Romans922
Puritan Board Professor
My friend who used to be reformed has since turned Eastern Orthodox and my other friend and I have been discussing this with him. He has since said what follows, setting up ground rules for our discussion (this follows my ground rules of discussing based on Scripture and not tradition).
Would you go for this????
HE SAID:
Alright guys. I think I may be ready to resume the discussion within the next few days. I'll let you know when I'm actually "prepared" I'm going to agree to the resumption of this dialogue on the following terms.
1. I set the agenda I will decide which issue we discuss.
2. We discuss things issue by issue and we can vote on when to stop talking about an issue.
3. In discussing the various issues we will discuss them in the context of human history as well as the context of Scripture, both are fair game.
4. If I feel the need to take a few days to answer something, I will. You guys can too, really its ok. I do not wish to be flooded with long posts, I think this is something we can all agree to because it can get cumbersome and we can get lost in the minutia of the post. this is why I suggested issue by issue as opposed to system by system. I have a business to attend to and unfortunately I still have a night job that requires my attention.
5. Each of us will agree to give the other the benefit of the doubt. I'm not calling you guys heretics for being Protestants, I expect the same. I understand that either one of us is right, the other is wrong or we are both wrong, but we don't need to constantly hound that point, you know I am an absolutist when it comes to most things.
6. We will have a point counter point discussion. If we are discussing say... Sola Scriptura we will respond only with posts relavant to that, we will not pull in another unrelated issue (escatology for instance) unless it is closely related. Sola Scriptura, History and Church Tradition/Church Fathers are closely related, and it would not be a stretch to bring that up in the context of Sola Scriptura. I realize to quote John Piper "everything relates to everything" but I think we need to break things down (at least I do, I'm not a professional scholar, I'm just a painter sparring with two professional scholars.)
7. I think we should enjoy doing this dialogue. I realize ultimately that someone is right and someone is wrong, but I think we should listen and at least try to understand each other, even if we wind up in sharp disagreement.
Would you go for this????
HE SAID:
Alright guys. I think I may be ready to resume the discussion within the next few days. I'll let you know when I'm actually "prepared" I'm going to agree to the resumption of this dialogue on the following terms.
1. I set the agenda I will decide which issue we discuss.
2. We discuss things issue by issue and we can vote on when to stop talking about an issue.
3. In discussing the various issues we will discuss them in the context of human history as well as the context of Scripture, both are fair game.
4. If I feel the need to take a few days to answer something, I will. You guys can too, really its ok. I do not wish to be flooded with long posts, I think this is something we can all agree to because it can get cumbersome and we can get lost in the minutia of the post. this is why I suggested issue by issue as opposed to system by system. I have a business to attend to and unfortunately I still have a night job that requires my attention.
5. Each of us will agree to give the other the benefit of the doubt. I'm not calling you guys heretics for being Protestants, I expect the same. I understand that either one of us is right, the other is wrong or we are both wrong, but we don't need to constantly hound that point, you know I am an absolutist when it comes to most things.
6. We will have a point counter point discussion. If we are discussing say... Sola Scriptura we will respond only with posts relavant to that, we will not pull in another unrelated issue (escatology for instance) unless it is closely related. Sola Scriptura, History and Church Tradition/Church Fathers are closely related, and it would not be a stretch to bring that up in the context of Sola Scriptura. I realize to quote John Piper "everything relates to everything" but I think we need to break things down (at least I do, I'm not a professional scholar, I'm just a painter sparring with two professional scholars.)
7. I think we should enjoy doing this dialogue. I realize ultimately that someone is right and someone is wrong, but I think we should listen and at least try to understand each other, even if we wind up in sharp disagreement.
