Posted by Tovah on November 14, 2003, at 12:42:04
I read your post above and checked out the link and I have some questions.
First, it says that "churches are not divided over what is in the Bible, they are divided over what is not in the Bible." I'm confused. There are literally thousands of Protestant churches who are Fundamentalistic, who agree that every word of the Bible is to be taken literally, and yet they completely disagree over what the Bible MEANS. Can you explain how your particular church has arrived at a singular true meaning?
Secondly, the site says it is the original first century church, and that it uses only the Bible, but are you aware there was no Bible until approximately the Fifth century? And that it has undergone countless re-translations and modificatins since then? Actually, a First Centruy church DOES exist today, almost completely unchanged, and that church followed oral tradition. The church exists today by the name of the Eastern Orthodox Church. We hold liturical services exactly as the apostles and their immediate followers held and our liturgy predates the Bible which was not to exist for several hundred years. This isn't a matter of personal opinion but rather historic fact. Our ministers are ordained through Apostolic Succession, which means that there is a direct line (of laying on of hands) that can be traced all the way back to the Apostles. So if you are really looking for "The First Century Church," wouldn't that be it?
I don't mean to disrespect your belief system in any way, but the website left me pretty confused. Hope you can help.
poster:Tovah
thread:279739
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20030908/msgs/279739.html