The Reformed (capital “R”) faith is fundamental and central to Presbyterianism. The Reformation of our faith aligned the Church with the divinely inspired word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Consequently, the Reformation left no room for human inventions, such as sacraments, and scripture open to interpretation. If we do not understand that, there is little, if any, justification for the Presbyterian Church. This is the view of a layman (me).
Well done in providing context for today’s debate. I just taught an adult Sunday School class about the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy and everyone was shocked that those 5 fundamentals could have ever been in debate.
Always Reforming…According to the Word of God. And never apart from it.
Friends:
The word “Reformation” means: To always search, seek & find the TRUTH. The TRUTHs are in the scriptures. The scriptures are NOT open to opinions or secular gray areas which lead to all kinds of interpretations & manipulations of words & intent. When there is no BLACK line… gray areas confuse the issues. The Truth is that BLACK line… either you are on one side or the other. Can’t straddle and have “pickens” from both. Either believe in the Authority of Scripture OR write your own bible (bible with a little B). God/ Jesus’ words will crush your bible.
There are many differences in meaning in vocabulary being used and going through the discernment process brings out these differences. At a discernment meeting I heard some one say they did not want essentials
because it would mean he would have to disobey his personal conscience.
There is also an attempt to define the Reformation as a breaking away from the dictates and demands of the pope and hierarchies of the catholic church. ( not related to an understanding of Scripture).
Therefore, they do not want any scriptual dictates or essentials put forth
by the church that seems like demands on behavior. Grace means “do whatever seems right in your own eyes” and in the name of Jesus. One of the first steps in discernment must be making a vocabulary list and identifying the meaning behind the words spoken. It only reveals the great divide in vision.
If a soldier is out of line and the drill instructor commands the soldier to, “reform!” the instructor is not inviting the soldier to ‘get creative’ or explore a new type of drill. Nor is the instructor telling the rest of the soldiers to follow the one that is out of line. The instructor is telling the one that is out of line to regroup and to reform back into the prescribed line.
Prior to the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had deviated from scripture in a variety of ways and the Reformers called the church to return, to realign, and reform according to the prescriptions in the Word of God.
The same occurred in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. The German church had deviated from the Word of God and was conforming to new social, political influences. Bonhoeffer and others argued for the church to return to the Word of God!
The current ‘revising’ that is going on in the PCUSA is not the same as being Reformed. Reformation in the PCUSA will require repenting and returning to the church’s true love by reforming according to the Word of God. The Roman Catholic Church did not listen to Luther, nor did the German church listen to Bonhoeffer. Who will the PCUSA listen to?
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The Reformed (capital “R”) faith is fundamental and central to Presbyterianism. The Reformation of our faith aligned the Church with the divinely inspired word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Consequently, the Reformation left no room for human inventions, such as sacraments, and scripture open to interpretation. If we do not understand that, there is little, if any, justification for the Presbyterian Church. This is the view of a layman (me).
Well done in providing context for today’s debate. I just taught an adult Sunday School class about the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy and everyone was shocked that those 5 fundamentals could have ever been in debate.
Always Reforming…According to the Word of God. And never apart from it.
Friends:
The word “Reformation” means: To always search, seek & find the TRUTH. The TRUTHs are in the scriptures. The scriptures are NOT open to opinions or secular gray areas which lead to all kinds of interpretations & manipulations of words & intent. When there is no BLACK line… gray areas confuse the issues. The Truth is that BLACK line… either you are on one side or the other. Can’t straddle and have “pickens” from both. Either believe in the Authority of Scripture OR write your own bible (bible with a little B). God/ Jesus’ words will crush your bible.
There are many differences in meaning in vocabulary being used and going through the discernment process brings out these differences. At a discernment meeting I heard some one say they did not want essentials
because it would mean he would have to disobey his personal conscience.
There is also an attempt to define the Reformation as a breaking away from the dictates and demands of the pope and hierarchies of the catholic church. ( not related to an understanding of Scripture).
Therefore, they do not want any scriptual dictates or essentials put forth
by the church that seems like demands on behavior. Grace means “do whatever seems right in your own eyes” and in the name of Jesus. One of the first steps in discernment must be making a vocabulary list and identifying the meaning behind the words spoken. It only reveals the great divide in vision.
If a soldier is out of line and the drill instructor commands the soldier to, “reform!” the instructor is not inviting the soldier to ‘get creative’ or explore a new type of drill. Nor is the instructor telling the rest of the soldiers to follow the one that is out of line. The instructor is telling the one that is out of line to regroup and to reform back into the prescribed line.
Prior to the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had deviated from scripture in a variety of ways and the Reformers called the church to return, to realign, and reform according to the prescriptions in the Word of God.
The same occurred in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. The German church had deviated from the Word of God and was conforming to new social, political influences. Bonhoeffer and others argued for the church to return to the Word of God!
The current ‘revising’ that is going on in the PCUSA is not the same as being Reformed. Reformation in the PCUSA will require repenting and returning to the church’s true love by reforming according to the Word of God. The Roman Catholic Church did not listen to Luther, nor did the German church listen to Bonhoeffer. Who will the PCUSA listen to?