Dr. Randall Buth refutes accusation made against me on CARM
On one of CARM’s discussion boards, “En Hakkore” accused me of misrepresenting and misunderstanding Dr. Randall Buth the author of chapter 5 in the book “Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics”. My position in my DVD series is that the Hebrew grammar in Genesis chapter 2 shows that the garden of Eden and the animals spoken of in chapter 2 were created after Adam’s creation.
Yesterday I received an email back from Dr. Randall Buth confirming that I do indeed understand his writing correctly and this is how the grammar of Genesis 2 reads and that the NIV incorrectly applies a pluperfect wayyiqtol rule when translating Genesis 2:8 and 2:19 to make these refer to a past event. Instead the verbs in these two verses should be translated as they are intended as sequential within the account in chapter 2.
Dr. Buth also brought up something that is very important in understanding scripture. He commends a “willingness to let the text be whatever it is and not to sub-ordinate it to “presuppositionalism”.
When we assume that God created both male and female animals at the same time, we are then forced to take a passage that shows that the animals were created after Adam (Genesis 2) and make this passage refer to the exact same animals that were created in Genesis 1. Dr. Buth says that we need to just let the text be whatever it is. What the text “is” is a sequential creation of animals after Adam’s creation in Genesis 2.
CARM and especially the vice president of CARM have been quick to try to accuse me of false teaching without ever going to the source of the material that I quote. This is unacceptable for an organization whose goal is to present an apologetic reasoning for the Christian faith. Rather we need to do what the Bible tells us to do:
1 Thessalonians 5:21 (ISV) Instead, test everything. Hold on to what is good
18 thoughts on “Dr. Randall Buth refutes accusation made against me on CARM”
As Mark Twain once said, “It’s not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that bother me, but the parts I do understand!”
There are many, many Bible teachers who really don’t like what it says. So I don’t expect anyone at CARM to admit they accused you falsely, even when you have indisputable proof. But those with eyes will see it.
Dr. Buth also brought up something that is very important in understanding scripture. He commends a “willingness to let the text be whatever it is and not to sub-ordinate it to “presuppositionalism”.
So easily said and so human to miss this. It’s like the theological version of the Serenity Prayer… (the whole thing, not just the first two lines… finding hardships as the pathway to peace… taking this world as it is and not as I would have it…) Here is wisdom.
teknomom,
You are so right. CARM likes to accuse people of having no proof for what they say and then when they provide the proof they just go onto the next issue and completely ignore the proof (or even deny it is proof) or they do what they have done to me. Diane has put me on moderation so that when I posted the confirmation that Dr. Randall Buth gave me regarding my understanding of the creation of some animals created after Adam that was proved in the Hebrew Discourse book, my comments are not showing up. What is Diane so afraid of? This reminds me of Romans 1:18:
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness
For what purpose would CARM have to suppress the truth? Why would my statement that Dr. Randall Buth has agreed that I do understand his comments about Genesis 2:8, 19 be held back on CARM? Is it because holding back the truth allows Diane Sellner to keep saying that I have been refuted by “En Hakkore” and I have misunderstood/misrepresented Dr. Buth?
It is nothing less than a shame that Diane has kicked off peace-loving egalitarians from CARM’s discussion board on the issue of women in ministry. It is a shame that CARM has held back the truth in favor of what is not truthful. It is a shame that this has been done in the name of the Lord Jesus and against other brothers and sisters in Christ.
Truth is provable and truth does not run and hide. Truth is not afraid of being challenged. Truth can be held onto and truth can be supported. Everything that CARM has done to suppress the truth has been turned around by God to bring about good even though these ones have meant it for evil. This is the way of our Sovereign God!
Cindy,
“finding the hardships as pathway to peace”.
Amen!! This is why I find myself peaceful in the midst of a storm. God is able to turn hardships on their head and bring good from evil. How can we worry or fret when we have a God like this?
