Comment to 'The boy Jesus, left behind at the Temple'
  • Todd, Thanks for posting this. You wrote: "And this has lead to the rise of these charismatic preachers because there is no accountability to Christ coming from within the church body."

    It got me thinking of accountability. There is accountability, but not always to Christ. In order to become popular, some are careful to not offend the people who support them.

    Your point about "preaching" as proclaiming instead of lecturing is important. Even teaching in the scriptures often implies dialog. I realize too that there is a place for a monologue as in the preaching of Billy Graham in a stadium. However, as the original post points out, that was not the norm in New Testament times.

    Many times I have heard he story of Paul preaching so long that a boy feel into a deep  sleep and fell down from the third floor. The Greek word is the one from where we get "dialog." In other places it is translated "reasoned with."

    There is a book entitled, "The influence of Greek ideas on Christianity." In it the author shows how the Greeks developed the art of public speaking until it was more about entertaining or persuasion than instruction. As Christianity moved westward, it moved gradually away from the New Testament patterns. It is an interesting read.