Bible Q-n-A LIVE for 9/27/12

Comments

1. PreacherNorm says

   September 27, 2012 at 9:18 pm

   Here’s the link to the other articles on Specific And Generic Authority.
   http://normfields.com/ascertaining-biblical-authority/
   http://normfields.com/establishing-biblical-authority-again/
   http://normfields.com/mechanical-instruments-in-worship/
   http://normfields.com/prove-all-things-pt-1/
   http://normfields.com/prove-all-things/

   Reply

2. John Smith says

   September 28, 2012 at 12:00 pm

   Another great video. But a few questions (I work mostly at night presently, so I’ve not been able to watch your broadcasts live).

   About the singing:

   Would a choir in a worship service be allowed if its members all sang at the SAME TIME as the rest of the congregation, not separately on their own. Wouldn’t that still be “teaching” and “singing” to “one another”?

   I know that in some churches, there is a practice, during congregational singing, for some of the congregation to sing one part (the “harmony” I guess, I don’t know much about music either), and others to sing another during the same song (sometimes it would seem that the men would primarily do one part and the women do another). Would this go against all “all singing together” principle?

   Is it permissible for, say, a Christian family, in their home, during a time of family prayer, Bible reading, etc. to gather around a piano, organ, etc. and sign some hymns?

   Would this be classified at “worship”? If so, would such use of said instruments in a home setting violate Scripture?

   About the “sinner’s prayer”:

   I agree that the “sinner’s prayer” is not in the Bible, but is rather a modern innovation.

   But I’m wondering if both the Pharisee and the tax collector in the passage you cited were really “under the covenant”.

   Sure, they were Jewish, they were OUTWARDLY Israel. But as Paul notes in Rom 9:6, not all “Israel” are truly Israel. This would seem to fit the Pharisee here (not to mention the Jewish crowd that would say of Christ, “Crucify him!”).

   So, could not an Israelite have been “under the covenant” but still be an “alien sinner”, especially given the fact that the OUTER things (e.g. circumcision, etc.) never saved or made anyone right with God?

   I know that in many Baptist churches and the like, they end their services with an “altar call”, where those present may come forward and “declare for Christ” while a hymn is played.

   It is my understanding that in many churches of Christ there is a similar practice, only it is called “the invitation”, during which an “invitation song” is song.

   I have not been able to find any evidence for this element in a worship service practiced or referred to anywhere in the New Testament (nor in the historical record of the earliest church)?

   How do you account for this?

   Thanks again for your time. Again, I am enjoying these lessons as well as your series on Roman Catholicism. I hope that in one of your upcoming videos, you will address some of the questions that I posted (on the canon of Scripture, when/how “Scripture Alone” came to be practiced, etc.) in the comments section of the video on “Catholicism and Bible Authority, Pt. 2”

   Reply