Its very interesting indeed that Genesis 2:8 and 2:19 should be translated as they are intended as sequential within the account in chapter 2. Have you made the translation committee of the NIV aware of this? Are there any English translations which has a correct translation of Genesis 2:8 and 2:19?
In His wonderful grace,
Martin
Martin,
The NIV and the ESV are two versions that use the past tense in Genesis 2:19 “God had formed” instead of “God formed”. I also found two other versions that I hadn’t realized also translate the verb in the past. They are the Catholic version the 1899 Douay-Rheims Bible and the 1889 Darby Bible. Every other bible translates the verb correctly as “formed”.
What Dr. Buth says is that he has avoided a “superficial harmonization” of the text. Yet at the same timek he says “we are led to interpreting whole stories as the author/redactor intended”. How can one avoid a “superficial harmonization” of the text as the NIV and ESV have? One avoids that by taking the text as it is written and not changing the tense of the verbs.
What “En Hakkore” on the CARM discussion board was denying was that there were two “acts” of the creation of animals just as there were two “acts” of the creation of man. Part one of the creation of man was the creation of the male before the animals were named. Part two was the creation of the female after the animals were named. While “En Hakkore” denies there were two creative “acts” of the animals, he is left with a dilemma. On what day were the birds created? Genesis chapter 1 says it was on day 5 and Genesis chapter 2 says they were created after Adam’s creation on day 6. Either the birds were created in two “acts” just as the animals were or we are left with an irreconcilable problem. No matter how many times “En Hakkore” denied that there were two parts to the creation of animals and birds, the fact that Dr. Buth proves that animals and birds were created after Adam’s creation proves this fact. It now becomes not a “superficial harmonization” of the text to try to make the creative act as one “act” but an part one and part two act of the creation of animals and birds just as God also created mankind with part one and part two and not at the same time.
Diane Sellner posted “En Hakkore’s” “refutation” of me on CARM and here is my answer:
Diane is now apparently copying “En Hakkore” citing him as her source instead of going to the actual source. This is a serious judgment error.
Now regarding “En Hakkore’s” post. Regarding a “bait” of using Bergen’s name. – using the editor’s name from the book is not uncommon, and since the editor gives his stamp of approval on the book by putting his name there, it was not such thing as a “bait” when I used Bergen’s name. This is entirely irrelevant anyway. I cited “Bergen” as he is the one whose name is on the cover of the book and I referenced him as “edited by Robert D. Bergen”. When I cited the complete name of the chapter that I was referring to, I made the distinction that the chapter was itself written by Randall Buth (although edited by Bergen). Anyone who was willing to go to the source would have seen this. The fact is that Bergen is the one who has compiled the articles and puts his stamp of approval on them, the particular author who wrote the article is Buth.
I am not the one who made it an issue of who wrote the chapter. It is in the book that I quoted and edited by the author that was quoted. I am not holding you responsible because you have not bothered to get the book for yourself to check the evidence.
That is my point exactly, and thanks for agreeing with me. They are in agreement that the birds and the animals were created after Adam in Genesis 2.
Oh really? And you have asked Dr. Buth this, have you?
The fact is that the “one creation” is the entire act of creation. There is a singular creation story told in Genesis 1 and 2. In this “singular creation story” there are additional details told in chapter 2. Dr. Buth has clearly said that he is not doing a “superficial harmonization” of the text. Instead of a “superficial harmonization” of the text that the NIV imposes on the text by changing the grammar of the two verbs in chapter 2, Dr. Buth says that he takes the text as it is written.
So here is where “En Hakkore” has a big problem, Diane (pay close attention because you are citing him as your source and proof that he has refuted me). “En Hakkore” takes the creation of the animals as a single creation act and the creation of the birds as a single creation act yet in the “one creation story” we have the birds created on day 5 in Genesis chapter 1 and the birds created after Adam’s creation in Genesis chapter 2. How is this “one act” if the birds are created on two different days?
