Agreed. But, we must learn to put presuppositions aside and by God's grace we can and will. Presuppositions hurt the church and us as well.<br><br>When I decided to take up a study of Baptism for myself personally (as with Calvinism and eschatology, et. al.) I attempted as much as possible to have a clean slate. I re-looked at definitions of terms, not assuming I already knew them and re-examined each Scripture again as if it were the first time I had laid my eyes upon them....... I even studied baptismal regeneration and attempted to find truth there as well (I didn't, of course). I had surrendered, by God grace, to becoming teachable.<br><br> I gave EACH position a "fair as possible" opportunity to convince me of the truth. I thought I would still end up a baptist/credo (after all I had been one since 1978), but upon completion of my studies I ended up Presbyterian/paedo (last year). I must admit this struggle from Credo to Paedo was more difficult for me than my Arminianism to Calvinism steps. The process took over a year........., but if God would have not made me teachable once again, I would have never seen the truths of baptism and .... So it comes down to whether or not we are teachable or not? Thus I see Jason's alternatives as very illuminating:<br><br><blockquote>[color:blue]I was trying to determine upon what grounds you would make this statement and I could only come up with the following:<br><br><ul>1. The Scriptures are unclear on the issue.<br>2. You are unwilling to change your position even if it is shown to be inconsistent.<br>3. Joe is unwilling to change his position even if it is shown to be inconsistent.</blockquote></font color=blue>[/LIST] Oh, and #3 is out, for if shown that I am inconsistent I will be a credo again!

Reformed and Always Reforming,