Was Elijah wrong?

I'm just trying to put you on the receiving end of what you a shoveling out. You are the one who is equating yourself with Paul and Elijah. Are you called of God into the role of old testament prophet or of an apostle? Do you have a special calling to pronounce Calvinism to the modern church? Are you God's gestapo man sent to either win, silence, or destroy anyone who gets in the way through whatever "Biblical" means necessary? Are those who do not agree with your position to be called vipers? Are they to be mocked? Are they to be beaten with Paul's rod. Are they to be yelled at? Should they be bombarded with pithy little poems belittling them?

 

Luke,

You do appear to be saying:

Elijah was harsh and mocked the worshippers of Baal, so I am right to be harsh and mocking toward non-Calvinists.

Can you see how that might be insulting toward us and quite presumptuous on your part?

 

What do the scriptures say?

2 Tim 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

I believe we all get frustrated at times with those who do not agree with us. I am as guilty of this as anyone, but I try to remember these verses when I can.

 

As Scripture does not indicate that God approved, my point stands. The single example cannot constitute an "assurdely" by any means. Nor is the opposite true. The single example of mocking which Scripture indicates neither approval or disapproval can't be used for an argument either way.

 

Plus, I think we can all agree that didactic texts (as presented by Winman) out weigh narratives if there are apparent contradictions. We have several OT narratives which clearly are not meant to give us instruction on how to live life. (i.e. a King appointed by God marrying many wives or using concubines)

 

I'll keep it very simple.

Wrong... And in Elijah's case, it is obviously a "description" of an event that happened, not a "prescription" for how we approach this issue.

Just because Elijah did it does not make it right in every case, or even right in his case. He was working to prove a point, and under the leadership of the Spirit of God while doing so. Your using Elijah as a justification to beat up on people you disagree with (and all the others on this board who do likewise) are violating a ton of other Scripture that says that a gentle and meek voice is God's way.

Further, let's note Elijah's response post event. He was depressed. Sitting under a tree wishing to die. Not to overly criticize you, but you've been there a time or two after arguments on this board -- figuratively, if not literally.

EDIT: In review, Elijah did indeed "mock" the worshipers of Baal. But he did so in a far different manner than what we see commonly expressed here on this board. He did not pursue them as persons... He derided the fact that their "god" could not come out to play, suggesting that perhaps he/she/it was indisposed, using the bathroom, etc. That is far different from saying something along the lines of, "You stupid people..."

In a very simple and modern text, here is the actual story of Elijah and the false prophets:

That is all he said, and it was in the context of a sermon, where he was exhorting the people to turn their eyes toward God. As I see it, Elijah attacked the IDEA of another god, but he did not attack the prophets directly.

 

Let's just be thankful Luke stopped reading where he did in I Kings 18 (hopefully somewhere well before verse 40).

 

:applause:

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

He was not wrong.

 

I do think ALL OF US ought to be willing to be bold and even harsh like they often were when the time calls for it.

AND I think the time calls for it more often than many consider.

Law to the proud; grace to the humble.

By all means put that into practice more often at your church and in your community. Leaksville is a nice quiet little town (been there for a funeral a few months back) but I'm sure it has its share of heathens and backsliders who need to be yelled at, mocked, and beaten with the rod of God's word. But, I bet in reality you are not like that. I bet you don't try to cram your named theology down people's throats like you do here. I bet you treat even the heathen and backslider with respect and dignity. I bet you don't yell at them, mock them, or beat them over the head with the word of God. It's easy to be caustic and hard here in the relative anonymity of the internet. I'm guilty of it too. I'm a lot nice in person than here.

 

:thumbs: Ok cool. Thanks for the clarity. I think that misunderstanding may have been the reason for some of the push back you were getting.

BTW, I agree with regarding the problem of political correctness. It will kill this country if we let it!

 

The funeral I attended was for a man whose last name was Walley. And, I agree that we are not to water down the message. Political correctness is a gospel killer when you can't preach about the blood, the cross, hell, sin, and personal responsibility. I guess I'm just going to have to offend the politically correct crowd.