The fact is that if we follow what Dr. Buth states and we avoid a “superficial harmonization” we are left with only one “creation story” from chapters 1 and 2 but without a “superficial harmonization” that makes chapter 2’s creation of the animals and the birds as harmonized to be the same creative act as in chapter 1.
I agree with Dr. Buth. He says that what is important here is not where the original story came from or how many authors there might be, but the fact that it is a “final product” of one period of creation (7 days) but two perspectives that allow for the birds to be created on day 5 in Genesis 1 and the birds to be created on day 6 in Genesis 2. There is no error in this account, there is two creative “acts” with the genders created separately just as the genders for mankind were created separately and not simultaneously.
So now I want you to answer this question. This is for Diane, who is standing behind the Deist “En Hakkore”, or for “En Hakkore” himself – How do you get only one “act” of the creation of the birds when Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 have them created on different days?
Once again, Diane and En Hakkore you are the one misunderstanding MY source. The grammatical argument that I supplied refutes the attempt to make the creation of the animals and the birds in chapters 1 and 2 to be the same event. Otherwise it is impossible for the birds to be created on two different days? It is not impossible for the birds to be created on day 5 and on day 6 if the genders were created on separate days. This is not a Sunday School chart that says what day were the birds created and forcing us to say “day 5”. God said that they were created on day 5 AND day 6. Two different acts one two different days but one creation story.
Absolutely not true! Not only does my source correctly prove that the garden was created after Adam’s creation (and thus show that Adam was privy to the creative work of God’s hand in the creation of the garden) but my source also proves that the birds were created on day 6. This cannot be the same creative act as day 5 and again I point you to Dr. Buth’s words in the book “We will avoid a superficial harmonization” and from his email to me his commendation of those who have a “willingness to let the text be whatever it is and not to sub-ordinate it to “presuppositionalism”.”
The text will be whatever it is in that the birds were created on day 6 in chapter 2 and they were created on day 5 in chapter 1. We cannot do a “superficial harmonization” and destroy this evidence that God has put right in front of our face. Diane you err in your false harmonization!
Then you, my friend, are the one with a problem, because you now have two different authors supposedly compiling the exact same information together (although two different accounts of exactly the same event) but having two completely different dates for the creation of the birds! No, this is not correct. Dr. Buth has made it clear that the creation of the birds, the animals and the garden in Genesis chapter 2 are not the same events that had already happened in chapter 1 although together they are the one creation account. He says they are not events that had already happened. Why do you try to make him say the opposite of what he says? You have not been honest with the writings of a bona fide Hebrew scholar.
Why do you keep misrepresenting Dr. Buth? I quoted you from the book where Dr. Buth says that the creation of the animals from Genesis chapter 2 is not the the creation of the animals in chapter 1 since they are not created in the same way. In chapter 1 the animals are spoken into existence and in chapter 2 they are formed from the ground. Why do you take Dr. Buth’s words and try to make him say that these two “acts” are the same “act”?
Here you go again. You say that the chronologies “conflict” with each other.”
So it is another problem of the text having errors, is it, Diane? Since you, Diane, are standing behind the claims of the Deist “En Hakkore”, then you too must be accepting that the chronologies “conflict”! Dr. Buth does not say that the chronologies “conflict” with each other and neither do I. In fact he says that the text is God’s inspired word as it is written. This is very commendable and very true. God’s word does not have an error, neither does it “conflict” with itself in the chronologies. The fact is that the birds were spoken into existence in Genesis chapter 1 on day 5 and this was “act one” of the creation of the birds. In Genesis chapter 2 they were “formed” from the ground on day 6 (Dr. Buth says that this is not the same act as their creation in chapter 1). Therefore we do not have a chronological “error” or “conflict”. What we have is two “acts” where God creates the genders separately just as he did for man and he chose to create the birds separately on two completely different days which is entirely his perogative. Makes me wonder if he did this just to prove those who would like to do a “superficial harmonization” to look foolish.
