Subject: God Intentionaly Made Bible Difficult? |
Bible Note: Greetings Brothers in Christ, This is my first posting, I hope I don't violate the spirit of the forum. This has been, for me, the "64,000 dollar question", so to speak. The Bible itself speaks of difficulty (2 Pet. 3:16) so it's no wonder that the question comes up. For a long time I was a committed Southern Baptist and I was able to agree, more or less, with what Tim said. The main thing that changed my mind was simply experience. The "cults" were one thing (I did have some discussions with some Jehovah's Witnesses), but I seemed always to be getting into serious disagreements with others that I might have previously considered "mainline Protestants." (In particular, but not limited to, the "Church of Christ" and the "United Pentecostals") I just found it less and less easy to be comfortable with the idea that most people with whom I disagreed were somehow less careful, less prayerful, less righteous, less Spirit-filled, less knowledgable, or something else that could make them "easy to dismiss". That was the beginning of a journey. It ended with the completion of my Christian initiation (which had already begun as a Baptist) in the Catholic Church. I still believe the Bible is absolutely authoritative. The Church must be at the service of the written Word even though she gave it birth (just as the Blessed Virgin is at the service of the living Word though she gave birth to Him.) But doesn't the Bible itself say that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15)? Thanks for reading, Praised be Jesus Christ! David Burton |