Just a small note I wanted to add. There are two more reasons for asking more questions of people on line that I meant to include:
1) Some people are more or less informed on an issue, and thus, when it comes to tricky subjects (for example, the two natures of Christ) people can say things a certain way that would not be said if they were more aware of the technical language. For example, I had someone call me on this issue on the issue of baptism. The question was over the relation of baptism in the spectrum of the transfer of the people of God from the OT to the NT. My response, in full brilliance and ingeniousness was, “Well, the new covenant is NEW, therefore, new things, new prescriptions for the administration of the signs of God people.” Then, someone politely interjected, “Jacob, be careful here, because that sounds a lot like Dispensationalism.” Uh… ops! Ya, they were right. The issue wasn’t as cut and dry as my words made it sound, but due to not being as informed on this issue as others were, I said something that I should have worded differently to convey my point. Just to be clear, I’m not a dispensationalist, I’m firmly covenantal in my understanding of Scripture.
2) Not everybody speaks English as their first language. This should go without saying, but we shouldn’t treat every post on the internet as though the person knows English grammar well. My personal opinion is that English is one of the greatest languages to hit the face of the earth, but that’s for another day! (Yes, there is a note of humor in that remark.) Even still, we should seek clarity to help people express their thoughts in English when it’s not their first language. Moreover, we shouldn’t be so strict on the “stander English” rule. From my perspective, as someone who’s spent some time studying language, and the history of the English language, people don’t know what they’re talking about when they hold a firm, and iron clad rule of universal, standard English. But when it comes to the internet we should be patient, ask questions, and help our brothers and sisters express get across what they intend to mean. This may be asking if they mean to call me stupid when they say I’m ignorant of something, or if they simply mean I lack understanding – both are true about me, the second is a little more polite than the first!
One of the main points I was driving at in the last post, and hoping to highlight here, is that asking questions promotes godliness and humility because it smothers our pride in thinking our initial feelings and interpretation are absolutely correct. A presumptive person cannot be a humble person. Asking questions is obedience to Scripture, and God’s means for us to see that in fact, we are the definition of excellence. Hope that helps some more,
~Jacob
The Strasbourg Inn 