Why do I have to keep presenting the same quotes again and again? Okay, once again for the record – Dr. Buth writes:
“The verbs do not repeat lexical material to refer the reader back to an event that had already been mentioned. There is no earlier ‘planting’ to refer to and there is no previous mention of a garden. Just the opposite is true. ”
And again:
“Similarly for v. 19 with ‘form’. This was not mentioned earlier, though one could claim that animals had been mentioned in chapter 1. Even with the animals, however, one does not find a back-reference to which this account in 2:19 can be considered an overlay.”
If one cannot find a back-reference to tie Genesis 2:19 back to chapter 1, then there is no overlay of this event. This means that although you would like Genesis 2:19 to be a different perspective to what was already mentioned in Genesis chapter 1, Dr. Buth says that this verse is not an overlay. It is NOT an overlay. It is act “two” of the creation of birds and animals which is not part of the act “one” from Genesis 1. Dr. Buth could not be more clear. He told me that I understand what he has written. Apparently you do not understand. Apparently you have a problem with the text because you see day 6 as an overlay for day 5. This cannot be.
Diane and “En Hakkore”, I have done my homework in a very careful way. I not only have the book that I quoted from but I have also gone to the source to ask him if I have interpreted his English words the way he meant them. He said:
You, Diane and “En Hakkore” do not have the book that I am quoting from (am I not correct?) and you did not know that Robert D. Bergen is responsible for the material in the book as he took the responsibility as the editor but he was not the original author of chapter 5. Although I do not make a big issue of whether we credit the editor for the material or the original author, the fact is that you have not gone to the source. That is such a shame especially when you are accusing me of “rhetoric that is misplaced”. I have done my homework well and I recommend that you check your sources before you accuse someone of not having the truth.
So, now is the time for you two, Diane and “En Hakkore” to either reconcile the day “discrepancy” of the creation of the birds. Were the birds created on day 5 or day 6? Is this another one of your “grammar errors”, Diane, that you credit to the Bible? Or are you willing to concede that the Bible is correct and God created the birds on BOTH day 5 and day 6? If God created the birds on day 5 AND day 6 then the birds created on day 6 could not be the same birds that were created on day 5 could they? How about you consider the two “acts” of the creation of males and females, created in this case of the birds, on two different days? Would this be better to say than to attribute error to God’s word?
I have not ignored this at all! In fact I discussed this with Dr. Buth and told him that while I agree with him that the creation of the animals and birds were not the same creation as the animals and birds from chapter 1, I do not believe these were from different authors (although it wouldn’t matter if there were a couple of authors and one compiler who put God’s words given to different people together, it still would be presenting exactly what God wanted in his word as God’s word is completely inspired and Dr. Buth agrees that more than one source would not take away from God’s inspiration). I told him that my view ties Genesis 1 & 2 into 1 Timothy 2:13, 14 and would he like to see it? He was extremely interested and as I said the copy of my DVD has been sent to him in Israel.
Thank you, Diane, for pushing me to go to the source. You have given me the opportunity to defend my integrity and also to get the information that I have written into the hands of a very important man. I would never have thought of this myself. Your pushing me was a very good thing and once again God brought good out of your accusation that I was speaking “rhetoric” and not truth.
Since I have gone to the source and asked Dr. Buth and you have not and I have also cited Dr. Buth’s public words that prove that the two verbs in chapter 2 cannot refer back to what was created in chapter 1 of Genesis, I stand firm that Dr. Buth agrees with me and not you. You have failed to go to the source. I have not failed to do that. Truth is worthy of verification. Truth does not run and hide. Truth will stand the test. Error will not stand the test but will claim a “victory” without ever going to the source.
