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I'm with Mystic. A fundamentalist is someone who takes every word of the Bible completely literally, judges people on those words, and leaves no room for the things that we are able to discover and percieve in the modern world. I'm sorry folks, but there are just things that we now know that we didn't 2000 years ago.
What you have described is definitely the difference I see between "fundamentalists" and other Christians.
Man's understanding of the messages in the Bible continues to evolve as man's understanding of God and the world we live in that he created has evolved.
Basically, the Bible is a series of progressive revelations.
That is to say, eternal truths have been revealed, slowly, over time, according to God's plan, and in some cases are still being revealed
Your lack of faith in the Living Word of God is disappointing. The words "written in ink" are too unreliable. They are "useful" (profitable) for instruction in righteousness when properly divided. They tell us of Christ, how to identify Him, what His status is, and how to validate Him through Prophesy. But Christ abides with us! Do you believe it or not? God has "written in our hearts" so that we would not need anyone to teach us. Do you believe it or not? We have Christ's Holy Spirit (Comforter) available within our consciousness to guide us to the truth God has written there. Do you believe it or not? This means we have the "mind of Christ" with us to help us discern the truth by asking WWJT. Do you believe it or not?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmiej
I have complete faith in the Spirit of God, who guides me in rightly dividing the written word.
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Originally Posted by nateswift
But appears to be limited to that role.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmiej
I don't believe the Spirit within me will ever contradict the written word.
Then you are not querying your heart for the truth (or you are ignoring your heart using excuses and rationalizations about God's ways are not our ways and such). Not a good idea.
Hebrews 8:7-13 King James Version (KJV)
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
2 Corinthians 3: 2-6 (King James Version)
2Ye are our epistlewritten in our hearts, known and read of all men:
3Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament;not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Then you are not querying your heart for the truth (or you are ignoring your heart using excuses and rationalizations about God's ways are not our ways and such). Not a good idea.
Hebrews 8:7-13 King James Version (KJV)
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
I have no problem with the new covenant. It was part of God's plan all along. The first covenant was temporary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticPhD
2 Corinthians 3: 2-6 (King James Version)
2Ye are our epistlewritten in our hearts, known and read of all men:
3Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament;not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
You are mis-interpreting this passage. It refers to the Law (letter), which condemns all who do not obey its commands, but could make no man perfect. This passage is not condemning the written Scriptures. After all, Jesus quoted Scripture, Peter called Paul's writings gospel, and the Spirit, through the Apostle John tells us, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near."
I have no problem with the new covenant. It was part of God's plan all along. The first covenant was temporary.
You are mis-interpreting this passage. It refers to the Law (letter), which condemns all who do not obey its commands, but could make no man perfect. This passage is not condemning the written Scriptures. After all, Jesus quoted Scripture, Peter called Paul's writings gospel, and the Spirit, through the Apostle John tells us, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near."
Not only is he wrong on that but he is trying to take Paul saying the Corinthians were his epistle written in his heart and make it mean that we can ignore God's word and make it up for ourselves based on what we feel. It's a broad jump of logic and reason that no rational grown man would say out loud. He want's to think this is what is meant by the prophecy he quotes that will be fulfilled in the future with "ISRAEL" as one of his favorite scriptures to misapply clearly say's. I used to think he was playing games but I am beginning to believe he really thinks this is true. That is what is really strange about him. If you cannot understand simple words it's hard to know what he really thinks he is saying.
Well, the literalist viewpoint, the belief that every syllable of the Bible is the direct utterance of the Lord, is a fallacy. The Bible is riddled with contradictions. Need an example? Matthew and Luke provide completely different genealogies of Christ's bloodline as it is traced through Joseph. In fact, Matthew and Luke cannot even agree on the number of generations between David and Christ. One has 41 generations while the other has 26. And the two do not even agree on the name of Joseph's father. That means that, at best, one account of Christ's descendants has to be right while the other one has to be wrong. There is no wriggle room here. And that's just one contradiction among many.
I think the problem with the literal approach to scripture is that, at its heart, it really demonstrates a lack of faith. This is why Fundies must defend a literal reading of scripture tooth and nail. For if one verse is wrong, the entire construct falls apart in their eyes, as if one were pulling a single thread out of an intricately-woven cloth. That makes their need for a literally true scripture more of a demand of proof rather than an article of faith.
So my question is - what (not who) is a fundamentalist? And why is it bad?
Virtually nobody claims to be a fundamentalist - yet the term is thrown out there as though there is a separate denomination of these people.
I will let you respond and will chime in later. Thanks.
I like the definition some one provided: serving as an original or generating source : primary. It means sticking to the fundamental teachings of Christ (all of it) without negotiating away any of it.
The opposite is the liberal interpretation, where people take liberties to add, remove and modify the teachings of Christ in order to appease a larger audience of people. Of course when you start doing that, someone else picks up fro where you left off and adds/changed more, and before you know it, the truth has been replaced with a lie.
I don't believe the Spirit within me will ever contradict the written word.
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Originally Posted by DennisWayne
That's right Jimmiej. When you hear from a spirit that contradicts God you know the source of that spirit is not Jesus.
But he said contradict the written word . . . NOT God . . . unless like so many others you idolize the Bible as God. Contradicting YOUR interpretation of the written word is NOT contradicting God, period . . . no matter how many times you say so.
Fundamentalists are the people who think everyone is going to hell.
But them.
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It was part of God's plan all along. The first covenant was temporary. 
