Posted on 03/27/2023 7:57:09 AM PDT by massmike
Really? Then why does Hebrews 13:10 say "We have an altar from which those who serve the [Jewish] tabernacle have no right to eat" [NASB]?
An altar is a table for sacrifice, by definition. Clearly the sacrifice is something we Christians eat. Evangelicals and fundamentalists have to explain this away as figurative language, where "altar" means "cross" and "eat" means "believe in". It isn't figurative at all. It's absolutely literal.
Jesus Christ is ... the only mediator between us and God (1 Timothy 2:5).
Except that 1 Tm 2:5 doesn't actually say that in the inspired Greek text, and that interpretation is completely at odds with 1 Tm 2:1-4, which commands intercessory prayer (a form of mediation) by all Christians on behalf of everyone. The Greek has a word for "one and exactly one", monos, which is not the word translated "one" in 1 Tm 2:5. Look it up.
The New Testament teaches that there are to be elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9), deacons (1 Timothy 3:8-13), and pastors (Ephesians 4:11) – but not priests.
The Greek word for "elder", presbyter, is where we get the English word "priest". "Elder" and "priest" are the same office. And you forgot about overseers (1 Tm 3:1-7). The Greek word for "overseer," episkopos, is where we get words like "bishop" and "episcopal" and "episcopacy".
You should worry less about our "meaningless" traditions, and more about your shallow and sloppy exegesis.
Yes. He's a chaste homosexual, but still a homosexual. If I made the decisions (I don't), I would not ordain such men.
But if one slipped through, I would also not remove him from the priesthood if he remained chaste. (But, as I say, I would not want to see him elevated to bishop either.)
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