Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: crf@tomato.princeton.edu (Charles Ferenbaugh) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Looking for some thoughts on moral theology Message-ID: Date: 25 Feb 90 03:54:37 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Princeton University Mathematics Department Lines: 44 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [daved@academy.westford.ccur.com (508-392-2990) asked about how people deal with Paul's statements. He says that no one takes seriously the command the women be silent in Church, but others are held up as binding. How does one know which is which? bnrgate!bmers58!davem@uunet.uu.net (Dave Mielke) responds that there is no need to distinguish, as all are valid. He indicates that ignoring the commandments is an act of rebellion against God. --clh] This discussion reminds me of a Beetle Bailey cartoon which was in the papers recently. The lieutenant received an order saying, "The general will inspect the men's buns today." Someone else read the order and commented, "That doesn't make sense; I'm sure it's supposed to say 'guns.'" But the lieutenant wouldn't hear of it, and made sure that each man at inspection was holding a plate with a bun on it. The general, looking at this ridiculous sight, couldn't figure out what had happened. Of course the best thing for all involved would have been for someone to call the general and double-check the order. I think the same can be said for our attitude toward the Bible. As a Christian, I consider God's word in much the same way that a soldier would consider his orders. If I understand the military correctly, a soldier has no business questioning the authority behind an order, but is certainly supposed to check and ask questions to make sure an order is properly understood, if there's any doubt. So with me: I try to obey what the Bible teaches, and ask for God's help in doing so, but I still ask questions to try and understand the parts which don't make sense on first (tenth, hundredth, etc.) reading. As Dave very correctly pointed out, some people do indeed use questions of interpretation or understanding as a means of avoiding teachings they don't like, and this is definitely wrong. But he seems to imply that anyone who asks questions about the Bible is being disobedient. Far from it; in fact, asking questions *with a proper attitude* is an important part of correctly handling the word of truth. I would suggest that we should carefully distinguish between these two kinds of questions; the latter says, "I want to be sure this is what the Bible says; if it is, I will obey it." The former says, "I have no intention of obeying this; therefore, it cannot be what the Bible says." See the difference in priorities? Grace and peace, Charles Ferenbaugh