FK, the Church and the Protestants cannot teach +Paul the same way and be ad different as night and day as they are. The divide comes in the perspectives and selectivity. The Church concentrates on those parts of +Paul which agree with the Church; the Protestants do the same except they look for agreement with them. Both sides claim that +Paul taught what Christ taught.
Christ did not teach to abandon circumcision or drop dietary laws or to create a new religion. That much is certain. So, +Paul did teach things Christ never taught — unless, of course, we are to make a leap and say that Christ was really speaking through +Paul. But, then, everything else is up for grabs!
It's the interpretation that causes the problems, not the reliance on scripture
But we rely on the interpretation, FK, not on the scripture itself! The scriputre is not clear and definitive enough to tell us straight and narrow what the meaning is. To the contrary!
The scirputre is full of anecdotes, stories, parables, cultural specificities known only to the locals, time gap, you name it.
That's why my love for Tolstoy's Three Little Hermits and Christ's Two Commandments from the OT are my guiding formula to faith: glorify God and leave the rest to Him.
All the rest is human interpretation, i.e. legalisms, rules, judging, prejudices, and cultural bias.
Different interpretations by different men will lead to different answers
That hardly qualifies as the truth. Trouble is, people make decisions, sometimes decisions of life and death, based on those interpretations. Again, we use religion as a weapon and not as a means to simply acknowledge God's glory and be at peace. No, we must 'interpret' and be 'right.'
The key is not interpretation, FK, but worship. The less we concentrate on interpreting the scriputre 'just right,' and more on worship, the less sinful our lives will be.
Yes, we have hope in God's mercy, but we can be sure of this hope.
That's nonsense, FK.
That's why my love for Tolstoy's Three Little Hermits and Christ's Two Commandments from the OT are my guiding formula to faith: glorify God and leave the rest to Him.
All the rest is human interpretation, i.e. legalisms, rules, judging, prejudices, and cultural bias.
Different interpretations by different men will lead to different answers
That hardly qualifies as the truth. Trouble is, people make decisions, sometimes decisions of life and death, based on those interpretations. Again, we use religion as a weapon and not as a means to simply acknowledge God's glory and be at peace. No, we must 'interpret' and be 'right.'
The key is not interpretation, FK, but worship. The less we concentrate on interpreting the scriputre 'just right,' and more on worship, the less sinful our lives will be.
= = = =
FWIW, I liked the above.
There is no leap to make. Paul clearly said that Christ was "speaking" through him. That's what I have been saying. For example:
Gal 1:11-12 : 11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
In fact, Christ spoke through all of the writers.
But we rely on the interpretation, FK, not on the scripture itself! The scripture is not clear and definitive enough to tell us straight and narrow what the meaning is. To the contrary!
This is a huge difference between us. Since we use other scripture to interpret, our reliance really IS on the scripture itself. I would say that in order to arrive at Apostolic interpretation, the scripture is no where near adequate itself as a guide. Therefore, your reliance would be on the Fathers and the consensus patrum, and not the scriptures. That makes sense.
That's why my love for Tolstoy's Three Little Hermits and Christ's Two Commandments from the OT are my guiding formula to faith: glorify God and leave the rest to Him.
That sounds nice, but NO ONE can glorify God all the time with bad theology! :)
Again, we use religion as a weapon and not as a means to simply acknowledge God's glory and be at peace. No, we must 'interpret' and be 'right.'
I know you meant "we" in the corporate sense of "all of us Christians", but I have to chuckle because you just got through telling me that you and I worship different Gods. :)
The key is not interpretation, FK, but worship. The less we concentrate on interpreting the scripture 'just right,' and more on worship, the less sinful our lives will be.
For the benefit of lurkers, this is completely out of context. I was comparing interpretation to translation, nothing else. In a totally separate conversation, of course worship is the "key". Correct theology and doctrine are very very important, but worship is why we go to church.