I mentioned in the thread about my upbringing that my family taught some of the most important and "big picture" things correctly -- they taught that Jesus was the Only Way to salvation, that being loving is important, and such, but that they got a number of doctrines wrong.
What were some things you were taught that weren't doctrinally sound?
These were the biggest errors I was taught:
1) That people can be saved after they die.
My dad didn't actually get this from Mormon or Catholic doctrine -- he was raised Episcopalian, and he and my mom liked to study the Bible on their own rather than attend church, so they came up with a lot of theology almost entirely on their own, especially after they left WELS in 1993-94. My dad came to this conclusion based on an out of context reading of 1 Peter 3:19.
2) That hell isn't eternal.
My dad did believe in hell, but he didn't think it was eternal. He came to this conclusion based on his own human reasoning as well as an out of context reading of Revelation 20. He said that people commit only a finite number of sins, so they wouldn't be punished eternally. And he thought that day and night torment in Revelation 20 meant hell was temporary, and that the lake of fire being destroyed meant that hell was temporary.
3) That I should never judge.
My dad was big on being loving and not judgmental. When I had concerns about people committing sins, he told me I shouldn't be judgmental. I think he had a hard time separating judging actions from judging people's eternal salvation, or lack thereof. When Jesus said not to judge, He never meant that we shouldn't judge actions. If we couldn't judge right from wrong, how could we ever know what sin is?
4) That premarital sex is fine.
My dad thought that as long as a couple loved each other, and as long as it wasn't homosexual, sex was fine. He didn't think couples had to be married. I've read that 9 out of 10 Americans have sex before marriage, so this is apparently a VERY common belief, including among many who label themselves "conservative"
5) That the world would end in 2008.
He thought the world would end in 2008 because he thought Israel's 1948 nationhood was the generation that wouldn't pass, and reasoned that a Biblical generation was 60 years. I don't know how he came to that conclusion, but my brother and I were taught in the 1990s that 2008 would be the end, and we were given preparations for how to deal with that. When I spoke to my dad a few years ago, he thought maybe the 70 week prophecy in Daniel meant the world would actually end in 2018 (with his belief in the possibility that weeks actually meant months), but that he no longer was very particular about establishing years. Well, the world didn't end in 2008 or 2018, so I'm glad about that! The reason he and my mom were so into trying to predict the year was because Jesus said we couldn't know the day or hour, which they took very literally to mean that we could POSSIBLY learn the year or month if they did enough number-figuring of Bible verses. They thought only the day or hour was impossible to predict, but that the month and year could be.
What were some things you were taught that weren't doctrinally sound?
These were the biggest errors I was taught:
1) That people can be saved after they die.
My dad didn't actually get this from Mormon or Catholic doctrine -- he was raised Episcopalian, and he and my mom liked to study the Bible on their own rather than attend church, so they came up with a lot of theology almost entirely on their own, especially after they left WELS in 1993-94. My dad came to this conclusion based on an out of context reading of 1 Peter 3:19.
2) That hell isn't eternal.
My dad did believe in hell, but he didn't think it was eternal. He came to this conclusion based on his own human reasoning as well as an out of context reading of Revelation 20. He said that people commit only a finite number of sins, so they wouldn't be punished eternally. And he thought that day and night torment in Revelation 20 meant hell was temporary, and that the lake of fire being destroyed meant that hell was temporary.
3) That I should never judge.
My dad was big on being loving and not judgmental. When I had concerns about people committing sins, he told me I shouldn't be judgmental. I think he had a hard time separating judging actions from judging people's eternal salvation, or lack thereof. When Jesus said not to judge, He never meant that we shouldn't judge actions. If we couldn't judge right from wrong, how could we ever know what sin is?
4) That premarital sex is fine.
My dad thought that as long as a couple loved each other, and as long as it wasn't homosexual, sex was fine. He didn't think couples had to be married. I've read that 9 out of 10 Americans have sex before marriage, so this is apparently a VERY common belief, including among many who label themselves "conservative"
5) That the world would end in 2008.
He thought the world would end in 2008 because he thought Israel's 1948 nationhood was the generation that wouldn't pass, and reasoned that a Biblical generation was 60 years. I don't know how he came to that conclusion, but my brother and I were taught in the 1990s that 2008 would be the end, and we were given preparations for how to deal with that. When I spoke to my dad a few years ago, he thought maybe the 70 week prophecy in Daniel meant the world would actually end in 2018 (with his belief in the possibility that weeks actually meant months), but that he no longer was very particular about establishing years. Well, the world didn't end in 2008 or 2018, so I'm glad about that! The reason he and my mom were so into trying to predict the year was because Jesus said we couldn't know the day or hour, which they took very literally to mean that we could POSSIBLY learn the year or month if they did enough number-figuring of Bible verses. They thought only the day or hour was impossible to predict, but that the month and year could be.
