Religious Practices
Members seek to obey the Bible, which they hold to be the infallible Word of God. Many of their practices, however, are not explicitly derived from the Bible. Rather, some of them are biblically inspired traditions derived from the writings of Froehlich (who was strongly influenced by early church writers such as Tertullian) and some are past practices found to be beneficial. These traditions are passed from one generation to the next and are held in high esteem, but never meant to approach the level of Biblical commandments. Members are disciplined out of love, and the degree of discipline varies on the degree of sin. If the member commits a sin unto death, as laid out by the bible, he or she will be excommunicated, but never shunned. Members are disciplined because of sin and not, as commonly misconceived, because of adherence to traditions. Traditions within the Apostolic Christian Church help encourage believers in their commitment to serving the Lord, help to knit generations together, and provide close harmony among the various congregations.
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Famous quotes containing the words religious and/or practices:
“We are not a religious people, but we are a nation of politicians. We do not care for the Bible, but we do care for the newspaper. At any meeting of politicians ... how impertinent it would be to quote from the Bible! how pertinent to quote from a newspaper or from the Constitution!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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