Posted by Ray Kidder on 10/3/2009, 6:33 pm, in reply to "Re: The Protestant category"
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Searcher,
You wrote:
"What is lacking is each individual believer going directly to the source of all truth and searching the scriptures to get to know Him and understand His will and purposes."
As I explained before, even this advice of your was impractical circa 325 AD. The canon of the New Testament was not yet established, so the accepted books at that time were not all of the 27 books that have been accepted since (circa) 400 AD. Also, the literacy rate was low, and copies of Bible manuscripts were expensive and uncommon. Listening to preachers with greater familiarity with the accepted books, and having copies of portions of scripture at the local church was a more likey channel to learn from God's word. OTOH, I presume the ecumenical council had the cream of the crop of those who were familiar with the scriptures, and I assume they had copies of all of the accepted scriptures nearby for consultation. It still makes sense to me for the Church to develop the Nicene Creed using the scriptures, prayer, and the wisdom that they expected from the Holy Spirit.
You also wrote:
"If you seriously want an answer about artificial contraception for example, let's search it out to see what the scriptures tell us."
Your suggestion seems fair enough. Here are some passages that suggest that the use of artificial contraception is in accordance with God's will:
This is from I Corinthians 7 (NKJV):
8 But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am;
9 but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
This means that if a man has trouble controlling his sexual urges, he should get married to satisfy his sexual urges while also avoiding sexual sins.
St. Paul also wrote in I Timothy 5 (NKJV) the following:
8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Someone could reason that if there is a poor man who gets married because he needs to avoid sexual sins, he should practice artificial contraception in order to not have a baby that he cannot provide for.
Is this the answer the Bible gives?
Ray Kidder
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