I'm allergic to applying labels to various commands and using those labels to decide which ones we should follow. I grew up with people who did that with the Sermon on the Mount, telling us which things were really impossible and said only to make use feel guilty so we could come to grace, or which ones were meant for some future Kingdom and not for us now. I do think it's useful to recognize hyperbole, but using the labels we apply to Scripture to decide which parts to obey isn't a great approach. And that's what I see people doing here.Heirbyadoption wrote:But this idea that the practical tenets of the moral law continue in force upon the Church (beyond those re-iterated in the New Testament) was not an aspect I'd much encountered, hence my questions.
But both Catholics and Calvinists distinguish moral, ceremonial, and judicial law. It's in the Westminster Confession. Aquinas put it this way:
If you do make this distinction, it's sometimes hard to know how to classify a given verse. For instance, this section is about divorce, which is both civil and moral, a woman's defilement is usually about the ceremonial law. And defilement is the reason given for not being able to return to the husband. So does this distinction help answer the question? If so, I would argue that ceremonial defilement is the main concern, and that's ceremonial. But I'm also really not convinced that it's helpful to try to do legalistic parsing of the parts of the Old Testament that are not specifically reaffirmed in the New Testament.Thomas Aquinas wrote:We must therefore distinguish three kinds of precept in the Old Law; viz. "moral" precepts, which are dictated by the natural law; "ceremonial" precepts, which are determinations of the Divine worship; and "judicial" precepts, which are determinations of the justice to be maintained among men.
But I'm guessing the biblical interpretation issue is not the most important issue here. The healing issue is. And you seem to know that.
You've got it.Heirbyadoption wrote:As for the debating, most of that has pretty much come to an impasse for a bit. A couple of the strongest objectors are actually those who were good friends with the wife before she took off, so some of it is personal hurt and reaction, etc, though it's all being pushed strictly as a Biblical issue. Makes yet another aspect to pray for.
Indeed. I admire your heart in this.Heirbyadoption wrote:After it came to a head last summer, we all agreed to call for some outside brethren to council us this past fall, who came and they recommended we take it to our annual conference this summer and lay it in the hands of a group of elders from congregations across the country to study it for a year and come back with a recommendation for us next year. Our next council is in about a month to decide whether to follow that council. Our only other real option at this point is to require submission from the minority, which they're unwilling to give, so rather than deal with their unsubmission, we are continuing to pray, study, and seek for any further discernment God may send, and I expect the question/issue will get sent to conference as mentioned above. Wouldn't be my mind to go that route, but I'm one of the youngest members, and we keep hoping God will soften a few more hearts.