Diane, you are standing behind the claims of a Deist. You are thus aligning yourself with one who claims that there are “conflicts” with the chronologies. You are aligning yourself with someone who speaks as an authority but who does not have the ability to refute Dr. Buth or answer the challenge about the birds being created on two different days. Diane, it is time for you to make a stand on your own. Are you going to let the Bible speak for itself, or are you going to stand behind the claims of a Deist who thinks there are “conflicts” a.k.a. errors in the text?
I also wanted to make a note here that Diane is still not putting my comments up and is holding them in the moderation. Is this wise? Apparently she thinks that it is unhelpful for me to tell people here that I moderate people’s first post and I will also moderate people who are abusive to my invited guests (Diane Sellner was one of those invited guests although she never did show up). Yet she puts my apologetic responses to their challenges into moderation. Interesting. While I cannot judge her heart, her actions speak to me of one who is fearful of the refutation that I provide of her “expert” Hebrew source. When someone really has the truth there should be no fear of having it tested. I am not afraid. I would encourage Diane to work these issues through so that she does not come out looking like one fearful of having her position challenged.
For me, I incorporate the 3 Genesis origins accounts together by losing the assumption of (strict) chronological time. That is, besides being a poem about Creation, Gen 1 has a purpose of giving a reason for Sabbath keepting; that is, working 6 days (like God did) and resting on 1 (like God did). The working days are stated in a way that could be understood by farmers and shepherds of the time and that deal with work appropriate for God, namely creation of everything.
Don,
Thanks, I appreciate that thought.
For me, I see something more than general principles. As an apologist I am trained in looking for the details especially those details that others gloss over. I am amazed at what God has revealed. Much of the detail in Genesis 1 & 2 are details that would not be available to us without revelation. No one was there when God created the heavens and the earth. Without his revelation of the details, we would not know what happened. But God chose to pull back the curtain of time and reveal his work of creation with us. Is his revelation helpful to us? I definitely believe it is. I believe it reveals God’s pattern. It allows us to dispel the myth that if one only saw God’s works or his miracles that this person would believe and would act on that belief. Adam had the privilege of seeing parts of God’s creation as God formed the animals and brought them to him, but Adam did not let this knowledge change him.
In my own ministry work, I have found that paying attention to the details has helped me immensely. For example, many claim that God chose not to talk to Eve and give her the prohibition directly. By paying attention to the details in the creation account, one can dispel this myth and free a person from thinking that God favors men and talks to them alone.
I do not want this to mean that I don’t think that the big picture is important. I appreciate those who have a real gift of painting the big picture for me and who keep reminding me of that big picture. My gift is not so much in the big, but in the little. I am a detail person and a logical person. I work at issues until they can make sense to me in all of the detail in the passage. Then I pray and ask God to help me to “paint” the detail for others so that they can “get it” too. This is why I so often use graphics to express my thoughts.
Right now I am witnessing to two Jehovah’s Witnesses and we are going through the “time line” of Jesus on paper. I have come up with a visual way of expressing the details of the events in time that point to who Jesus is and how this differs with who the JW’s say that Jesus is. It is so amazing! The JW’s can view my timeline and see things that they have never before considered. I am thinking that when these JW’s come free in Christ, I would like to put this teaching onto DVD to show others how they can effectively witness to Jehovah’s Witnesses in a gentle, respectful and visual way. I have used this method for years when I led a support group for ex-JW’s. It is what kept them coming back time and time again to learn. It is non-threatening, visual and helps people to think outside the box.
I also believe it is important to get the details right. Inspired text means every detail can be important. I also agree with Buth that each pericope needs to be understood on its own, before any attempt at integration with others, as the opposite idea can result in reading into the text.
Jews talk about the 6 days of creation as special and point out that they are not necessarily the same as days today.
I am very interested to find out what Dr. Buth thinks about my DVDs and the exegesis in Genesis and 1 Timothy 2. I brought in a lot of material from the Hebraic point of view that we often miss by our English minds. It will be interesting to see what someone who lives in Israel and who teaches Hebrew responds. I got an email from a Messianic Rabbi who loved the DVDs and was extremely happy with the Hebraic point of view on the hard passages of scripture on the women’s issue.
