tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11514345.post113595250855823579..comments2023-09-09T09:52:02.938-04:00Comments on The Christian Mind: Church-Shopping TeensKPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11054540901897686853noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11514345.post-1135974993170530682005-12-30T15:36:00.000-05:002005-12-30T15:36:00.000-05:00Coherence is indeed important, when it comes to th...Coherence is indeed important, when it comes to theology. But it does not follow from the fact that a person has only encountered the theological perspectives to be found in one particular faith tradition that that person will wind up with an intellectually coherent system of belief. Many of our churches embrace theological beliefs which are themselves incoherent, at least in terms of the extent to which they accurately reflect the truth of the scriptures in which they claim to believe. <BR/><BR/>Exposure to multiple theological traditions encourages people to use their minds and exercise discernment by going to the <I>only</I> truly authoritative source, that is, to the Bible, in order to discover the authentic Christian position on any given subject. <BR/><BR/>It is often said, rather flippantly, that there is no such thing as the perfect church. That statement, on its face, is indisputably true. But I find it abominable when such a truth is abused in order to discourage people from criticizing the flaws they find in their local churches. On the contrary, it is precisely <I>because</I> the church is imperfect that we as Christians should be involved in a constant ongoing process of reevaluating our beliefs in the light of the scriptures. <BR/><BR/>Our ability to objectively assess the legitimacy of any given teaching heard from the pulpit is hindered when we artificially shelter ourselves from contrary views. Our goal should not be to formulate a system of theological beliefs which is consistent with the teachings of any given denomination, or to define ourselves primarily in terms of our relationship with any particular church body, but rather, to be in complete and total submission to Christ and to God's word, even if that puts us in conflict, in some respects, with the people with whom we share the Lord's Supper on a regular basis. <BR/><BR/>When we base our beliefs on our own thoughtful study of the scriptures --- instead of mindlessly adopting the beliefs of our fellow Christians just because we value unity above truth, and because we're too lazy to do the work which is necessary for such analysis --- we will ultimately arrive at a system of belief which is both internally coherent (because the Bible, properly understood, is internally coherent) and true. There is nothing "splintered" about that.Mark Pettigrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10740266383716851919noreply@blogger.com