Brothers+ Many builders of theological castles claim the Scriptures as the foundation of their structure. Many a twist has been introduced into the supporting structures of these edifices by a failure to differentiate between the large variety of rhetorical devices employed by Jesus, the Apostles and other authors of Biblical literature. Jesus and the writers of Scripture often taught using paradox, a way of expression that does not fit well in the designs of the precise builders of systems. A website that shows the great variety of such devices may be found at http://www.godstruthfortoday.org/Library/bullinger/FiguresOfSpeech.html It is easy for us to miss some of the figures of speech and rhetorical devices employed by men in other cultures. Some of conflicts that are imagined to exist between the writers of Johannine, Pauline, Petrine and Jacobine linterature is, I think, largely due to a failure to understand the differences expression. I seriously doubt that those who wrote the Scriptures would recognize the theological edifices of recent centuries that claim to be erected on apostolic foundations. Charles+ GMSpencer@... wrote: In a message dated 7/29/05 4:20:31 PM, wperkin2@... writes: > Remember Christ's parables of wheat and tares, good fruit vs. bad fruit, > false prophets and that not all that call Him "Lord, Lord" will enter the > kingdom of God. Those parables were spoken to the religious people of His > day in covenant with God not to lost sinners who were not Jews and not in > covenant with God. > Thanks Bill! I recall how, years ago, I used to twist these very verses because they did not fit the system I believed in. Calvinism, in my opinion, is a Procrustean Bed. Procrustius was an innkeeper who has an iron bed he made available to travelers. The problem was that his guests were either too short or too long to sleep comfortably. But Procrustius was an easy answer to the problem. If the guests were to short he simply stretched him out till he fit. If the guest was too long he simply chopped off enough of him till he fit. Most "systems" are Procrustean Beds that require violence to scripture to make it fit the logic of the system. Glenn+ -- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: faithandlife-unsubscribe@... -- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: faithandlife-unsubscribe@...