Brother Matthew, this is very thought-provoking, and I appreciate how much research and care you put into this message! I wonder if the pursuit of Christian colleges... merging Christian discipleship with academia... could be a form of syncretism? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Grace and peace to the brothers in Boston (from Oregon). -Micah Boak
Academia isn’t a religious system. So I don’t think that tracks. Syncretism as we are discussing here is the blending of two religious practices into one new blended practice.
From Austria here: Our national Christmas traditions are very strange, and I am thankful that my parents tried to strip away everything from the holiday that didn't point to the birth of Christ, since the other Austrian traditions don't. One year when I was in school, my teacher thought it would be a fun idea instead of a "Saint Nicholas" coming to bring us chocolate, to have a "Krampus" come instead. We still got chocolate, but the "Krampus" praised the troublemakers in a silly way, and rebuked the good kids. It was weird. Austrian kids write letters with a wish list to "the Christ-child". Sounds kind of like it might point to the birth of Christ, but look closer and it actually doesn't. Christ didn't remain a little child. The reason we celebrate His birth is because He is now the Kind of Kings and Lord of Lords. And then also the "Christ-child" is usually depicted as a little flying girl with golden curls... That is not Christ! Don't insult our Lord by reimagining Him to make Him a cute, silly fairytale. And then there's the endless amount of cookies we're expected to bake and consume throughout the entire season. Does it honor the Lord to ruin our health in such a drastic way? We still celebrate the Incarnation on December 24, since we don't know the exact day, but we try to question how we celebrate this significant event.
sorry guys, a different take is that the OT was a syncretic albeit maybe inspired as also is the NT...an academic study of the Bible will easily show this. imo the Bible has become an idol. Now what should you listen to? The spirit within you. I hold Yeshiva as the highest human expression of the highest and I believe he and the spirit can communicate with each of you. No text, no man, no church, no "doctrine" need become one's idol. To stop the cognitive dissonance you experience....learn to believe in a real God, one that deals directly with you. Then you can learn from all things, and see the flaws. For instance if you lean toward idolizing the bible soon you will find yourself justifying things in the OT you don't want to. The answer....learn learn learn from many sources, yes even other religions holding in my case Yeshua as as my pinnacle...not the bible. You will free yourself. Peace.
Amen! Great teaching! Please, put some more videos together concerning this topic.
Thank you so much for this! I look forward to more!
Really enjoyed this one, it was enriching. Looking forward to upcoming videos!
Brother Matthew, this is very thought-provoking, and I appreciate how much research and care you put into this message!
I wonder if the pursuit of Christian colleges... merging Christian discipleship with academia... could be a form of syncretism? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Grace and peace to the brothers in Boston (from Oregon).
-Micah Boak
Academia isn’t a religious system. So I don’t think that tracks. Syncretism as we are discussing here is the blending of two religious practices into one new blended practice.
Amen and God bless.
From Austria here: Our national Christmas traditions are very strange, and I am thankful that my parents tried to strip away everything from the holiday that didn't point to the birth of Christ, since the other Austrian traditions don't. One year when I was in school, my teacher thought it would be a fun idea instead of a "Saint Nicholas" coming to bring us chocolate, to have a "Krampus" come instead. We still got chocolate, but the "Krampus" praised the troublemakers in a silly way, and rebuked the good kids. It was weird. Austrian kids write letters with a wish list to "the Christ-child". Sounds kind of like it might point to the birth of Christ, but look closer and it actually doesn't. Christ didn't remain a little child. The reason we celebrate His birth is because He is now the Kind of Kings and Lord of Lords. And then also the "Christ-child" is usually depicted as a little flying girl with golden curls... That is not Christ! Don't insult our Lord by reimagining Him to make Him a cute, silly fairytale.
And then there's the endless amount of cookies we're expected to bake and consume throughout the entire season. Does it honor the Lord to ruin our health in such a drastic way? We still celebrate the Incarnation on December 24, since we don't know the exact day, but we try to question how we celebrate this significant event.
Anything built or written with human hands is inherently corrupt.
sorry guys, a different take is that the OT was a syncretic albeit maybe inspired as also is the NT...an academic study of the Bible will easily show this. imo the Bible has become an idol. Now what should you listen to? The spirit within you. I hold Yeshiva as the highest human expression of the highest and I believe he and the spirit can communicate with each of you. No text, no man, no church, no "doctrine" need become one's idol. To stop the cognitive dissonance you experience....learn to believe in a real God, one that deals directly with you. Then you can learn from all things, and see the flaws. For instance if you lean toward idolizing the bible soon you will find yourself justifying things in the OT you don't want to. The answer....learn learn learn from many sources, yes even other religions holding in my case Yeshua as as my pinnacle...not the bible. You will free yourself. Peace.