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Friday, March 1, 2013

What the Fourfold Acts 15 Decree Might Look Like Today

As I've shown previously, the fourfold decree and dicta in Acts 15 reads as the two-stage ancient Jewish process of conversion ("turning") which involves (1) turning from paganism and (2) turning towards G-d by orienting to His Torah.

BUT WHAT WOULD THE DECREE LOOK LIKE TODAY?

We don't struggle against a society centered around pagan cultic practices in actual pagan temples. 

So we need to ask what the rationale of the Decree was and what effect it actually had.  The reality in the first century was that if you became a traitor to your ancestral gods then you would alienate yourself from EVERYONE.  Your family and friends would most likely hate you.  But that was the price to be paid for heeding the call to "come out and be ye separate." 

I can almost anticipate the Baptist Christian response out there:  "It says to be in the world but not of the world."  Well, naturally, we can't leave the world.  The issue is to what extent we should assimilate into secular society.

So what are your thoughts?  To what extent should we separate ourselves from secular society?

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