It's Not Scripture.

[Scott Hutchinson]

This ought to generate some discussion.
http://preparehisway.com/it_s_not_scripture_.html

[missourimary]

None are in scripture. Neither are zippers or tennis shoes, or men's pants as we know them today, or our wedding vows... or English, for that matter. Just because something isn't in scripture doesn't mean it's apostacy, though we should study out scriptures and know what is in the Bible and what isn't. If we do something that isn't in the Bible, we should be careful not to teach it as doctrine.

[iceniez]

Originally Posted by missourimary

None are in scripture. Neither are zippers or tennis shoes, or men's pants as we know them today, or our wedding vows... or English, for that matter. Just because something isn't in scripture doesn't mean it's apostacy, though we should study out scriptures and know what is in the Bible and what isn't. If we do something that isn't in the Bible, we should be careful not to teach it as doctrine.

However , zippers,tennis shoes or pants do not add or deplete from salvation.

[RandyWayne]

There were a few good points in that list but I think he got a little wacky on many others.

Case in point, "31. The phrase 'God uses doctors'". I never found the phrase "Let's go out to eat" in scripture either yet I don't take that as a ban on doing it.

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

There were a few good points in that list but I think he got a little wacky on many others.

Case in point, "31. The phrase 'God uses doctors'". I never found the phrase "Let's go out to eat" in scripture either yet I don't take that as a ban on doing it.

But one could (if one were so inclined) deduce that doctors are not necessary from such scriptures as James 5:14-15 and from the fact that none of the accounts of healings had any help from doctors or anything non-divine. And from all the injunctions to depend on God for everything. If one were so inclined.

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Timmy

But one could (if one were so inclined) deduce that doctors are not necessary from such scriptures as James 5:14-15 and from the fact that none of the accounts of healings had any help from doctors or anything non-divine. And from all the injunctions to depend on God for everything. If one were so inclined.

(Unless you count mud put onto blind eyes! )

[MissBrattified]

Some things on the list are valid concepts, though, even if the exact phrasing isn't found. Further, not being found in scripture doesn't equal "shouldn't be found in the life of a Christian."

[Sam]

Originally Posted by iceniez

However , zippers,tennis shoes or pants do not add or deplete from salvation.

sez who?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Timmy

But one could (if one were so inclined) deduce that doctors are not necessary from such scriptures as James 5:14-15 and from the fact that none of the accounts of healings had any help from doctors or anything non-divine. And from all the injunctions to depend on God for everything. If one were so inclined.

In Isaiah 38:1-22 there is an account of King Hezekiah's miraculous healing after he was told to get ready to die. After he got the promise of healing, the prophet had them apply a poultice of figs (which I would think would be a medical --maybe home treatment--- procedure).

Also, chapter 38 of the Book Ecclesiasticus or Sirach which speaks about using doctors and medicine:

If you are Roman Catholic or have a 1611 King James Bible, Jerusalem Bible, or NRSV you have a book in the Old Testament called Sirach or Ecclesiasticus or Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach.

1 Honour physicians for their services,
for the Lord created them;
2 for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,
and they are rewarded by the king.
3 The skill of physicians makes them distinguished,
and in the presence of the great they are admired.
4The Lord created medicines out of the earth,
and the sensible will not despise them.
5 Was not water made sweet with a tree
in order that its power might be known?
6 And he gave skill to human beings
that he might be glorified in his marvellous works.
7 By them the physician heals and takes away pain;
8 the pharmacist makes a mixture from them.
God’s works will never be finished;
and from him health spreads over all the earth.
9 My child, when you are ill, do not delay,
but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.
10 Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly,
and cleanse your heart from all sin.
11 Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of choice flour,
and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.
12 Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;
do not let him leave you, for you need him.
13 There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians,
14 for they too pray to the Lord
that he will grant them success in diagnosis
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.
15 A man sins in the eyes of his Maker
if he defies the physician.

[A.W. Bowman]

While there a few problematical items in the author's list, much of what he points out is quite correct. I think in attempting to make his case, he went into an 'over kill' mode, and thereby lost his credibility. For example item #22. Sunday School (Sabbath school). Of course the term 'Sunday School' would not be found in the Bible because there was no Synagogue school held on Sunday - for two very good reasons. (1) There was no such day as 'Sunday' observed by the Jews for any purpose what-so-ever, and (2) Shabbat Shul (the Sabbath School) was a normal weekly occurrence that was held at the start of each Sabbath Day (on today's calendar it would be held on a Friday evening).

Even so, his list of religious traditional errors is good, when kept to the main points, such as, the church government and ministerial classes and the division between 'the ministry' and the 'laity' were unknown during the first three centuries of the church. And, the ministry of the church, as conducted today within many churches, would have been called by some rather complementary terms by the saints and leadership alike of the initial apostolic churches.

However, the bottom line remains the same as it has for a very long time: Folks do not read the word of God for themselves. Those that do, seldom actually study the word. Those who read and study most often do so with the thought in mind 'to prove what they already believe', and not to discover what God is actually trying to communicate. The final straw is when one discovers that what they have been taught does not line up with what they see in the word, they ask the person who has taught them the error to 'explain it to them'.After all of the verbiage, the final answer generally falls to this: Don't question what you are taught because these things have been figured out and set down by greater spiritual minds than ours."

What's wrong with this picture?