I sometimes wonder how some of the Reformed Baptists have the patience to stick around.
Most of the members who are Reformed Baptist have left and no longer participate. Those of you who are new miss out on the fact that the board used to be more diverse.
As for other posts here in this thread:
Yes the confessions have their place and are useful. Please do not think I believe otherwise. But even as the confessions profess - the Scripture is the only infallible rule for life and godliness. We should spend more time there and less time depending on the work of others, proving that we can handle the Word of God. This does not reject history - but teaches us how to say what we believe and why we believe it. Remember, the purpose of debate is not to win the debate - but to persuasively affirm the truth of God's Word against other opinions.
My concern about many presuming to be teachers is not that we should not instruct one another but that some (usually who are fairly new to a position) enter that famed "cage stage" and fire bomb anyone who disagrees with them with a total disregard for those who have served long and hard in the trenches of real church life!
And should we be the church here? Well, we know the PB is not a church. However, as for the nature of debate ( I think debate is fine, but in this context, where the boundaries are set as the Reformed Confessions - meaning we are on the same team) our debating should be motivated by the goal of effective discipleship - where we realise that we are in every sense members of one another (1 Cor 12:12-14).
For more on what I have written in that regard (that those new to the board may have never read), please read this to catch the spirit of what I am saying: The Difference between Discipleship and Debate.
Phillip
[Edited on 2-7-06 by pastorway]