Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: harling@pictel.uucp (Dan Harling) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: doctrinal standards Message-ID: Date: 30 Jun 91 17:41:21 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: PictureTel Corporation Lines: 36 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article hedrick@geneva.rutgers.edu writes: >Where I have problems with doctrinal standards is in ordinary worship. >My basic perspective is that the Church is Christ's body, not ours. >Doctrine is important, and we should do everything that we can to >encourage competent doctrine. But anyone who has accepted Christ as >Lord and savior is my brother or sister in Christ, and I cannot >conceive of refusing to worship with them because I think they've >gotten something wrong. The PC(USA) accepts just about any Christian >as a member. Our primary doctrinal standard for members is that they >accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We exercise doctrinal >controls where I think it matters (and is called for in the NT), which >is on teaching. One thing we need to remember is that doctrine is for our benefit, not God's. Doctrine is a model of God and His universe, intended for human consumption; God is the reality on which doctrine is based. Of course, being human, we are limited in our understanding of God, and being individuals, our relationships with God are not all the same. Therefore, the ways in which people know (and describe) God are not always identical. Rather than constantly try to correct a brother's (or another denomination's) doctrine, we should first try to understand him and what his terminology means, and see if perhaps he is talking about the same God after all. The bottom line is not a body of beliefs, or the way in which these beliefs are expressed, but the reality behind them: the God whom we worship. Toward Unity in the Body of Christ, ______________________________________________________________________ Daniel A. Harling uunet!pictel!harling PictureTel, Inc. Rockport, MA Peabody, MA Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of PictureTel, Inc.; they are MINE, ALL MINE! (So there.) ---- === ====