Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom
Let’s examine the first sentence of WL’s footnote about calling on the name of the Lord. Notice the word practice. This word is suggestive. Before any commentary has even been made on the verse, the footnote has already asserted that calling on the name of the Lord is, above anything else, a practice. Now look at the phrase not a new practice. I’ve never heard anyone outside the LC claim that the phrase in Acts 2:21 represents a “new practice,” however, WL seems to have thought so. Maybe that's because a newcomer to LC meetings might be surprised by a “new practice” in LC meetings. So the footnote is subtly hinting that what is being practiced in the LC is not 'new', but supposedly a Biblical practice with precedent dating back to Genesis.
Gen 4:26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.
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You seem to be addressing a view or claim that it is a new practice? I never made that claim and I'm not aware of WL making that claim either. Its origins in the Old Testament is well known and in the footnotes as you showed. If WL said something about it being a new practice it must be in reference to the Recovery or to modern Christianity.
In Christianity today most people are familiar with only one or two kinds of prayer such as the prayer of supplication - asking God to please provide or do something. In the Bible there said to be many different kinds of prayer. There is even a thing called "prayer of worship". This article explains about "prayer of worship", how worship can be a kind of prayer:
https://gotquestions.org/types-of-prayer.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom
I could quote other commentaries too, but I will save the space. There is general agreement that the phrase calling on the name of the Lord denotes worship. There is no evidence to indicate it denotes a literal practice of repeating or proclaiming a phrase. Even the context itself is indicative of that.
Gen 12:18 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
When Abraham built an alter to the Lord, that predicated his worship of the Lord. Wouldn’t it seem a bit odd if all that was just so he could repeatedly shout something like “praise the Lord”? To me, what Abraham did is suggestive of a much deeper worship. Something more serious.
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I think we should examine the commentaries further. Contrary to what you are saying, I have found that commentaries seem to say it is using the Lord's name in
public prayer or worship. Obviously this requires an audible and possibly loud proclamation of the name of God, somewhat like the Recovery practices.
http://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/4-26.htm
Matthew Poole's commentary explains that it is using the name of the Lord in prayer or worship in the
public assembly
To call upon the name of the Lord; to pray unto God, to worship God in a more public and solemn manner; praying being here put for the whole worship of God
Benson commentary explains that it is using the name of the Lord in prayer or worship in the
public assembly:
Doubtless God’s name was called upon before: but now, 1st, The worshippers of God began to do more in religion than they had done; perhaps not more than had been done at first, but more than had been done since the defection of Cain. Now men began to worship God, not only in their closets and families, but in public and solemn assemblies.
Gill's:
then began men to call upon the name of the Lord; not but that Adam and Abel, and all good men, had called upon the name of the Lord, and prayed to him, or worshipped him
There is one commentary which more closely matches the understanding of it in the Recovery and that is the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:
to call upon] “Properly, as always, to call with, i.e. to use the name in invocations, in the manner of ancient cults, especially at times of sacrifice; cf. Genesis 12:8, Genesis 13:4, Genesis 21:33, Genesis 26:25.” (Driver.)
In the Recovery calling on the name of the Lord is considered to be a type of invoking prayer. Given that the purpose of calling on the name of the Lord is to invoke the Lord's presence, it is distinct from the kind of prayer practiced in Christianity today, which is mainly supplication.
It is not surprising that Christianity has lost the practice of calling upon the Lord's name. Christianity has also lost the practice of lamentation in worship. The majority of the Bible's worship is in fact lamentation (expressing grief or sorrow unto God).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom
Rom 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Rom 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
In this set of verses, Paul talks about two actions relating to salvation 1) confessing with your mouth and 2) believing in your heart. It is after this that he quotes Joel. So according to the context of what Paul was talking about here, it would be absurd to claim that Rom 10:13 talks about a simple and literal proclamation. For sure, someone could profess “Jesus is Lord,” but there the aspect of believing in your heart. Salvation isn’t a mere proclamation. Belief (faith) is the other half. So again, I think this would necessitate that we move away from any literal ideas about calling on the name of the Lord, being a simple proclamation. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with proclamations, but salvation requires faith. A profession of faith, such saying a phrase like "Jesus is Lord," is not faith itself, it is just 1/2 of the equation. Faith in the heart.
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In Christianity today it is generally thought that if a person believes and declares certain facts about Christ (Jesus is Lord, Jesus was the Son of God etc), then they have satisfied the criteria to be saved and get the tick of approval.
However calling upon the name of the Lord is something different. In the Recovery the practice of calling upon the name of the Lord is not thought of as a proclamation of a fact. It is a kind of seeking. To call on the Lord's name requires faith that He exists and is a kind of seeking:
Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
How do we seek sometime? By calling their name repeatedly. This is what calling upon the name of the Lord as practiced in the Recovery is about.
I believe that for a new believer to call upon the name of the Lord is better than merely proclaiming statements of fact. I believe it is much harder for someone to insincerely call upon the name of the Lord (to invoke his presence) than to declare certain facts about Him. Even demons believe that Jesus is Lord and might be able to declare certain facts. But a demon would never call upon the Lord's name so as to invoke His presence. A demon would not like to be in the Lord's presence at all.