Apology and a question

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dnlcnwy

dnlcnwy

Puritan Board Freshman
I recently suggested including a forum here where non-members could post questions. I did this because there were so many visitors on this page and I thought this was a good outreach opportunity. My idea got shot down out of concern for content purity, basically we are reformed and we don't want that message being compromised. Out of curiosity I went out to some of the other boards and looked at there discussions about reformed theology and I begin to understand the managements position. There is a lot of sophomoric and specious argument out there against the reformed position and I understand now that we don't want that here. But it seems like such a waste of opportunity not to offer the sincerely curious here some way of interacting without committing to full membership. Could someone (or perhaps a small group) volunteer use of their face book page for this purpose? All it would take would be a strategically placed link and a few souls willing to interact.
 
Members may get together however they wish offsite and start or use and promote their own social media pages however they wish; but the board is not going to be used to formally promote any such endeavor.
 
dnlcnwy said:
I recently suggested including a forum here where non-members could post questions. I did this because there were so many visitors on this page and I thought this was a good outreach opportunity. My idea got shot down out of concern for content purity, basically we are reformed and we don't want that message being compromised. Out of curiosity I went out to some of the other boards and looked at there discussions about reformed theology and I begin to understand the managements position. There is a lot of sophomoric and specious argument out there against the reformed position and I understand now that we don't want that here. But it seems like such a waste of opportunity not to offer the sincerely curious here some way of interacting without committing to full membership. Could someone (or perhaps a small group) volunteer use of their face book page for this purpose? All it would take would be a strategically placed link and a few souls willing to interact.
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You are free to start one on FB pretty easily: https://www.facebook.com/help/167970719931213

Also there are groups like this that already exist on FB. One is called "Calvinism Fellowship, Debate, and Discussion":

https://www.facebook.com/groups/214703171880648 . This group has almost 13 thousand members.
 
kodos said:
You are free to start one on FB pretty easily: https://www.facebook.com/help/167970719931213

Also there are groups like this that already exist on FB. One is called "Calvinism Fellowship, Debate, and Discussion":

https://www.facebook.com/groups/214703171880648 . This group has almost 13 thousand members.
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What do you think of http://www.facebook.com/ReformedOutreach ? I guess I am principally concerned about people who have little or no exposure to reformed theology at all. Most of the resources cited here so far are for those who are already well down this path.
 
KMK said:
The moderators and administrators of this board are volunteers.
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I think all the staff here is serving in a wonderful and God honoring capacity. I have benefited greatly from interacting here and I have read the testimony of many others who who say the same. I am just wondering if there is a way to channel the popularity of this board among those on the outside that you brothers have built (and rightfully have a protective attitude towards) into an outreach effort.
 
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dnlcnwy said:
I think all the staff here is serving in a wonderful and God honoring capacity. I have benefited greatly from interacting here and I have read the testimony of many others who who say the same. I am just wondering if there is a way to channel the popularity of this board among those on the outside that you brothers have built (and rightfully have a protective attitude towards) into an outreach effort.
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Brother, I get what you're after, but it just isn't what the board is about.
 
As has been mentioned, there's a lot out there for anyone wanting to know more about Reformed theology. I can't see us providing anything that isn't available in countless other platforms. It would only serve to spread our volunteer staff thinner than they already are.
 
C. M. Sheffield said:
As has been mentioned, there's a lot out there for anyone wanting to know more about Reformed theology. I can't see us providing anything that isn't available in countless other platforms. It would only serve to spread our volunteer staff thinner than they already are.
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OK. You are right, there are resources already out there. It would just be nice if the visitors here had a quick path to them. Maybe putting in a link would amount to endorsement and that is more than the staff here is willing to do. I understand that too.
 
