I attended a home study group a few years ago where the ruling view was that the Jews are special, Christians will be spared the tribulation and so on. These are common enough views that have arisen within the last 100 years or so. Orthodox Christians would say these are errors. At study people would quote a Bible verse but never kept on reading to get context – the verse was always cut off at the point beyond which their views ceased to make sense. The pastor at the related church was not formally trained.

Of course things came to a head and I, along with another group studying from a perfectly orthodox perspective, were obliged to stop studying or leave. Invitations from us to sit down with the Bible were never taken up and the final meeting with the elders was depressing as it became clear that their knowledge was very limited. These men were, however, well connected within the church family. If this is common within church life we are in serious trouble because it will stifle real study. The more I study in depth the more convincing the word becomes. One of the study groups at the current church looks to Prof Geering for guidance. That should attract attention but hasn’t. All quite depressing really.

Absolutely agree that if you go all experience, you get into piranha infested waters pretty quickly.