Why do we...

-whispers- Cause we're stubborn, willfull, spirt filled, and human

 

That about sums it up

 

Reminds me of a poem I came across a while back:

Believe as I believe--no more, no less;
That I am right (and no one else) confess.
Feel as I feel, think only as I think;
Eat what I eat, and drink but what I drink.
Look as I look, do always as I do;
And then--and only then--I'll fellowship with you.

 

From WordNet (r) 2.0 :
haughty
adj : having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy.

Sue, here's my 2 cents: since the Lord convicts us as individuals (not collectively), after our initial attempt at persuasion, we should agree to disagree and move on.

I realize I will likely receive flack for expressing my opinion ... since that seems to be the given here.

PJ

 

There are disagreements because not everyone views truth the same way. Some of it has to do with preference and interpretation to be sure, adn there is nothing wrong with that. But there are too many who are too willing to not take a stand for truth. So long as there is error there cannot be peace.

 

There will be error as long as we are human, but that doens't mean we should tolerate it. Error is not the same as difference. We can differ about which version is the best translation. We cannot differ about whether Jesus is God or not. We must take our stand on truth.

FTR, there is no "denomination of Baptists." Baptist is the denomination. There are different associations or affiliations in the Baptist denomination. As for which one is right, that easy ... Me.

 

Yes, bold is good. There's no problem until we think we're the ONLY one that can interpret the "truth."

No, wait ... it's ME!

Tolerating error is tolerating one another. Especially among believers.

The topic of this thread is "Why do we Baptists fight among each other?" Perhaps the best answer is we don't easily accept that we can't "fix" each other's errors -- even though the Lord has given us the knowledge of how to commune with like believers.

I am a work in progress, very grateful the Lord has never given up on me and my errors.

Blessings ...
PJ

 

I think there are disagreements because we all, each and every one of us, is a little bit Pharasitical.

We take the traditions of men, and call them the law of God.

Like the Pharasees, we probably don't even see ourselves doing it.

"Dancing is a sin," is a wonderful example of that. The Baptist Church is famous for that, laughed at loudly for that. The reason we are laughed at is because "sins" are IN the bible, and "dancing is a sin," isn't in there.

So - where did it come from?

A very well intentioned soul (well, I hope they had good intentions.)

According to the expert I asked - someone on an AMEN Pew noticed that when they danced they became aroused.

Being aroused lead to some impure thoughts.

Those impure thoughts lead to any number of things from coveting someone else's wife to adultery in the heart.

So they said, "Dancing leads to lust, lust leads to sin, ergo, dancing is sinful."

In theory, maybe they were right.

In saying the bible says that - they were wrong.

However, there were, for decades, Baptists who, having heard "dancing is a sin," and not having a good concordance, and not having read their bible, were POSITIVE that somewhere back in one of those letters from Paul they hadn't gotten around to reading, they would find the words, "Dancing is a sin unto God."

Well, the people who HAD read their bible knew that wasn't true, so they started wondering what ELSE they had been told wasn't true, and what they weren't told that was true.

So, off they went - looking for the truth.

Some of those seeking truth saw Christ washing the feet of his followers, and took Christ's example as a commandment to literally wash feet. Some of those seeking truth saw the same passage and took it as Christ's instructions to treat every Christian with respect and love. Some read it, thought, "neat story," and went on without even pondering what it meant to them personally. And suddenly, you had the dancers and the non-dancers, and you had the feet washers and the non feet washers, and they all thought THEY were right.

Now personally - I think God was sitting in heaven while all of this was going on, going, "Where are your priorities? I TOLD you to tell others about me. Why aren't you doing THAT instead of fighting about the school dance?"

 

1. When you say "we", to whom are you referring?

2. Not all Baptists basically have the same doctrines, and that is why we don't agree and unite with error and heresy.

Joseph Botwinick

 

1. No. Not all Baptists believe in being saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Some are universalists and believe that all roads lead to God.

2. No. Not all Baptists believe in Baptism by immersion.

3. Further, there are Baptists who don't believe in the diety of Christ, the supernatural (Jesus Seminar followers), the authority and inspiration of Scripture, the soveriegnty of God, etc...

4. Finally, there are other moral issues (which I also think are addressed in scripture and equally important) which Baptists don't agree about, and for which a whole group of liberal Baptists were banned from this very board, such as abortion and homosexuality. Not all Baptists don't believe basically the same doctrines, and that is why we don't unite with them and there heresies.

Joseph Botwinick

 

They might very well say the same about you and me, and then we could go round and round about who true Baptists are...but, I simply choose to refute their heresies and seperate myself from them.

Joseph Botwinick