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