dnlcnwy said:
I recently suggested including a forum here where non-members could post questions. I did this because there were so many visitors on this page and I thought this was a good outreach opportunity. My idea got shot down out of concern for content purity, basically we are reformed and we don't want that message being compromised. Out of curiosity I went out to some of the other boards and looked at there discussions about reformed theology and I begin to understand the managements position. There is a lot of sophomoric and specious argument out there against the reformed position and I understand now that we don't want that here. But it seems like such a waste of opportunity not to offer the sincerely curious here some way of interacting without committing to full membership. Could someone (or perhaps a small group) volunteer use of their face book page for this purpose? All it would take would be a strategically placed link and a few souls willing to interact.
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I think you have good intentions, but most on this board would advise that those who are wading into the reformed faith simply go to a local faithful reformed church and speak to the minister. To which the question might arise - then why does this board exist? To which I would say, I didn't create it, but it seems as though it is a place where those established in at least the basics of reformed theology (i.e. subscribing to a confession) can discuss the things of the faith with like minded others.
 
This is from the rejection notice when an applicant doesn't meet the board membership requirements:
a. Why do we restrict membership to those able to conscientiously agree with a Reformed confession of faith?

Other sites are focused on debate or interaction from different confessional traditions. This site is intended as a place where people can have the kind of focused and technical discussions that presuppose a high level of agreement. For instance, it's difficult to ask questions and get satisfactory answers about God's decree if every time you raise a question you find yourself defending the very concept of a decree.

The board's reason for being has evolved but it is basically as simple as that. Here is the full rejection FAQ for those curious:

Application Rejection FAQ

FAQ for the common reasons for applications to be rejected
puritanboard.com puritanboard.com
 
NaphtaliPress said:
This is from the rejection notice when an applicant doesn't meet the board membership requirements:
a. Why do we restrict membership to those able to conscientiously agree with a Reformed confession of faith?

Other sites are focused on debate or interaction from different confessional traditions. This site is intended as a place where people can have the kind of focused and technical discussions that presuppose a high level of agreement. For instance, it's difficult to ask questions and get satisfactory answers about God's decree if every time you raise a question you find yourself defending the very concept of a decree.

The board's reason for being has evolved but it is basically as simple as that. Here is the full rejection FAQ for those curious:

Application Rejection FAQ

FAQ for the common reasons for applications to be rejected
puritanboard.com puritanboard.com
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I know. We are here for those informed and in agreement. I like that too. But if we are so focused on meeting the needs of those who are already well fed that we can't even point to a resource for those who are relatively impoverished aren't we being a little myopic? I guess now I am not claiming that we are obligated to answer the queries of the less informed if there are resources out there that do that, but the numbers indicate that what we do here is very attractive to a lot of otherwise spiritually starved people. Is this not an open door? Can't we at least point people in the direction of a site that promotes and defends the reformed position on a level that reaches the spiritual infant?
 
dnlcnwy said:
I know. We are here for those informed and in agreement. I like that too. But if we are so focused on meeting the needs of those who are already well fed that we can't even point to a resource for those who are relatively impoverished aren't we being a little myopic? I guess now I am not claiming that we are obligated to answer the queries of the less informed if there are resources out there that do that, but the numbers indicate that what we do here is very attractive to a lot of otherwise spiritually starved people. Is this not an open door? Can't we at least point people in the direction of a site that promotes and defends the reformed position on a level that reaches the spiritual infant?
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The PB does not need to be all things to all needs. There are plenty of resources posted here throughout long format discussions or posted for information by members, which have served many as resources, testified by the many who subsequently joined and noted the fact. I don't think this needs any further discussion.
 
I think that the serious inquirer can glean enough from the public discussions on this board if they are sincere in wanting to know more. Several years ago, when I worked in Dublin, someone got in touch with me via my work e-mail seeking guidance on spiritual matters as a result of seeing my contributions to PB.
 
Hmm.. I get from the last few posts that what I thought would be a good thing is already going on, just on an individual and informal basis. I had thought in the past to point someone to an outside source for additional information but feared running afoul of a board rule. It looks like I was being unduly self restrictive. Well that's pretty cool.
 
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