[Church_of_Christ] Re: The Melting Pot
Greetings Ray, ED replying
ED before wrote: It is an insult and disrespect of previous generations to claim that 200 years of Restoration scholarship is based on dishonesty. To suggest that those great men, who cannot defend themselves having moved on to their rewards, were dishonest is a thing too mean for me!!!
Ray: Why is it insulting and disrespectful to call someone dishonest? I'm not making a case here that they were or weren't. I'm asking about the principle. It seems to me that in religious discussions, it is critical to be as blunt, explicit, and realistic as we possibly can in all of our issues. Examining church history and the lives of men before us requires that we are honest about them to the extent that we address their intellectual honesty as well.
ED: It is disrespectful and insulting because it presumes to read someone's mind and to know their motives. For religious discussion to be open it must be conducted with the assumption that all contributers are doing so from an honest basis and therefore be treated with respect. There is nothing wrong with bluntness in answering an argument, but when someone moves from argument to motive and questions the honesty of another, it is both insulting and disrespectful.
In addition to this, to do it to someone who is dead, who gave their entire lives to the building of the kingdom of God, and who being dead cannot defend themselves, is the most grievous of practices. It is a thing too mean for me!
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RaY: By the way, Ed, since you would obviously disagree with the denominations, you would have to admit that you consider them DISHONEST in their approach. If they had been HONEST, they would come to the same conclusions that the Restoration movement has. Including you.
ED: NO, no, no!!! This is simply not true! If I thought denominational people were dishonest, I wouldn't waste time discussing the Bible with them. The fact is, I have discussed with some and discovered what I believe was sufficient reason to believe they were not interested in handling the word of God honestly. I stopped discussing. But it was a judgment call on my part. I have no way to truly or certainly know they have a honest or dishonest heart! People come to different conclusions honestly!!!! A dozen people see a wreck and then report what they saw honestly and there are differences, even contradictions in their reports. If we were perfect, then you claim would be true, but "we all stumble in many things", Jm 1:3.
Ray: If it is too mean for you to call the restoration movement fathers dishonest, then you have to confess that Luther, Calvin, Augustine, plus all the Popes and Joseph Smith and Charles Russell, etc etc etc etc were all just as honest as you are.
ED: I do believe Luther, Calvin, Augustine were all honest men, trying to discover God's will from his word. I believe many of the Popes are/were honest men likewise. I will hold of on Joseph Smith! I have a personal opinion on him, but even then I can never know for certain. Sometimes people operate on honest delusions. A hypnotized person may be told a sack of apples is a lamb and argue with you honestly. He believes it for all he's worth!
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