by defd 56 Replies latest jw friends
defd-
i still want to know HOW MANY people = a "Christian Congregation"?
if 2 or 3 is acceptable (as apparantly it was in the 1st century) then why is attendance at a formal kingdom hall mandatory?
Dont you want to be apart of something that Jesus directed and is the Head of by means of the Holy Spirit?
where did jesus command his followers to form congregations? they DID form them, but was this required by jesus?
What would you have done back in the 1ST Century when Jesus came on the earthly stage and started Christianity.
I would have been a pagan and remained a pagan.
doogie
this is a classic case of miss applying scripture. When Jesus said that where 2/3 are gathered in his name he would be there what was he talking about? You apply that to not needing a Cong. to belong to. However in CONTEXT of Jesus words that is not what hes talking about.
He was talking about handle personall problems between people, he was giving direction on how we should deal with oneanother
defd,
Remember the guy that was expelling demons in Jesus' name, and the disciples told him to stop? They told Jesus about it and he said, "Let him be. He that is not against us is for us." This guy wasn't associated with them, he was out on his own. But Jesus said the man was "for" Jesus. What would be wrong with being like that?
Dave
I'd have done what all the other "Christians" did back then: choose sides.
Jesus' message was really quite simple, and heretical: You don't need an organized religious structure ("The day is coming," he told the Samaritan woman, when she wouldn't have to go to some specific place to worship but could worship where she stood). Jesus told his followers they would commune with God through their brotherhood with him and they didn't need the blind scribes and Pharisees to continue to lead them astray and burden them with rules.
That message was not very popular with the established religious order of the day, so they killed him.
The apostles then began to spread the word, men formed into groups, competed for power and position, and offered different "takes" on what JC was all about. The rest is history, and dubs are just one chapter in that long, sorry book.
So, def'd, I hope I'd have followed the guy that made the most sense. You, on the other hand, apparently would have been in the opposite camp, the one where the old Jewish religious system of things was gradually replaced by a carbon copy under a new name.
defd-
He was talking about handle personall problems between people, he was giving direction on how we should deal with oneanother
ok, i admit its been awhile since i looked at that scripture. i don't have a bible with me at the moment so i'll accept that my mentioning of it was out of context. sorry about that.
but you still didn't touch the main portion of my question. How many constitute a congregation? and please show where this forming of congregations was 'directed by jesus'.
you agreed with the bible when it says Jesus is the head of the CONGREGATION. The bible says he isthe rock on which the congregation was built, he is the cornerstone ect.... The bible is quit clear that Jesus started and is the head of The Christian congregation it is touched on in all of pauls letters how much more proof do you need?
what you fail to realize that being APART of the Congregation was a requirement by God as part of our worship to him.
God requires me to be part of an organization that protects child rapists? If that's true, then I deem him unworthy of worship.
Walter
how much more proof do you need?
i'm just looking for quotes. that's all. i'm not trying to argue. i just want to see quotes from the bible, please.
- what physically constitutes the Christian Congregation? (because it's the physical attendance that's at issue here, correct?)
- where was it directed that such attendance was mandatory?
The Bible speaks of MANY problems that existed within that Congregation. It had people problems. They were not acting as Christians. They would shun, discriminate, form clicks, allow blatent wrongdoers room freely within disrupting the peace and unity. People were backbiting, fornicating, teaching wrong doctrine and the list goes on and on.
But nowhere in the Bible do I find that these same people claimed to be Gods representatives on earth and were his chosen mouthpiece and means of communication with mankind.
Perhaps you could explain this apparent discrepency?
link
