tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post7280021063083104580..comments2023-04-26T09:58:50.906-04:00Comments on Light and Heat: On Keeping Christ Out of ChristmasM. Jay Bennetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196144533530725736noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-44314554892516463632012-09-27T14:15:26.267-04:002012-09-27T14:15:26.267-04:00This is good stuff. I wish more Christians, partic...This is good stuff. I wish more Christians, particularly those who claim to be Reformed would take it to heart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-46037577619642755752011-12-22T08:48:25.514-05:002011-12-22T08:48:25.514-05:00Correction:
Instituting an annual calendar would...Correction: <br /><br />Instituting an annual calendar would be the prescription of a form, which is contrary to Scripture.<br /><br />Should read:<br /><br />Instituting an annual calendar would be the prescription of an ELEMENT, which is contrary to Scripture. the prescription of particular holy days would be elemental to worship.M. Jay Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14196144533530725736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-89061816435383821022011-03-20T16:47:50.351-04:002011-03-20T16:47:50.351-04:00Ben,
Sorry to respond so late to your last commen...Ben,<br /><br />Sorry to respond so late to your last comment.<br /><br />You are right that every worship service must involve forms and circumstances. Nonetheless, the RPW does apply to forms and circumstances, since it is in Scripture's regulation of worship that we see the distinction between elements, forms, and circumstances. Specific elements are prescribed as the norms of worship. ButM. Jay Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14196144533530725736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-56305936166303801372011-03-06T03:14:16.001-05:002011-03-06T03:14:16.001-05:00"No specific form or circumstance is prescrib..."No specific form or circumstance is prescribed" -- and yet any worship service must have a form and must occur in certain circumstances.<br /><br />So if I'm reading you rightly, then the RPW does not apply to forms and circumstances -- i.e., as long as you don't introduce <i>elements</i> that are unknown to the NT, then you're still adhering to the RPW and have a certain Ben Dunlapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-38235207807987110152011-03-02T21:10:29.163-05:002011-03-02T21:10:29.163-05:00Ben, continuing (I just saw and moderated you part...Ben, continuing (I just saw and moderated you part 2 above). Ultimately the RPW is grounded in the second commandment of the moral law, which forbids a way of worship, namely through images. The strict adherence of the OT church to the ceremonial law is an example of prescribed worship but cannot the ground of NT practice, since the ceremonial law has been abrogated. Simply put, the RPW gets M. Jay Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14196144533530725736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-81488221032285437402011-03-01T10:41:32.867-05:002011-03-01T10:41:32.867-05:00Ben,
You've acknowledged that the Coptic chu...Ben, <br /><br />You've acknowledged that the Coptic churches teach false doctrine. Would you acknowledge the same sbout the EO and RC churches?M. Jay Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14196144533530725736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-26057028553283484882011-03-01T04:47:26.694-05:002011-03-01T04:47:26.694-05:00[part 2 to work around Blogger's comment-lengt...[part 2 to work around Blogger's comment-length limit]<br /><br />One last, more concrete question. You said that the regulative principle forbids from worship that which is not explicitly prescribed in the New Testament. How does this play out in the practical details of Sunday worship?<br /><br />I ask this because the regulative principle resonates deeply with me, as a Catholic. I was Ben Dunlapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-51465866230581868032011-03-01T04:46:06.550-05:002011-03-01T04:46:06.550-05:00Thanks for your lengthy reply. To respond to part ...Thanks for your lengthy reply. To respond to part 2 first: Again I don't <i>think</i> that I was appealing to the authority of any particular church -- unless it's necessary to accept the authority of the Coptic church in order to give credence to its claim of an episcopal lineage that traces to the evangelist Mark.<br /><br />Maybe that is necessary -- but then again maybe it's not. Ben Dunlapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-21781859108265380662011-02-25T17:45:57.111-05:002011-02-25T17:45:57.111-05:00Ben, Thanks for your questions and continued discu...Ben, Thanks for your questions and continued discussion. I'd like to respond in two parts: (1) Biblical Theological and (2) Historical Theological.<br /><br />1. Biblical Theological. You acknowledge in your response that the NT does in fact abrogate the OT ceremonial laws, which includes the liturgical calendar. And you also say (correct me if I'm wrong) that this does not mean that the M. Jay Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14196144533530725736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-16617903848490036522011-02-25T05:03:52.857-05:002011-02-25T05:03:52.857-05:00The three Scripture passages you cite may clearly ...The three Scripture passages you cite may clearly indicate an abrogation of the specifics of the OT ceremonial laws. But I don't see why they need to be read as a categorical abrogation of all annual liturgical calendars -- especially in light of the contravening historical evidence.<br /><br />Besides the observable current practice of the apostolic churches, we also have documentary Ben Dunlapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-90614476769774887112011-02-25T00:38:56.126-05:002011-02-25T00:38:56.126-05:00Eric, good point.
Ben, I think you touched on Eri...Eric, good point.<br /><br />Ben, I think you touched on Eric's point when you acknowledged the disunity between EO and RC. Both claim to be Apostolic via the succession of the Apostolic office, which makes an appeal to the authority of both inconsistent.<br /><br />With respect to your argument from Scripture, I would point to the clear abrogation of the OT ceremonial laws in the NT, which M. Jay Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14196144533530725736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-16087491016756502662011-02-25T00:00:19.216-05:002011-02-25T00:00:19.216-05:00Ben, I'm interested in how you construct the p...Ben, I'm interested in how you construct the phrase "all apostolic confessions of East and West." If it's apostolic, how could it be East and/or West. This is anachronistic.Reformed4everhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07213474159801967090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-83140351488450155982011-02-24T23:39:54.809-05:002011-02-24T23:39:54.809-05:00I guess by 'confession' I just meant '...I guess by 'confession' I just meant 'Church'. I'm not familiar with anything in the New Testament or the Fathers that indicates that an annual liturgical calendar -- which was clearly a part of right worship under the Old Covenant -- have been abrogated in the New Covenant.<br /><br />Now my familiarity with the New Testament and the Fathers is not comprehensive by any means,Ben Dunlapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-23523125301372788542011-02-24T23:14:36.358-05:002011-02-24T23:14:36.358-05:00Ben, Thank you for reading and commenting. Did you...Ben, Thank you for reading and commenting. Did you have a particular confession in mind? I'm not familiar with an early church confession that speaks to this issue.M. Jay Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14196144533530725736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-16965623061073071842011-02-24T23:03:50.175-05:002011-02-24T23:03:50.175-05:00"he has not seen fit to do that with any day ..."he has not seen fit to do that with any day but the weekly sabbath since the coming of Christ."<br /><br />Says who? All apostolic confessions of East and West (Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Copts, etc.) would vigorously disagree with you on this point. And they've been worshiping God in very particular ways with remarkable continuity since the apostolic era.Ben Dunlapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20164035.post-17281175318434094732011-02-20T21:59:08.315-05:002011-02-20T21:59:08.315-05:00I agree. Amen. I like the comment that the Christi...I agree. Amen. I like the comment that the Christian calendar is the weekly calendar. One holy day per week. Christmas has more regard than all 52 Lord's Days put together including "Easter."Reformed4everhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07213474159801967090noreply@blogger.com