On the way. . .
Submitted by Dirk Gently on October 29 1999 at 19:19:42
In reply to By The Way?… Submitted by Andy on October 28 1999 at 09:04:21
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To match your rhetorical question with one of my own, where in the Bible does it tell us which books belong in the Bible? Or do we have some sort of meta-revelation which tells us what constitutes scriptural revelation? This is not as much of a non sequitur as it may appear. Just as the exact content of the biblical canon was one which took literally centuries for the Church to recognize, so it took centuries for the early Christians to begin to make sense of the teachings they had received. Part of the legacy the apostles left to the church is what we now call the New Testament, but another part of it included liturgical practices, some of which they themselves received from both the Temple and the synagogue. One liturgical practice that is unique to Christianity is the worship of the Son. This is something that can be traced through the surviving non-biblical documents right to the end of the first century, and is attested to in the New Testament. The reason I find the doctrine of the Trinity so compelling is it's the only way I can reconcile the prohibition against worshipping "other gods" with the incredibly glorious scenes of worship "of the One who sits on the throne and the Lamb" that illuminate the book of Revelation. If Jesus Christ is not in some way God, then Revelation encourages idolatry and false worship. Clearly there is distinction between Father and Son. Just as clearly, if we do not honour the Son just as we honour the Father, then we do not honour the Father who sent him. (see John 5:23-24) Dirk |