[Church_of_Christ] Re: Can you guess?
Greetings Brian, ED here
Thank you for your good post. I think it adds an element that we should
consider. I don't care for the term "compulsion" either. It implies an
unwillingness to me. Something like "we have to do this, even though we
don't really want to". I don't think that represents the facts. These
folks were converted! They wanted to do whatever God wanted them to do.
They would have eagerly gathered daily as those in Acts 2 did, when they
were their as pilgrims on "vacation" and not obligated by jobs. I
believe the contrast that is so often insisted upon by some in this
forum is calculated to create a prejudice against the idea that there
was apostolic teaching. It is not FREEDOM over against COMPULSION. That
is a misrepresentation. It is no apostolic teaching over against
apostolic teaching -- EVERY CONVERTED CHRISTIAN DESIRES TO LEARN WHAT
GOD WANTS & EAGERLY ACCEPTS WHAT THE APOSTLES TEACH
--- In Church_of_Christ@
wrote:
>
>
> Clay wrote:
>
> The POINT I struggle with is .... What makes us think that they
assembled at Troas on Sunday out of compulsion rather than freedom?
>
> From various text I am strongly leaning towards they did so out of
FREEDOM and not COMPULSION.
>
> What say ye on this thought?
>
>
>
> Brian's Response:
>
>
>
> I guess I would have to ask what you mean by compulsion? Personally,
I think it was highly likely that they were meeting when they did
because Paul or someone else with authority told them to. I think the
Christians in Troas were probably mostly Gentile converts. Their
understanding of the Jewish roots of Christianity and of Christianity
itself would have been very limited. I think a common theme we see in
many of Paul's letters is that the Gentile Christians often used their
freedom to import aspects of their pagan background into their Christian
practice which were not conducive to a Christian lifestyle, so Paul had
to reign them in. So yeah, I think they were probably told to meet when
they did. So in a sense, the met out of compulsion.
>
>
>
> So the question becomes whether they were compelled because of their
own specific need and circumstance or because of some grand plan
developed by God regarding when Christians should assemble together.
Personally, I think there is a lot of theological signifcance for
holding our gatherings on Sunday. But I don't feel compelled to do so
because one of the churches mentioned in Acts may have been told to do
so by an apostler or other authoritative figure.
>
>
>
> In Him,
>
> Brian B.
>
>
>
>
> To: Church_of_Christ@
> From: claynashvilletn@
> Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:17:59 +0000
> Subject: [Church_of_Christ] Re: Can you guess?
>
>
>
>
>
> Hello Brian
>
> Brian said:
> However, it is the next step in the process that you, Clay and others
on this forum consider problematic. It is taking this singular example
from the biblical text, calling it an "approved example" and saying that
we today "must" also meet on Sunday.
>
> I too have a problem with the conversion of these so called examples
into imperatives for our time. But your argument doesn't really get you
where you want to go because Paul was in Troas for seven days. There was
no urgency to the meeting because Paul was only in town for one day
which is the implication of your argument. That doesn't mean your
conclusion is wrong. Your argument just isn't faithful to the text.
Instead of focusing on the method in which we apply biblical texts to
modern practice, you have attacked the factual conclusion which can be
drawn from the text and which is pretty widely accepted.
>
> Clay's response:
> You make some interesting poits Brian.
>
> I'm not sure I disagree with you or anyone else would considering your
points.
>
> The POINT I struggle with is .... What makes us think that they
assembled at Troas on Sunday out of compulsion rather than freedom?
>
> From various text I am strongly leaning towards they did so out of
FREEDOM and not COMPULSION.
>
> What say ye on this thought?
>
> Grace and peace Clay
>
>
>
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> ____________
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