Doctrinal Confusion
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Between The Ears BLOG INDEX, with titles and summaries.
Between The Ears BLOG INDEX, with titles and summaries.
Nature of God - Most Churches teach that God is a Trinity, Most Churches of God teach that God is a Binity (yes that's a word), but some teach that God is a Unity, meaning God the Father is the only God, not Jesus in case that wasn't clear. Each camp has its Bible verses as proof, but ignore the other camps' proof texts. I have an opinion formed by reading the Bible and the arguments from all camps, but the truth is the actual nature of God is not up to debate, He is what He is regardless of our arguments. Who am I to resolve the debate?
Calendar - Besides the well known Hebrew calendar, published and freely available, there are at least four competing camps that claim the Hebrew calendar is wrong, but theirs is right, and their calendar is based on nothing but the Bible. The problem I have is that if they all based their calendars on the Bible, shouldn't they all come to the same conclusion? They don't. I've read more than I care to about calendars, and I am not expert enough to tell if one of these represents truth.
All of the people who argue such things are very sure of themselves, or as I like to say "often wrong, but never in doubt". Sometimes I think that love thy neighbor has been replaced with love thy calendar.
It occurs to me that the demons know the truth of each of these controversial doctrines. It appears they were created before the earth (the angels shouted for joy when earth was created - Job 38:7), so they saw their Creator face to face at least once. As far as we know, no new angels are being created. And we understand demons to be fallen angels. The point is that they know God's nature from experience; they know perfectly well His name; and they know how the calendar is counted. But the truth doesn't do them any good. As the Bible says, the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19) - they are not atheists.
Now let me introduce two other teachings - Christmas and the identity of Israel.
#Christmas - It seems every year, someone publishes articles showing that "Christmas" was being kept long before Jesus' birth. They show that He couldn't have been born in December. My intent is not to prove it all over again, but to point out that these articles don't change anyone's behavior. The truth about Christmas is out there. People don't deny it, but they keep on celebrating Christmas.
The identity of Israel is the key to understanding lots of prophecy. Prophecies like "possessing the gates of your enemies" can't be applied to Judah (the modern nation of Israel), but certainly can apply to the USA and British Commonwealth aka BC (Panama Canal, Suez Canal, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Falklands). Prophecies like Israel was promised to become "a nation and a multitude of nations". Again, this doesn't fit Judah the nation of Israel, but does fit the US and BC. Prophecies like "I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah" show they are different peoples. My point is that it is simple, but also important to understand.
You Would Have To Change
Consider a Jew who believes that Israel means Jew. Accepting that one belief that Israel does not equal Jew will put him at odds with his fellow Jews. Where would he go?
Credibility And Authority
People pay attention to every word from the President, Prime Minister, or Pope, but does that guarantee they speak truth? Famous people use their fame as an ersatz authority - think of sports figures or actors, why would you expect wisdom from their lips? They simply have access to a microphone. Think about how powerful it is when an authority figure speaks the truth. And sadly, how destructive it is when an authority figure speaks falsely, knowingly or not.
The people who hold doctrines concerning the nature of God, or calendars may be speaking the truth, but they have no authority or credibility in my life. But if I believed one of them, it would disrupt my life. I would have to leave my current church of 40 years, and go somewhere else. Some friendships would survive, most wouldn't. I have a vested interest in NOT believing them. And it is the same for the Christmas keeper, and the Jew=Israel crowd. Accepting those truths would change everything for them. That's why it's so hard to persuade people.
So should we not try at all? We absolutely should try, the Church was instructed to "preach the gospel, feed the flock". It is one of the big reasons we are here, we are supposed to share the truth we have received. I just never recognized how hard it is to accept some truths until I looked at possibly changing my own long standing beliefs. If I were to act on a new teaching, it would change everything. And I haven't been so persuaded.
I enjoyed this blog and thought it was insightful and accurate.
ReplyDeleteThanks John,Ian, Hans Juan or whoever you are. I was changed by the truth of God, and I did realized that most of my family and friends would think that I was crazy, and they did. I had no desire to leave them, but Christ said that He had to be dead for three days and three nights. So I was given the choice to follow the truth and I did. God's word is truth and it has the ability to change us, for which I am eternally grateful.
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