It looks like the Gwen Shamblin thread has gotten corrupted ... when I try to load the page it stops about half-way down.

I recently visited another Christian discussion forum, open to people of any church. I was appalled at the lack of doctrinal knowledge of the average participants. Several were avid Arians, and a couple others subscribed to the "little god" theology. No wonder the church has no power in the world today. It doesn't even know what it believes!

-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000

Answers

You're preaching to the choir John!!!

-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000

Oh...and by the way...that's the logical result of a generation of the church that is "More interested in numbers....rather than...the Book of Numbers."

-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000

The Christian Courier published an article recently on Shamblin. It should be of interest to those discussing the subject.

Christians Only
Joy and Simplicity in Faith


-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000

Actually ... I'm preaching to them! I've had to mount a huge defense of the triune Godhead, the diety of Christ, the uniqueness of God, etc. Which will probably become a series of articles for my column. (Ridiculous to be defending such things among professed Christians ...)

This is a prime example why we need stronger doctrinal teaching in the church today. "My people perish for lack of knowledge."

-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000

I have to add what I tacked onto the end of the first Gwen Shamblin thread. One responder (Nancy) wrote:

>>Take the class and then comment. If you have not taken the class you are just a noisy gong (there are so many these days). It does not matter what your credentials are or who you work for, you are not getting your information first hand unless you take the class.<<

To which I responded:

It DOES matter what a person's background and credentials are. Would you trust a surgeon who never went to medical school? Would you trust your car to a mechanic who knew nothing about automobiles? Of course not. Then why would you suggest anyone trusting their eternal soul to someone who was not qualified in religious matters?

I am starting to get the idea that the responders who say this type of thing (not just Nancy - this comment has come up several times on this forum as I recall) come from a particular charismatic type background. Not trying to throw stones here, but there seems to be a "new" doctrine in America (its actually old, but has gained lots of acceptance). This doctrine is "Study and knowledge are not important. God will instantly 'inspire' me to know everything about everything. What God reveals to me individually is equal to and above what God has revealed in His written word. In fact, it is new revelation."

That doctrine is totally false. NOTHING is equal to or above written scripture. Because this false doctrine has been embraced almost across the board in American churches, all sorts of other false ideas are also accepted. It is really important that all remember that all doctrine and experience is judged by the Bible, not the other way around.

This is another "fruit" from the lack of preaching of doctrine.

-- Anonymous, January 01, 2001

I agree. I had a friend who was of a charismatic bent, and she started following after some self-proclaimed "prophet." When I questioned some of the things he said, she told me I was being "too intellectual."

-- Anonymous, January 01, 2001

If they haven't obeyed the gospel, they are not the church no matter how much claim they lay to being a Christian. One who professes to be a Christian may not necessarily be one, hence the ignorance of Biblical doctrine.

-- Anonymous, January 01, 2001

While what you are saying is most certainly true, there are yet many who have obeyed the Gospel and are still ignorant of Biblical doctrine.

-- Anonymous, January 02, 2001

Very True John.

We do have that type here but make it difficult for a person who has become a Christian to remain ignorant. One of the things we do is to encourage the completion of homework. For almost every Adult class taught here, homework is given. A little arm twisting every once in a while doesn't hurt either in trying to get people to open their bibles at home and get the work done. When I teach the young ones I also on a regular basis give them work to be done during the week.

I have seen very few churches that do this. I can tell you it does work if the people will commit to doing the work. The spiritual growth in others is a pleasure to see!!

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2001

I had some problem accessing the original Gwen Shamblin thread for a while, too, but whatever the problem was seems to be fixed now.

I am not as learned or knowledgeable as you all, but I AM learning. I mean no disrespect, but I must admit that it's discouraging to hear thoughts from people that I would ordinarily look to for guidance/assistance on my journey knocking people like myself who have accepted Christ as their Savior, but take a while to grow to the point of feeling driven to learn all that they can in the time they have left.

-- Anonymous, March 20, 2001