All the good intentions and positive actions humanists lay claim to have their ultimate origin in God. The only direction a man left to his own devices will go is down into degradation and profligacy.
Regarding a seeming conflict between Paul and James… If we understand that we can not earn our salvation (What Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly teaches); but we also understand that God requires obedience (works), and will not save man without such obedience (What James 2 clearly teaches); there is no conflict between the two passages at all.
It doesn’t matter if the one guilty of such a departure is a denominationalist or a member of the Lord’s church, there is no justification for attitudes toward authority. We must have the authorization of our Lord before doing anything as his servants.
Each apostasy had as its core a rejection of the authority of God’s word. Had there been a fidelity to the principles established in the New Testament, such innovations and changes would not have occurred. This is an important lesson to us today.
For centuries Christians recognized the restrictions God placed upon women regarding their place in His church. It is His church, not ours, and His will in this should be respected.
While it is true that the acomplishments of men are grand, they are temporal, and will be forgotten with time. They have no bearing on the eternal welfare any human being.
Silence does not give consent. Silence prohibits! We can’t know what God’s will for us is, unless God reveals that to us (cf. 1 Cor. 2:9-13). To assume that God would be pleased is to presume to know God’s mind beyond revelation. This no one can do, and it is an indication of great arrogance to claim such an ability.
