Bible Discussion Thread

When to and when not to associate with those with doctrinal error.

I am involved with the Protestant church. I personally don't believe that I should fellowship in the Catholic and other churches that have rituals and ceremonies that I consider Biblically errant. If I did believe that all those in certain denominations are by default necessarily UNsaved; I probably couldn't say so dogmatically here; however I don't consider on the other hand all those who hold to correct doctrine TO be saved even where I would attend fellowship.

I brought this up because of the particular organization that supports right to life (and probably a number of others) that supported the march for life in DC last week. One of the speakers was the actor in "The Chosen" who on top of the aforementioned concerns has some tie ins with mysticism and another errant denomination which is probably better not to mention here specifically. No matter how many of us feel; it would be ignorant not to give credit to the Catholic church for promoting Pro-Life for many generations now; often being the only ones week after week at abortion clinics and as a whole with the clergy supporting them. Things may have changed in that regard and now we have Jeff Durbin who I consider to be doing an admirable job saving lives at clinics week after week. I don't agree totally with his eschatology; but sometimes we have to put certain things aside.

Perhaps a bigger issue right now is the split among major denominations in the Protestant camp. As the old Kenny Rogers song used to say we need to know when to hold out when to walk away and when to run...

Our concern should be protecting others from proselytizing from those promoting a false gospel. I see no harm in engaging in conversation with people of different doctrinal camps or even different faiths should such opportunities arise. In the case mentioned above; we need to be careful to avoid humanism when in a large crowd celebrating such a victory.

Hello Richard, I was just thinking along the lines of the title of your post these past few days. There is error everywhere in the church today. So much and so varied that we would need to separate ourselves completely from church congregations to avoid people with serious doctrinal error.

I have been in five different denominational fellowships in my life and have found that all of them contain such errors. I have studied the various denominations that have emerged since the Reformation and can say I have not found one that is completely sound in their teachings. And I have studied many well-known preachers and teachers and find the same problem.

I would say that none of us have completely inherent doctrine. But we should definitely strive to align our doctrine up with the revealed truth of the Scriptures taking into account ALL that the Scriptures say on a doctrinal subject before embracing such doctrine.

I know for myself, I have had to make adjustments to my doctrine over the years, whether in regards to the denomination I was brought up in, to the denominations I gravitated to in my 20's, 30's and 40's. And even now, in the denomination I seem to find the best fit concerning soundness on essential doctrines.

I listen to how people in various denominations support and explain the doctrines they adhere to. Many defy logic and are either contrary to the revealed truth of Scripture or to proper interpretation methods. If you study the history of Protestantism, (which I support over Catholicism), a whole plethora of denominations have come out of other denominations and these new denominations have had numerous splits and schisms over the past 500 years. Some over serious doctrinal issues, many more over less serious matters or over whether to follow one preacher over another, or outward practices, etc.

Many denominations begin well but as time went by, doctrine was slowly corrupted and "new" (supposedly) things of the Spirit have been embraced rapidly.