That should end the disdusion.
FINALLY! Something I can agree with: END THE DISCUSSION!
It's a waste of time and energy. It just doesn't matter. Just go and live life to the fullest (for tomorrow you may die).
The unending and fruitless argument on Trinity
by Longlivetherenegades 51 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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DesirousOfChange
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Longlivetherenegades
Ray Franz wrote......
As with the earlier quotations, I do not present this as a form of “proof” on a particular side of the issue of the validity of the trinity doctrine. The real proof rests with inspired Scripture not scholarly views. I present it because it is so often claimed that reluctance to accept what may be called orthodox or traditional trinitarianism is simply due to the person’s ignorance of the original languages of Scripture (Hebrew and, particularly, Greek), or due to having been indoctrinated with a biased, one-sided view of religious history, or due to the person’s understanding of certain texts being warped by a biased translation or interpretation of those texts. This Swiss Protestant theologian’s command of the Biblical languages, the depth of his knowledge of religious history, of the writings of the Ante-Nicene period and of following centuries are beyond question. The same is surely true of his knowledge of the various arguments, pro and con, regarding the Biblical texts that figure in the trinitarian dispute. Yet he makes evident that his acceptance of the “mystery” of the triune-God doctrine is as a product of theological thought, not because of belief that the teaching is itself actually present in Scripture. Even as other quotations coinciding with Brünner’s could be made, so could quotations contrary to his. I do not agree with all of his viewpoints. Verse-by-verse discussion of relevant Scriptures could be made and claims pro and con could be presented. That is not my purpose here. My intent here is not to argue against certain doctrines but against the dogmatism and judgmentalism that all too often accompanies them. What I have quoted is solely to demonstrate that there are highly respected scholars who, though in no sense supportive of Watch Tower claims, do not view the questioning of the Scriptural foundation of this doctrine in its traditional, orthodox form as the result of either ignorance or a cultlike mentality. Of greater seriousness to me, it illustrates why I cannot sympathize with those who take a judgmental attitude toward others because such ones’ view does not coincide with their own, with those on each side of the issue categorically denying that those on the other could possibly be Christian. I find it notable that, in contrast to the degree of moderation, caution and balance expressed by the sources already cited, often persons whose academic credentials are immensely inferior are among those most insistently dogmatic and judgmental on these same topics. I have no question that some of the arguments and reasonings they employ would be viewed as completely unworthy of consideration by those same scholarly sources. Whether we are learned or unlearned, I believe we must guard against dogmatism and judgmentalism, as indicative, not of wisdom and discernment, but of both smallness of mind and smallness of spirit and heart.