Doing the Word?

[DPMartin]

Those who do, not hear the Word, do they have the right to do the Word? Considering that God’s Word is always in His Presence.

 

[JonathonofOhio]

How does one ‘do the Word’? I just don’t get this question. I think you might need to reword this

 

[Little_One0307]

How does one ‘do the Word’? I just don’t get this question. I think you might need to reword this

You hear this phrase a lot in the evangelical Protestant Churches or I did when I was a member of them. I have never understood what this word meant either, but the pastors who I watched preaching sure did enjoy yelling at the top of their lungs, “We can’t be hearers of the Word, we must be DOERS of the Word.” usually accompanied with a loud banging of the bible on the pulpit for emphasis. I really never understood how to be a doer of the Word.

Maybe they mean to obey the Commandemnts given in the Word or something like that when they say do the Word, I never figured it out. I have never heard the phrase in a Catholic Church.

God bless.

 

[JonathonofOhio]

You hear this phrase a lot in the evangelical Protestant Churches or I did when I was a member of them. I have never understood what this word meant either, but the pastors who I watched preaching sure did enjoy yelling at the top of their lungs, “We can’t be hearers of the Word, we must be DOERS of the Word.” usually accompanied with a loud banging of the bible on the pulpit for emphasis. I really never understood how to be a doer of the Word.

Maybe they mean to obey the Commandemnts given in the Word or something like that when they say do the Word, I never figured it out. I have never heard the phrase in a Catholic Church.

God bless.

Thanks for the clarification…I have been to many fundamental/protestant churches and have never heard the phrase. All the materials I have read online, believe it or not, and this the first time I have encountered it.

I agree with you that it doesn’t make much sense. Sounds like it’s all just show without any real substance – much like the fundamentalist religion, so eventually it might become their ‘catch phrase’.

Still the question of them having the right to do the word makes no sense at all.

 

[Little_Mary]

Thanks for the clarification…I have been to many fundamental/protestant churches and have never heard the phrase. All the materials I have read online, believe it or not, and this the first time I have encountered it.

I agree with you that it doesn’t make much sense. Sounds like it’s all just show without any real substance – much like the fundamentalist religion, so eventually it might become their ‘catch phrase’.

Still the question of them having the right to do the word makes no sense at all.

Sounds like it’s all just show without any real substance – much like the fundamentalist religion :clapping: I endure this daily -show without substance- via my fundamentalist SIL. Thanks Jonathon.

Back on topic, maybe “do the Word” means to live your faith. Walk your talk.

 

[Little_One0307]

Getting back to the OP’s question, I just realized something. We are commanded to do God’s Will or Word whether we have heard it or not. This is and can be getting into the Natural Law. Just becuase we have not formally hear the Natural Law does not excuse us from it, I guess this is the closest that I can get to everyong having to do the word whether they hear it or not, because the Natural Law is planted in everyone.

Again its the phrase of having to do the Word. I have heard Keeping the Word, and now that I do understand but doing the Word is something else.

Are there any fundamentalists out there who can give a run down on this phrase, on what it means in your ecclesial communities?

Thanks and God bless.

 

[DPMartin]

You hear this phrase a lot in the evangelical Protestant Churches or I did when I was a member of them. I have never understood what this word meant either, but the pastors who I watched preaching sure did enjoy yelling at the top of their lungs, “We can’t be hearers of the Word, we must be DOERS of the Word.” usually accompanied with a loud banging of the bible on the pulpit for emphasis. I really never understood how to be a doer of the Word.

Maybe they mean to obey the Commandemnts given in the Word or something like that when they say do the Word, I never figured it out. I have never heard the phrase in a Catholic Church.

God bless.

Little One
thanks for the reply

You may be thinking of:

Jms:1:22: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23: For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

But this is not the question. Though it can be related to the subject at hand.

You can’t be a doer of that which you can’t hear to do.

 

[Little_One0307]

Little One
thanks for the reply

You may be thinking of:

Jms:1:22: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23: For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

But this is not the question. Though it can be related to the subject at hand.

You can’t be a doer of that which you can’t hear to do.

Yes that sounds like the Scripture that I heard in many sermons as a Protestant.

And your last statement. That is not always true. Babies have never heard of eating, yet they eat. I could go ad naseum with examples, but I stuck with the example of the Natural Law as it is religious in topic.

Everyone knows deep down what is the Natural Law whether they have heard it or not, so in this sense, maybe one can be a doer of the word and not have heard of it.

God bless.

 

[DPMartin]

Yes that sounds like the Scripture that I heard in many sermons as a Protestant.

And your last statement. That is not always true. Babies have never heard of eating, yet they eat. I could go ad naseum with examples, but I stuck with the example of the Natural Law as it is religious in topic.

Everyone knows deep down what is the Natural Law whether they have heard it or not, so in this sense, maybe one can be a doer of the word and not have heard of it.

God bless.

Little One

thanks for the reply

Natural law is to stay alive just as any other living thing, creature or vegetation. But that is not what God made man for. If you look at creation, man is the only thing that God made of the earth that He spoke directly to, expecting to be heard by the man, and said “behold” that the man see the will of God for him. Hence instruction to live that is of God. “Natural Law” is a term written by men, in man’s view. God’s view is this:

Mt:4:4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Which is the Way it is, no matter what men’s views and justifications may be.

