Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!christian From: hall@vice.ico.tek.com (Hal Lillywhite) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Fellowship and doctrinal agreement Message-ID: Date: 16 Jan 91 09:10:56 GMT Sender: hedrick@aramis.rutgers.edu Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or. Lines: 71 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article gibson@b11.ingr.com (Stanley) writes: >Someone recently made the comment that they were not in a "church" >because they were not in agreement with any group. >I find that most people have the idea that a local church is made up of >people who all think alike, who are in agreement on every principle. >Certainly unity is required on some points. The fact of Christ's diety, >the plan of salvation, these and others are examples of things that must >be agreed upon for the group to worship together. ... >Fellowship with God is based on Faith in God, not in flawless knowledge >or performance. If God does not demand perfect knowledge of us how can we >demand it of each other? To know God is, and has alway been, to pay >attention to lovingkindness, justice, and righteouness. This sounds pretty reasonable to me. Along these lines, here is something I posted previously on t.r.m. I suspect some will disagree with parts of it (especially the last paragraph) but i submit it as food for thought anyway so I'm not going to worry too much about that. Anyway, here it is: Obviously we feel more comfortable in a church we agree with. After all we expect the church to teach truth and if it is really from God it ought to do so. If I believe differently from what my church teaches then I believe the church must be in error on the points of dissagreement. That said I think there are other points also to consider: 1. I probably don't agree 100% with any other person. 2. I am imperfect and this applies to my wisdom and beliefs. Therefore, in at least some cases I am wrong. (If I only knew which of my beliefs were wrong things might be easier - or harder if I had to give up some dearly held beliefs.) 3. Any human organization is made up of people with these same problems. Therefore these fallible people will make mistakes and have some false beliefs (although these false beliefs will not necessarily be part of the official doctrine, if any). 4. In light of the above we ought not expect perfection in any person or organization on this earth. What then should we expect from a church? I'm sure there are many different reasonable answers, depending mainly upon the background of the person responding. However, here's a list I would use: 1. The church should be founded upon the truth. This of course is a problem to test unless we are absolutely sure of what the truth is but at least I can look for one founded upon what I believe to be true. 2. I probably ought to agree with most of its teachings. However, realizing that I am fallible I should be prepared to consider that I may be wrong and the church right. 3. The church should attempt to conform to the will of God, not try to make his teachings conform to the will of man. 4. I would go so far as to say that the church should be authorized by God. 5. If the Lord gave us apostles, prophets, etc. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man..." (Eph 4:11-15) then it would be nice to find this in a church today. I think true apostles and prophets would be an indication that a church is authorized of God.