T2U,Originally posted by trying2understand:
DHK, that loud whooosssssing sound you heard was my post going right over your head.![]()
Instead of burying your head in the tomes of Roman Catholic tradition, come up, clean off your glasses, and look clearly into the Word of God, and even use some dictionaries for your own benefit.
A discipline is not defined by Catholic tradition.
Doctrine is not defined by Catholic tredition.
Catholics did not write the Bible, nor the dictionaries of the world.
Let's look at some Biblical examples:
Paul disciplined himself:
1Cor.9:24-27
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Discipline nearly always referred to that which was personal, whether pertaining to the body or to the mind. Paul uses the example of an athelete. As an athelete must discipline his body to run a race, or to train himself for a boxing match, so must a Christian discipline himself in this life for the service of God.
2Cor.10:3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Since we are in a battle our discipline must be like that of a soldier. The discipline of the mind is one of the hardest for the Christian--bringing every thought to the obedience of Christ. That takes personal discipline.
Discipline is training. It is related to the word disciple. A disciple follows his master in training.
Doctrine on the other hand simply means teaching. You may look it up in the dictionary. Doctrine and teaching are the same thing.
In Acts 2:42 "The disciples continued in the apostle's doctrine.." In many translations the word "doctrine" is translated "teaching." Doctrine is teaching.
Read again the quote from Vatican II that I previously gave. There is a lot of teaching in that quote--Catholic teaching that I disagree with. It is doctrinal. It is doctrine, the Catholic doctrine expounded and explained about the celibacy of the priesthood.
Perhapls there is a reason that the Catholics prefer not to use the word doctrine when it actually is a doctrine and not simply a discipline. I can find it for you.
1Timothy 4:1-3
4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
The Bible speaks of doctrinesof demons here. And it mentions two specific doctrines of demons: forbidding to marry, and abstaining from certain kinds of foods. Let us consider the meaning of each one. Remember that this is a pastoral epistle, Paul writing to Timothy, giving advice or instruction in the conduct of the church. This has to do primarily with church matters, not personal decisions.
1. Forbidding to marry. This has nothing to do with a personal decision. Paul made a personal decision to be single. Anyone can make that decision. It is a personal decision whether to marry or not. What Paul is saying in the context of this epistle, is that when the church teaches this as a doctrine of the church--that it is wrong for its members to marry, or for a group of their members to marry (such as the Catholics do) then it is a doctrine of demons. It is a doctrine that comes straight from the pit of Hell. It is devilish, not of God.
2. "Abstaining from meats (foods)" Again this is not referring to a personal decision, but a church decision. Personally you can choose whatever kind of diet you want. If you want to be a vegetarian that is your choice, just don't try to force your choice on anyone else. When the church makes this ("discipline") a doctrine of the church, and maintain that all of its members be vegetarians or abstain from certain foods or meats (such as pork) then it is a doctrine of demons. It is devilish. It is of Satan.
Your church-imposed discipline of celibacy has become a doctrine of the church by the very fact of its imposition on a certain group of its members. It has indeed become a doctrine of demons.
DHK
[ September 26, 2003, 06:59 PM: Message edited by: DHK ]