do you think that Paul simply gave the "church" some structure because the people were complaining and arguing about what to do and how to do it?
2007-03-21 12:32:27 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
PaulCyp
I agree, however what is your take on why Paul decided to implement a "structure" for the church. Division was already starting at the time, do you think his intent was to try to bring unity?
2007-03-21 13:27:37 · update #1
Without the Church there would be no Christianity. The Church is the structure within which Christianity exists. The Church - the true one founded by Jesus Christ - is what keeps Christian teaching pure and true, which is why the Bible refers to that Church and no other as "the pillar and foundation of truth". The sad situation we see today, thousands of conflicting manmade denominations each trying to find the truth by self-interpretation of a collection of early Jewish and Catholic writings, is the direct result of defection from the Church Jesus Christ founded for all mankind, whose authority is the only possible source of Christian unity, without which genuine truth is not possible. The truth, like any structure, weakens and eventually collapses once you remove it from its pillars and foundation.
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2007-03-21 12:49:23 · answer #1 · answered by PaulCyp 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Paul's letter to Rome, Corinth, Ephesus etc, did add much structure to the design of the early church, however I don't believe that he had the majority of the influence.
Peter (the first pope) probably had more to do with structure.
This is a really hard question to answer given the time period. Remember that Christianity was for the most part illegal at the time. Churches were going up left an right to follow the teachings of Jesus, but I think they lacked structure until Constantine legalized Christianity in 324.
Is the founding relevant? The question seams to be asking, what is "most relevant". The answer to that question is that the "Gospel" is most relevant.
If you have people that obey Jesus, then you have the church. That is the biblical definition. Not a building, or an organization, simply a group of people who have faith and obey God.
Should you go to Church? Yes, but only for 2 or 3 reasons.
1. The bible says to worship God, church is a good place to do this.
2. Gather with other Christians, another directive from the big guy upstairs.
3. A place to share the Gospel with others.
As for going to church to learn and go deeper into the faith? Some churches provide this, although they often get distracted by the church politics. The best place to go deeper in faith is by joining or hosting a bible study.
Anyway, good question!
2007-03-21 19:48:44 · answer #2 · answered by John R 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It does because the origins of the Church predate the New Testament. Just knowing that totally annihilates the credibility of the fundamentalists in terms of theology as they say all true doctrines are from the Bible only when in fact the Bible came later, at least the Christian part of it. Peace be with you
2007-03-21 19:46:35 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What Christians call the Church, was actually a continuation of the synagogue. Once Constantine entered the scene, it got all corrupted.
2007-03-21 20:23:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
He tried to help them. I'm not sure if anyone really listened.
2007-03-21 19:36:58 · answer #5 · answered by rezany 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
PaulCyp's answer is exactly right.
2007-03-21 20:18:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes it does very much so.
2007-03-21 19:37:59 · answer #7 · answered by jimmy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