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More Strict than God <BR><a href="http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/EWThrockmorton/11601260/" target=_top>http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/EWThrockmorton/1160 1260/</a> <BR> <BR><blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1><b>quote:</b></font><p>I recall reading an article as an undergraduate regarding legalism. I do not remember the name of the author, nor the title of the article. I do remember a line from the article. The author was noting that many churches have rules for behavior that are not derived from the Bible. The rules seem important to the creator of the rule but should not be imposed on others when such rules make one “more strict than God.” <BR> <BR>I thought of that mostly forgotten article when I read a post by Brian Pengelly (”When You’re Told that What God Has Done Is Not Enough”) on Bridging the Gap, the blog of New Directions. In that post, Brian describes a speech to a local youth group where he acknowledges that he is same-sex attracted. Even though Brian has not been in a same-sex relationship since high school, is married with kids and does not advocate same-sex relationships, he was criticized severely by several youth ministers who attended the meeting. <BR> <BR>...<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>
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Can you think of other things than Homosexuality, tendencies not acted on, that the church is Stricter than God???
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Do you mean "beliefs" or rules that the church declares one must live by? They could be the same. <BR> <BR>No modern church today could function a month with the strict rules given to the Israelites--the hundreds of rules God-given, on every minute detail of life. <BR> <BR>Today, the SDA rules of belief were in the past too strict: no makeup, no jewelry, no movies, no fiction, etc., but there have been changes, not officially, but by the members themselves, which is, after all, where the most changes are made: from the ground up. <BR> <BR>Even in the Roman Catholic church today there are Catholic clergy who challenge the Pope on his position on condoms, and on the 9-year old girl, impregnated by her stepfather and the church excommunicated the doctor, the mother, but NOT the stepfather!! <BR> <BR>An article in the NYTimes today showed what an epidemic it is in Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world. They treat girls as property and they have done almost twice as many abortions than in previous years, and the ages of the little girls are getting younger. Stepfathers, even fathers think of their daughters as their property without rights of any kind. Who speaks out for those "strict rules" where the Pope speaks for God?
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That would be a case of "Less strict than God" wouldn't it, Elaine????
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The Pope IS God's spokeman for a true Catholic. <BR> <BR>It is only a recent phenomenon where individuals make personal decisions on the Bible. For most of Christianity, there was little access to the Bible, and the priests told people what to believe and it was "truth" for them. <BR> <BR>Not until Martin Luther said that we are a "priesthood of believers" did individuals even feel they were given permission to study for themselves.
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Helped Neal to read it four times, eh????
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