Soul Liberty?

[Scorpio]

Another serious inquiry.....has anyone ever heard of soul liberty and if so what does it mean? I'm trying to cleanse myself of fundy-thought and this was something I heard preached alot about but I can't say for sure I know what it might really mean. I really appreciate all of your knowledgeable and sincere feedback.

[Tony Mel]

(01-13-2011 03:00 PM)Scorpio Wrote:  Another serious inquiry.....has anyone ever heard of soul liberty and if so what does it mean? I'm trying to cleanse myself of fundy-thought and this was something I heard preached alot about but I can't say for sure I know what it might really mean. I really appreciate all of your knowledgeable and sincere feedback.

It is something that is preached but not practiced. It usually means that every believer is under the authority of Christ and is free to make decisions independently of the pastor, organization, convention, Pope, (...), and they have the prerogative of interpreting the Scriptures according to their conscience.

I guess they needed to have this doctrine on paper.

[briceman]

This is also one of their main points of argument against Predestination and the "Doctrines of Grace"

Though one fundy pastor I encountered actually accepted me as a brother, because I wasn't a "hyper-Calvinist"

[Tony Mel]

(01-13-2011 03:46 PM)briceman Wrote:  This is also one of their main points of argument against Predestination and the "Doctrines of Grace"

Though one fundy pastor I encountered actually accepted me as a brother, because I wasn't a "hyper-Calvinist"

What most IFB pastors believe to be hyper-Calvinism is really normal 5-point Calvinism. This just proves that they did not get a balanced theology education back in seminary.

Hyper-Calvinism is actually the TULIP plus two other things-

1. Denial that God has commanded all men to repent and believe. Therefore, they do not practice indiscriminate evangelism.
2. Double predestination. They believe that God actively predestined people to go to hell.

Virtually all of them believe that only Calvinists could be saved.

[briceman]

Right, see he just asked if I believed in "soulwinning" and I said "I absolutely believe in evangelism"

[pastor's wife]

I always understood soul-liberty to have two parts: 1) I am not under a pope or any other intermediary, but I answer to God alone. My only mediator is Jesus Christ. My salvation is not dependent on a priest offering me absolution, but on my personal confession of faith. (Well, of course, it's dependent on Christ's work on the cross.) 2) I can interpret the Bible for myself and thus ought to be able to decide questionable areas for myself (in the New Testament, the issue of eating or not eating meat offered to idols). I am responsible to read and study God's Word for myself and not just accept what I'm told, but search the Scriptures to see if what I'm told matches up with what the Bible says.

I understand that a lot of churches give too much influence to the pastor, expecting the congregation to never question him, but that wasn't true of the church where I grew up.

[exIFB]

(01-13-2011 04:28 PM)Tony Mel Wrote:  

(01-13-2011 03:46 PM)briceman Wrote:  This is also one of their main points of argument against Predestination and the "Doctrines of Grace"

Though one fundy pastor I encountered actually accepted me as a brother, because I wasn't a "hyper-Calvinist"

What most IFB pastors believe to be hyper-Calvinism is really normal 5-point Calvinism. This just proves that they did not get a balanced theology education back in seminary.

Hyper-Calvinism is actually the TULIP plus two other things-

1. Denial that God has commanded all men to repent and believe. Therefore, they do not practice indiscriminate evangelism.
2. Double predestination. They believe that God actively predestined people to go to hell.

Virtually all of them believe that only Calvinists could be saved.

I think people add the term "Hyper" to anything more extreme than they are. For example, John Piper is obviously a calvinist, but he teaches double predestination, that is, predestination of the elect to salvation and active reprobation of the non elect to hell. But not many would label him a hyper.

I'm a non calvinist myself.

[Scorpio]

Thanks everyone for your input. I was always told, I mean yelled at, I mean preached at that soul liberty was sort of what pastor's wife mentions in her 1st sentence of #1. But then what was added was that it doesn't mean you can dye your hair red, listen to rock-and-roll, get tatoos, more than one piercing etc. etc. etc.
So in other words God gave us soul liberty but I (as the pastor) will not.