: so the word is poorly chosen because it is not in one of your "regular
dictionaries?" I have a Websters and and a Cambridge dictionary and the word
appears in both. We, all of us who study the biblical
message, are putting scripture together in an effort to
make the Message work for us with the least amount of
problems. "Heuristic' has to do with that very
process.
jt: Actually I found a larger dictionary with the word in
it - still it has nothing to do with understanding
scripture. It is from German heuristisch ie: helping to
discover or learn, specif. designating a method of education
or of computer programming in which the pupil or machine
proceeds along empirical lines using rules of thumb to find
solutions or answers. This has nothing to do with Holy
Spirit revelation and would not be understood by
ordinary every day sheep (the ones
God calls).
JD: Apparently you are upset that I did not
include myself as being a theologian.&n bsp; Thank
you but, alas, I am a lowly pastor and nothing
more.
jt: Has God put you in a position to care for and be an
example to part of His flock? How can you
shepherd anyone or be an example to others of how to
follow Christ when you are not walking in the light
yourself? You have legalized God's Word and made it into
something it was never meant to be while ATST embracing an
entirely opportunistic message for yourself.
JD: Honestly, I have no
idea what this last sentence means.
jt: In all of your anthropological considerations have you ever wondered why only
8 persons were saved through the flood the first time and why
Jesus brings this up in Matt 24:38,39? God was so
pleased with 99.9% of the world population that he destroyed
them all. You and Lance remind me of the Jews who clung
to the fact that they were 'Abraham's seed' and that was going to save
them. You can quote your 'incarnation' doctrine all over
the place but if you do not have fruit in your life meet for
repentance - you will wind up in the same shape as them.
As for the things written aforetime (which includes all of God's laws,
statutes, and commandments); they were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope. You can throw them out if
you like. As for me I believe "The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul" and my soul
needs converting every day until it is completely
conformed to the image of Christ.
JD: And that is
fine. I cannot
ignore the comments in Romans 2-5 nor the entire letter
to the Galatians on this
subject.
jt: The entire letter to the Galatians has to do with
Jewish legalism and Romans 2 is not teaching that the
unregenerate have God's Law written on their hearts JD.
We have been over this before. Everyone in the whole
world is not immediately born again because Jesus was born in
a flesh body, died, and rose from the dead historically.
My comments below constitute a substantive consideration that would
best be rebutted with equally substantive
comments. Emotionalism and judgmentalism are not
appropriate responses to argumentation. Such is
the reasoning of a lynch mob -- not a student in a
discussion forum. I will be glad to consider any
biblical or philosophical argument you may wish to
share. JD
A Heuristic Consideration
The scriptures I have seen used to support the Law are
scriptures written to and for and by the Jews on that
subject. The Law is a late date administration
coming hundreds if not thousands of years after the creation
event. When it was presented to
"mankind," it was given to an extremely small part of
"mankind." The Old Testament is not the
story (IMO) of the people of God verses the condemned.
Rather, it is the story of the people of God AS DEFINED BY
THE MOSICAL COVENANT exclusive of any other anthropological
consideration. There is no reason to
believe that the rest of mankind is lost and hell bound
because they were not Jewish. In fact, in Romans
2 gives us a little insight int o just how things may
have worked for the 90% of humanity who were never given the
Law. Paul makes it clear (I believe) that
th e purpose of the Law was best seen in the fact that it
served as a tutor until the coming of
Christ................. who, in turn, reconciled the 10%
(the Jew) with the 90% (everyone else on earth).
Perhaps I have not stated things as accurately as I
might - being a pastor and not a
theologian. But the above needs to be considered as we
formulate our opinions on The Law.
JD