 

[Jonesboy]

Those who do, not hear the Word, do they have the right to do the Word? Considering that God’s Word is always in His Presence.

What you asking is whether we have a right to be insincere and to just go through the motions.

In other words, if we don’t have the right to be insincere, then you are suggesting that we should be forced to be sincere.

You haven’t presented a good alternative.

 

[Little_One0307]

Little One

thanks for the reply

Natural law is to stay alive just as any other living thing, creature or vegetation. But that is not what God made man for. If you look at creation, man is the only thing that God made of the earth that He spoke directly to, expecting to be heard by the man, and said “behold” that the man see the will of God for him. Hence instruction to live that is of God. “Natural Law” is a term written by men, in man’s view. God’s view is this:

Mt:4:4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Which is the Way it is, no matter what men’s views and justifications may be.

Probably was not the best thing that I could have done is to combine both sentences in the same paragraph. Ahhh I see, we have different definitions about the Natural Law, maybe I should call it the Natural Moral Law, but I called it Natural Law becuase it is shorter to type.

There is much about the Natural Law in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church. It is to this I am referring to when I say the Natural Law. I will give the quotes in the next post of this reply as the quotes will make it a longer post.

God bless.

 

[Little_One0307]

Hi,

I wanted to put this into my first post that I replied to DPMartin.

Romans 12-16

All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law [wow there’s that prhase again] who will be justified. When Gentiles who have not the law do BY NATURE what the law requires, they are a alaw to themselves, even thought they DO NOT HAVE THE LAW. They show that what the law requires IS WRITTEN on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughs accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

God bless.

 

[Little_One0307]

DPMartin,

As promised here are the Catechism quotes. I know this is a lot of quoting, but much is said within these paragraphs. Emphasis are mine.

#1954

Man participates in the wisdom and goodness of the Creator who gives him mastery over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the true and the good. The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie:

The natural law is written and engraved on the soul of each and every man, because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin . . . But this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not the voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted.

#1955

The “divine and natural” law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. The natural law states the first and essential precepts which govern the moral life. It hinges upon the desire for God and submission to him, who is the source and judge of all that is good, as well as upon the sense that the other is one’s equal. Its principal precepts are expressed in the Decalogue. This law is called “natural,” not in reference to the nature of irrational beings, but because reason which decrees it properly belongs to human nature:

Where then are these rules written, if not in the book of that light we call the truth? In it is written every just law; from it the law passes into the heart of the man who does justice, not that it migrates into it, but that it places its imprint on it, like a seal on a ring that passes onto wax, without leaving the ring.
The natural law is nothing other than the light of understanding placed in us by God; through it we know what we must do and what we must avoid. God has given this light or law at the creation.

#1956

The natural law, present in the heart of each man and established by reason, is universal in its precepts and its authority extends to all men. It expresses the dignity of the person and determines the basis for his fundamental rights and duties:

For there is a true law: right reason. It is in conformity with nature, is diffused among all men, and is immutable and eternal; its orders summon to duty; its prohibitions turn away from offense … To replace it with a contrary law is a sacrilege; failure to apply even one of its provisions is forbidden; no one can abrogate it entirely.

#1957

Application of the natural law varies greatly; it can demand reflection that takes account of various conditions of life according to places, times, and circumstances. Nevertheless, in the diversity of cultures, the natural law remains as a rule that binds men among themselves and imposes on them, beyond the inevitable differences, common principles.

#1958

The natural law is immutable and permanent throughout the variations of history; it subsists under the flux of ideas and customs and supports their progress. The rules that express it remain substantially valid. Even when it is rejected in its very principles, it cannot be destroyed or removed from the heart of man. It always rises again in the life of individuals and societies:

Theft is surely punished by your law, O Lord, and by the law that is written in the human heart, the law that iniquity itself does not efface.

#1959

The natural law, the Creator’s very good work, provides the solid foundation on which man can build the structure of moral rules to guide his choices. It also provides the indispensable moral foundation for building the human community. Finally, it provides the necessary basis for the civil law with which it is connected, whether by a reflection that draws conclusions from its principles, or by additions of a positive and juridical nature.

#1960

The precepts of natural law are not perceived by everyone clearly and immediately. In the present situation sinful man needs grace and revelation so moral and religious truths may be known “by everyone with facility, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error.” The natural law provides revealed law and grace with a foundation prepared by God and in accordance with the work of the Spirit.

Thanks for posting this topic and replying back. It is giving me a chance to review on what the natural law is. I had someone ask me a question about it and now I will be able to explain to them.

God bless.

 

[DPMartin]

What you asking is whether we have a right to be insincere and to just go through the motions.

In other words, if we don’t have the right to be insincere, then you are suggesting that we should be forced to be sincere.

You haven’t presented a good alternative.

Jonesboy

thanks for your reply

Your point is well noted, but let me ask you this first:

Which is sincere?

Does the man prove that God is with him? By the pretended art of influencing the course of events, and of producing marvellous physical phenomena, by processes supposed to owe their efficacy to their power of compelling the intervention of spiritual beings, or of bringing into operation some occult controlling principle of nature; sorcery, witchcraft. Also, the practice of this art.

Or does God prove that He is with the man?