A goldmine

RE: A goldmine

Hi Bee,

Thanks so much - really refreshing! No-one will be surprised to hear that I went and looked up what they said about Christian Science and I was very pleased to see that they had gone to original source material (and not just from the Church's headquarters) for their information and it was very balanced and factual. They posted an equal number of for and against links, which is fair. I also learnt some things I hadn't known before, like a break-away CS'ist started the New Thought movement.

Judging by what I know about, the fairness and accuracy of this report gives me confidence in the rest of the site, so thank you for letting us know about it!

love and peace,

Judy

PS If any of you boffins out there can tell me what 'docetic' means, I'd appreciate it. It was a quote from someone about why she had left CS:

"similar to the docetic-gnostic tradition,." an ancient Christian heresy.

RE: A goldmine

ORIGINAL: Principled

PS If any of you boffins out there can tell me what 'docetic' means, I'd appreciate it. It was a quote from someone about why she had left CS:

"similar to the docetic-gnostic tradition,." an ancient Christian heresy.

Docetism is a heresy concerning the person of Jesus Christ. The word is derived from the Greek dokeo, meaning "to seem" or "to appear." According to Docetism, the eternal Son of God did not really become human or suffer on the cross; he only appeared to do so. The heresy arose in a Hellenistic milieu and was based on a Dualism which held that the material world is either unreal or positively evil. Tendencies to spiritualize Christ by denying his real humanity were already present in New Testament times.

Docetism is a term used to refer to a theological perspective among some in the early church who regarded the sufferings and the human aspects of Christ as imaginary or apparent instead of being part of a real incarnation. The basic thesis of such docetics was that if Christ suffered he was not divine, and if he was God he could not suffer. The combination of the two natures, Son of David and Son of God, affirmed by Paul in Rom. 1:3 - 4 was apparently already under attack in the Johannine community (see 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7). Docetic thinking became an integral part of the perspectives of Gnostics, who viewed Jesus as the alien messenger from outside the present evil world and one who was untouched by the evil creator. This alien Jesus came to awaken Gnostics to their destiny outside the realm of creation. While the framers of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds were opposed to docetic teaching and clearly assumed the two natures of Jesus, the drafters of the Definition of Chalcedon (451 AD) made explicit the Christian teaching concerning Jesus Christ as "truly God and truly man."

http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/docetism.htm

RE: A goldmine

Oh gosh,

Thanks Dr L. I never thought to do a search - just knew someone would have it at their fingertips! Something tells me that the dear lady who said that never really understood CS.

Judy