by unstopableravens 166 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
"show me a verse where a female was a decon or elder or overseer, there are none " - I did. You don't like my interpretation, so you found some that downgraded the greek word for "deacon" more in keeping with your sensibilities. Tell me, how would you scale the following for reliability:
Miriam sang a victory song in the desert. Exodus 15:21.
jgnat: of course the interpretion is based on the accurate meaning of the word in greek, or in the example in exodus the hebrew, so the modern view is not always the same as the origanal which goes back to my point, i think the kjv is the most accurate and does not say deconess.
The King James Version was written in 1604-1611, and is in English. The interlinear:
http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/rom16.pdf
G1249 diakonos
1) one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister
a) the servant of a king
b) a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use
c) a waiter, one who serves food and drink
it wont let me go to ur link
You probably can't load a pdf on your phone. It's an interlinear. If you want, you can take my word for it that this is the greek word diakonos that the KJV translates as "servant". Deacons are indeed servants.
Are Priests mediators.... are they necessary today ?
Some interesting thoughts about what the preisthood is and means to Catholic's
"Yet as we know in the Old Testament there were two kinds of mediators between God and the people. There were mediators from God to communicate His mind and His will to the people. These mediators were called prophets. They were from God to the people. We might call this downward mediation: from heaven to earth. There were also mediators from the people to God to offer Him the people's adoration, invoke His aid, and beg His mercy for the people's sins
Permanent deacons are being ordained in quantity, partly to supplement the dwindling ranks of the priesthood. But a deacon is not a priest. All of these and some other phenomena make the question we are asking ourselves crucially important. If the future of the Catholic Church in countries like the United States is to be assured, we need to understand better who a priest is, what his dignity is "
I agree that to find a church that appeals to you and your nature is refreshing
but what of scriptures that indicate certain conditions placed upon us as individuals ?
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, Tim 4;
“
‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Rev 315-16
Treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 2Tim3: 4
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near Rev 1:3
The spirit of the law still requires that the letter of the law be understood to give some sort of framework to work with ..does it not ?
In the business world they have goals and objectives for which to shoot for.... to aim for
Jesus was quite critical of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, and He expressed His disapproval forcibly on several occasions (e.g., Matthew 23). However, Jesus’ criticisms were always truthful and, ultimately, loving.
Most people misunderstand what a “hypocrite” is. Most people think a hypocrite is someone who preaches one thing and then does another. That is not a hypocrite; that is called a SINNER, which is what we all are.We are not judging or condemning anyone to remind them of God's Law, anymore than it would be wrong to remind someone that it's against the law to steal people's hubcaps
yup and sadly many find preachers who will tell them what they want to hear!
Well, to be fair, not all churches or individuals such as myself take the Bible as 100 % penned by God. And that's a good thing because there is some pretty hairy, scary stuff in the Bible. I wasn't raised a bible thumping fundamentalist, thank my parents and thank God for that. I tried JWs until their extreme fundamentalism destroyed my family and nearly destroyed me. I'm not a fundamentalist now and I am the better for it.
Fundamentalism and its approach to men, women, marriage, children and many parts of life is very divisive and destructive. Some of the parishes of the Episcopal Church of the Americas have broken off over the inclusivity changes of late. That's terribly sad. I cannot imagine Jesus telling homosexuals that they were unwelcome. The church should not be a place for psuedo perfect people. It should be a place that any of us can go for spiritual comfort and healing. I know of an Episcopal Church in Plano Texas that left the ECA over the homosexuality issue, but they still have women serving as priests and deacons.
If you've never had experience with a lady priest or deacon, you've been cheated. I felt odd about it when I decided to go back to the Episcopal Church in 2005. When I was growing up, only men could serve as priests and deacons and homosexuality was never mentioned. But I found that women can mother the flock in a way that is very centering and helpful, very warm and professional as well. And I also found that gay people can often be so christlike that they far outshine the others. I still maintain firmly that if Jesus had thought homosexuality was such a horrid sin, he would have mentioned it specifically, likely more than once.
We are all individuals. Different kinds of spirituality appeal to each of us. If you prefer the ultra-strict fundamentalist/the Bible is 100% God's communication with humankind, then you do. It works for you and yours, then I respect that. Me? I find the extreme fundamentalist approach to it full of big problems and very destructive. As for marriage, I think if you apply the Bible, literally, you are asking for misery.
I agree with FHN. I would never go to a fundamental church that takes the bible literally. You could say I am just having my ears tickled, but then I could say the same of you, we each found the church that we believe is the right one. I respect the bible, but I cannot believe it is perfect, or should be followed to the letter, if that was even possible, it's all so much a matter of interpretation. The dubs liked to have all these rules and laws, as if that would save them, when it is belief in Christ's sacrifice that will save us, or what is the point of it otherwise?
