Well, do you? Have DOGMA, that is?
What is dogma, anyway? Is it bad or good? Well, I suspect that the answer is: It depends.
What is dogma?
Merriam-Webster thinks it is:
1 a: something held as an established opinion ; especially : a definite authoritative tenetb: a code of such tenets <pedagogical dogma>c: a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds2: a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church
(Oh, by the way: I’m going somewhere with this. The point of the post is not DOGMA; but the DOGMA discussion gets us where we can discuss the real point !)
NOTE: As this posting, #0138, was only a partial posting, now that it has been completed it has been moved to #0139, so folks won’t inadvertently be wondering, “Where is the rest of this post?” So, just CLICK HERE and move right on over to #0139!
I remeber when Randy Fenter spoke at OCU on the the silence of God, and got raked over the coals by many on our fellowship. Of course I agreed with most of what Randy said. Isn’t it odd how CENI doesn’t repect God’s silence, and gives no room for new thinking.
I understand the fear, that if you open the door on the silence of God, who knows what will happen and the church might just disappear. But if a church is being held together by CENI, then maybe it ought to disappear.
The silence of God doesn’t allow me to do what ever I think of and then look through the Bible to see if I can find a prohibition. Rather if I love God, and love others as myself; if I see the image of God in every face; if I feel the responsibility to minister to the hungry, the poor, the homless, the unloved; if I acknowledge that grace of God that will save me; if I spend my time being the hands and feet of Jesus in my community, then the silence of God is not an issue for me.
I will never keep the “Law” perfectly, or know what’s bounded by the silence of God, and I’m so thankful that is not the standard by which I’ will be judged.
Hmmm, when were you ever at OCU to hear Randy? Oh well, that’s neither here nor there I suppose.
I should do a posting soon on the SILENCE OF GOD I suspect.
The folks who espouse the “SILENCE=PROHIBITION” dogma need to relook at what they are really saying. The proof texts they use (strange fire, gopher wood, priests from the tribe of Judah, …) have nothing to do with God’s SILENCE, but rather His SPECIFICITY. In each of those cases he SPECIFIED what He DID want (sanctified fire from a certain source, gopher wood, and Levitical priests), and so choosing something else was not a violation of His SILENCE, but rather of His SPECIFICITY!
Oh well; this is just a “comment,” so I’ll stop there.
I liked the tenor of your comment around the case when “the silence of God is not an issue for me” when your heart is right.
–Mark