Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: tblake@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Thomas Blake) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: cults Message-ID: Date: 9 Mar 91 06:08:31 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: State University of New York at Binghamton Lines: 31 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [Someone asked about the practice of shunning former members. I listed some passages (many of which, by the way, have been used by Jehovah's Witnesses to justify their practice of shunning former JW's): Mat 18:17, Acts 20:28, 1 Cor 5:4-12, 2 Thes 3:14, 2 John 9-11. --clh] Only one of these is attributed to Jesus. I have heard others make the point that Jesus freely associated with both Gentiles and Tax Collectors, and did not shun them. It has been suggested that Jesus meant for us to tolerate these members of the fellowship, just as we tolerate these other more notorious individuals, that we should see them an an opportunity for evangelization in the fellowship. (Particularly promising evangelization.) Tom Blake SUNY-Binghamton [I find myself in the odd position of pointing out texts that favor a practice I have grave reservations about myself, but I should point out that Paul's advice distinguished between disobedient Christians and pagans. Christians were expected to shun wayward members of their own flock, but not non-Christians. I Cor 5:9-13: "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons -- not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is ... Do not even eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to judge? God will judge those outside. 'Drive out the wicked person from among you.'" Thus Christ's eating with gentiles and tax collectors is not a contradiction of this. --clh]