Monday, December 31, 2007

Conclusion to Sola Scriptura Debate Posted

Well, it is over at long last. (link) Meanwhile, at the same blog, the "Holy Water" debate is continuing to spill ever onward. Thankfully, I've agreed to time limits on posting in that debate, so we should see progress more quickly.

Thanks to "Orthodox" for debating me on the topic of Sola Scriptura.

-Turretinfan

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Turretinfan,

I have gone through your conclusion. I agree with it. I also looked at some of the links you provided. I have read some of them in the past. I have not read Steve Hays' response to Blosser (the PDF File) but I have gone through some of it. It's too long. Now I need your help here. Steve Hays argues that it is wrong to condemn masturbation as sinful since Scripture does not condemn it. He even provides scientific proof that is beneficial in some ways. Does this necessarily mean that he promotes it?

I have read articles discussing this practice called masturbation. But I get different views.

* Sexual Purity - http://www.justforcatholics.org/a96.htm
- In this article, the author, Joe Mizzi (a Reformed Baptist like Dr. James White) argues that masturbation is sinful.

* Is masturbation wrong - http://www.carm.org/questions/masterbation.htm
- Matt Slick, a Presbyterian, argues here that it is wrong to condemn masturbation as sinful since Scripture does not condemn it. But he says that there are times when the practice can be sinful in such a way that the person is already mastered by it. In this case, Slick explains that masturbation is wrong.

So I am confused. How exactly should we understand it? Please help. Thanks.

Turretinfan said...

Albert,

The Scriptures do not explicitly condemn the mechanical aspects of the practice.

Scriptures do explicitly condemn the lust that is often associated with the mental aspects of the practice.

Presumably Mizzi focuses on the mental aspects and Slick focuses on the mechanical aspects.

I haven't read Hays' views on the subject, but I guess that he would tend to have a similar view to Slick.

It certainly can be and is used by many folks for an improper purpose. Furthermore, the solution for men who burn with sexual desire is marriage, not self-help.

Ah well. I doubt I'll be challenged to a debate on the topic, or that I'd accept if challenged.

-Turretinfan

Anonymous said...

Thanks. That makes the issue clearer.