Okay, let me preface this post by saying that my husband and I come from VERY different religious backgrounds. I was born and raised Roman Catholic. Thomas became a member of the Church of Christ as a teenager, he even went to two different colleges that are Church of Christ institutions.
As I am not one to keep my mouth shut (and neither is Thomas) we have had many interesting conversations about religion. While I still hold most of the teachings of the Catholic Church as true, I do disagree in certain areas (though this isn't what this blog is about.) Thomas has long since moved away from the teachings of the Church of Christ, but he did earn a degree in Bible, so he is very educated on what the Bible says. This has lead to many "interesting" discussions in our house, but I feel I have come away with greater knowledge, and sometimes greater conviction in my own beliefs.
Now, I am actually going to get to the topic of this blog. The religion both of us grew up in is Christianity, which is the "religion of Christ." I guess my main issue is that almost EVERY religious denomination spends too much time following the teachings of individuals who are NOT Christ. Jesus never minced words, he always said what he believed, so I think if HE wanted women to sit down and shut up, He would have told us to do so.
Paul's religous background was Judaism, which is very legalistic. Paul's beliefs changed after the "road to Damascus." However, I don't think Paul was very good at functioning in a situation that didn't have "rules." So, unfortunately, I think Paul created some rules that fit in with his "comfort level" with religous practice. I do believe that Paul was a good man and that he loved Christ, but I think he does what we all do, he made things fit into what made him comfortable. No one likes leaving their comfort zone, that is very scary, and Paul was just a man, a human with human failings.
Jesus however, is the Son of God. He is perfect in every way. He loves us. He never said that women could not participate, lead, serve, speak, etc. We need to remember what was said in John 3:16. It said "whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but live everlasting life." It didn't say that he who follows the "rules" best wins, it say "believes in Him."
2 comments:
Once again, all I can say is "Amen Sister... Keep on preachin'!
I think that it is easy to pick and choose what we want to focus on in the Bible because we want to make the Scriptures "work for us" instead of taking them at face value. I think we can get ourselves into a lot of trouble by taking that route. Some people are okay with doing that, I just happen to be one who isn't.
I appreciate your insights...
Thank you.
I have had many "interesting" conversations with folks online who are very "legalistic." I put legalistic in quotes because they are only legalistic about "rules" they are comfortable following.
I never got a satisfactory answer about Romans 16:16. How is half the verse a rule and half the verse ignored as "tradition of the time?" I have been told the the name Church of Christ comes from Romans 16:16. However, the verse reads "Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings." Why do we have to call ourselves the Church of Christ, yet we don't have to greet one another with a holy kiss?
I think the answer, in my opinion, is we don't feel comfortable greeting one another with a kiss. Heck, I was raised Catholic and the kiss of peace has gone by the wayside after almost 2000 years. After Vatican II we started shaking hands or giving a "half hug" and saying "peace be with you."
In our culture, we aren't comfortable greeting anyone with a kiss if we aren't intimate or related. I am not going to say anyone is WRONG because they don't "greet one another with a holy kiss." However, it is quite hypocritical in my opinion.
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