On working on a timeline for the life of Christ, the good news is there are 4 gospels and the bad news is there are 4 gospels. People have spent a huge amount of study on just the last week, let alone the whole thing.
Don,
I should have made myself a little clearer. I am somewhat spaced these days so it is easy to think that everyone knows how I think 😉 The “timeline” for Jesus is not a “timeline” of the events of his life, but rather who he is and how that can be expressed graphically. It shows how he is eternal as spirit and then takes on flesh and what happens when his flesh dies. It is a “timeline” that shows in pictures what happens during the resurrection. It is absolutely fascinating to watch a JW “get it” when they see that there is no physical connection at all between the Jesus who died and the “Jesus” who was resurrected as Michael the Archangel. Another thing the “timeline” shows is that there is no way to get around it other than to see that their “Jesus” actually died twice. Like I said I have been toying with the idea of putting this onto a DVD as a teaching series and my hsuband is really pushing me. He is sitting in on the sessions and he can see how the JWs are having their eyes opened by the “timeline”. It is an idea that I should be sharing so that others can understand and use this way of teaching.
OK, I thought you were harmonizing the gospels, you are at a higher level than that and for a specific purpose. It would still be interesting to see.
I do not know much about what the JWs teach, except I know that on some secondary doctrines, they get what the Bible says better than many churches; and this can throw some people a curve when they talk to them at a door and point this out.
It is interesting that Diane Sellner keeps repeating that “En” has refuted me regarding Dr. Buth’s work on the Hebrew grammar that proves that Genesis 2 has the animals and the garden of Eden created after Adam’s creation. I posted to CARM the refutation of “En” including a challenge to him regarding how he was going to square up the creation account in Genesis 1 where the birds are created on day 5 and the account in Genesis 2 where the birds are created after Adam’s creation on day 6. He had admitted that this was a problem. However as Dr. Buth says, we just need to accept the text as it is written and I completely agree with him. There is no contradiction when you see the genders created at different times. “En” will not see my answer unless he comes here because Diane will not allow my post to go through. By withholding the answer, Diane proves that saving face is more important than the truth.
This blog is dedicated to the truth and to checking the facts by going to the original source. Diane would rather rely on the information given by a Deist rather than go to the source. It is a pity but quite understandable since this is what her pattern is. She says that I won’t answer emails. I have never received an email from her. It is interesting that Diane had to correct a comment that she posted saying that she emailed me. Apparently she didn’t know that the person that posted on my contact form with an IP address from Pennsylvania had not sent me an email. If she had sent it herself she would have known that to begin with. It is also amazing that Diane has accused me of putting her “private” email on this blog. She said that since I put it up, she would also post it. How interesting. You can find her “private” email to me posted on CARM, yet you won’t find it on my blog. Why is that? It is because I didn’t post it. I merely said that I had received an accusation of a copyright infringement and I posted my defense. I never posted one word from Diane. The most amazing thing is that because Diane made her “private” email public, anyone with scruples can check my blog and can verify that I never posted her “private” email that she posted on CARM.
The question that I have is why would Diane post a “private” email on CARM when the very fact of her posting it completely disproves her accusation against me that I posted her “email”? And why would Diane accuse me of misrepresenting Buth and then refuse to allow my posts to go through on CARM? What is Diane afraid of? I think that a reasonable person could conclude that truth is not held high on CARM. I am very happy that it appears that the the gospel is held high and the death and resurrection of Jesus are held high. That is a good thing. But when Diane and Matt make the secondary issue of women in ministry to be an issue of salvation and they attack Christians who hold to all the same essentials of the faith as they do, they need to be called to account for their divisive attitudes.
