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From: marty@ism780c.UUCP (Marty Smith)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Re: one more time...
Message-ID: <3873@ism780c.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 14-Oct-86 13:22:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: ism780c.3873
Posted: Tue Oct 14 13:22:11 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 16-Oct-86 19:29:30 EDT
References: <2fa71dcd.33cd@apollo.uucp> <2fa77b2f.46@apollo.uucp> <1500@mtx5a.UUCP> <2722@burdvax.UUCP> <2755@burdvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: marty@ism780c.UUCP (Marty Smith)
Organization: Interactive Systems Corp., Santa Monica, CA
Lines: 40


In article <2755@burdvax.UUCP> devonst@burdvax.UUCP (Tom Albrecht) writes:
[...]
>Secondly, I will continue to assert that the only correct definition of who
>is a Christian and what constitutes a Christian denomination is the
>Bible.  Any group which claims to be Christian, but which refuses to use the
>Bible as sole authority over matters of faith and practice cannot be
>considered in the mainstream of Christianity.

If there is a sole authority over matters of faith, ie the Bible, then there
is no faith.  I believe faith cancels out doubt, and without doubt there
is no faith.  As soon as one accepts the Bible without doubt as the sole
authority over matters of faith, one's faith evaporates.  Faith about
something which is certain is vacuous.  The same must be true of the other
side.  If one totally rejects the Bible and thereby rejects faith, then one
loses all doubt and becomes just as intolerant as his opposite.

>Jesus Christ, the Word of
>God, gave us His written word as a guidebook for the life of the church.

This statement reminds me of a type of picture I always saw at Sunday
school.  In the picture, which is always being held on the lap of my
elderly Sunday school teacher (who always wore a black, gray, or dark
blue dress), Jesus is standing in a cloud of angel hair, hands outstretched,
backed by beams of benevolent golden light from heaven, and a teenage boy
WASP and a younger girl WASP with perfect skin, teeth, and hair, are kneeling
in prayer at his feet, looking up to him with smiles of contentment.

My Sunday school teacher would hold up the picture and smile and say,
"This is what God has for us."  I always felt guilty at that moment, because
no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't cast out of my thoughts the desire to
go home and play baseball instead.

>Jesus prayed for the peace and purity of His church, but peace can only
>come about when members are willing to subject their every thought and
>action to the light of His Word.

I'm going home to play baseball instead.

				Marty Smith