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This blog records my transition from the Churches of Christ to Eastern Orthodoxy.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Forgotten Christian Values

It seems to me that there are values held by the early church that are not valued in the same way in the modern church.  There are cases where it seems to me we simply ignore, explain away, or de-emphasize certain themes in Scripture which speak of trends and values held by the early Christians.  

Why would we do this?  Maybe we find these values different from the values of the culture we live in and are comfortable with.  Maybe we find these values just plain uncomfortable or to challenging.  Maybe we believe that the scriptures/values in question were only meant to have particular relevance in the first century and not in our time.  Maybe there's nothing sinister at all involved, and those portions of scripture just honestly seem less significant to use than others

i'm not claiming that we're wrong in every case.  But i think we're wrong in some cases.  And restoring these values ought to be part of the project of restoring New Testament Christianity.  The values i'm able to think of so far that fit into this category are:


Greeting one another


Hospitality

Celibacy

Compassion


Community


Impartiality


Have i left any out?  Are there other ethical values or practices you believe are present in the pages of New Testament Christianity that are not valued or practiced in 21st century Christianity?

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