It is time to have a full-scale CARM alert. I encourage every truth loving Christian to not support CARM until the divisive attacks and the lies against Christians are stopped. Anyone who wants a copy of the documented audio files can contact me. I also encourage people to check out Diane’s post where she copies her “private” email to me. It is at http://www.christiandiscussionforums.org/v/showthread.php?t=97611 Note that the copy of the “private” email is on post #1 and starts “To Whom IT May Concern:”
Now look to see what I actually posted on comment #100 here http://strivetoenter.com/wim/2008/02/28/please-welcome-diane-sellner/
Also see Diane’s accusation against me saying that I posted her email on my blog. http://www.christiandiscussionforums.org/v/showthread.php?t=97640 She says “The point is now she is denying posting the requests sent in private email.” Yes, I am denying that I posted Diane’s request. Anyone can verify that what I am saying is true and that Diane’s accusation that I posted her request to me is false.
How “private” was it if she could post it on CARM’s discussion board? I never posted it but she did! Diane also says that I didn’t answer her “email” on my contact page. I did answer it and perhaps she should check with the person who was the puppet who sent the contact form. Now I predict that Diane will not want too many people to actually go to CARM and see the documented evidence of her lie to verify that what I posted was nothing at all from the “private” email. Perhaps Diane will do what she always does and remove the evidence. The thread is called “EDIT to answer questions: Public Announcement Concerning Copyright infringements.” I have it saved in case she takes it down.
All those who are CARM followers and who are still lovers of truth need to check out the facts for themselves. Will Diane be held accountable for her lies or not? I guess you will have to decide that for yourselves but remember that what is done in the darkness needs to be exposed by the light. If you love Diane and Matt and want CARM to succeed, then the lies and the attacks posted on CARM need to stop. Send Diane and Matt an email. Post on their discussion board. Call them to account. And if they won’t repent, then leave. A divisive brother and sister in Christ is to be warned twice and then rejected. It is far better to care enough about them to call them to account than to allow this kind of sin to continue. You can also comment here on this post. Diane and her spies regularly watch this blog and this post. What you say here will be read by Diane.
Cheryl,
I’ve actually stopped posting at CARM. It is difficult to engage in a conversation when some are not listening to others. It does not make for a very meaningful discussion.
I also worry about the Christian witness left there for non Christians to see. One of the big problems nonbelievers tell me they have with Christians is hyposcrisy. I always attempt to show the love of Christ even when I don’t agree with someone and graciousness is just good manners in my opinion. Yes, I know that we struggle with our flesh and Christians aren’t perfect. But Christians are called to love one another. I also know it’s not fair that nonbelievers hold Christians to a higher standard, but they do expect more from us. And frankly, the Holy Spirit has promised to help us be more godly. We aren’t just saved from sin – we are saved to a godly life. Not one of legalism, but one of love.
It’s a good thing to expose false Biblical teaching. It’s another thing to do that without a spirit of love. It’s also another thing to make disputable matters a issue of salvation. One must be careful to major on the majors and minor on the minors.
Sandy,
I too worry about what the effect CARM has on non-believers. I have seen reports of non-believers very hurt by their treatment on CARM’s discussion boards. May this never be! Unbelievers need to see that the church deals with those who are divisive. My blog is a testimony to the fact that we have called Diane and Matt to repent and to be restored. I also want this blog to be a testimony to the fact that we welcome with open arms Christian brothers and sisters who call themselves complementarians. This is a place where we can passionately debate in a respectful manner but in the end we are to love one another as Christ love us. This is not a suggestion from Jesus but his command and all true Christians will have this love for one another because Jesus dwells within us.
This loving attitude is not displayed at CARM. I will not recommend Christians or non-Christians to go on CARM’s discussion boards. I am certain there must be other good boards out there who treat people with respect. We are not to support divisive people but warn them that the Good Shepherd will bring them to account.
Thanks for posting your comments, Sandy. I know Diane at least will be reading your words from this blog and I hope that your words will have an effect on her.