-- ... (...), March 27, 1999

Answers

If we debate as was done how many angels can dance on the head of pin we have lost the meaning of faith. The anwer comes when there is no question.

Peace And Well Being.

Jean Bouchard

-- jean bouchard (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), May 11, 1999.

Chris,

Just found this and would like to say you have made a very good point here:

"Did you follow your calling, and did you do your best to seek out the truth given what I gave you?"

As for this: *The anwer comes when there is no question. *

If were not asking, then were not looking, then theres no answer. Answers come by asking question. Or maybe your trying to point out here that answers come, not WHEN we ask - at that moment, but when we least expect it.

Jah Selah OF peace.

-- Jamey (jcreel@hcsmail.com), May 12, 1999.

I didn't catch whatever comments led to Chris posting this.

But in this vein Jamey, I would ask you how is Christianity made available to the non-scholar without scholarship since it requires a scholar to recover the correct text of the Bible and then other scholars to translate that text into some other language so that you can read it?

-- David Palm (djpalm64@yahoo.com), May 13, 1999.

Actually, David, while I understand what you're saying, I'd like to offer something to consider. If scholarship was a requirement for Christianity, then Jesus never would have chosen a bunch of fishermen to be His primary ambassadors. Apart from Paul, none were even remotely scholarly. Scholars definitely contribute to our faith . . . though much work of Theologians simply serve to complicate what Jesus intended to be a very simple message.

As to how Christianity can be made available without scholars today, I recall a friend of mine who went to China on a month-long missionary trip about 4 years ago. While there, the underground church where he was based decided to travel to an extremely remote area in the mountains. It was thought that the gospel had never been preached there. Upon arrival, the villagers they encountered had already committed their lives to Jesus Christ and were serving the Lord in a primative, but sincere way. Confused, the missionaries asked how the villagers had received the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. They replied that sometime earlier, the Lord appeared (almost like a group vision) to the entire village, introduced Himself, and explained how they could be saved. Naturally, the missionaries worked with the villagers for a while explaining the faith more thoroughly and leaving God's Word with them for future instruction. Remarkable story that I would not necessarily have believed had I not heard it first hand from a trusted friend. My friend also related the desparate need for Bibles explaining that many have never read the Word, but simply received the Lord and were baptized based on someone's verbal testimony. These folks had been walking with the Lord every day completely dependent on the Holy Spirit for guidance. The cool thing was that their walk was true and their faith was strong. They did not have a deep understanding of doctrines, but they knew the Lord's Presence and they obeyed His commands in their hearts (the Law written on the heart).

My point is that while I value scholarly contributions, I realize that the faith would continue being passed from person to person under the unction of the Holy Spirit even if no scholars were around (IMO).

-- David (David@matt6:33.com), May 13, 1999.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I very much appreciate your posts here and over on the Y2K forum. :-)

David (aka BankPacman)

-- David (David@matt6:33.com), May 13, 1999.