Introduction To The “What does the Bible say about…” Category
When I first started to examine my beliefs in 2006 I came to realize something that really shocked me: I didn’t know what Scriptures backed up many of the doctrines that I had been raised to believe and to not question! Oh, I understood the Scriptural backing for the major doctrines, such as Jesus’ Name baptism and Oneness. But when it came to many of the other doctrines (especially ones relating to holiness standards) I honestly did not know which Scriptures supported the views that the UPC took.
I had a general, vague idea that there were a few Scriptures somewhere that said that women shouldn’t wear jewelry, but I couldn’t tell you where they were. I had a general understanding that wicked whores like Jezebel were the only women who wore make-up, but I wasn’t exactly sure which Scriptures backed that idea up.
It also bothered me that I had never studied out many of these doctrines for myself. Even the doctrines that seemed to be clear (such as women wearing dresses) were doctrines that I had never studied for myself. I started to think that maybe, just maybe, it was possible that the rest of the world was right and I was wrong. I started to think that there were a lot of really smart, intelligent Bible scholars out there, and if they were all saying that we (the UPC) were wrong then perhaps I should at least take the time to study these things out for myself instead of just assuming that they didn’t know what they were talking about.
When I started to study these things I was amazed to find out that the majority of the UPC beliefs (especially relating to standards) have very little or no Scriptural backing. (Understand that when I say "very little Scriptural backing" I don’t mean that they were only mentioned a few times in Scripture; I mean that the interpretations of the Scriptures that are used to support the doctrines are highly debatable.)
These articles are a collection of the research that I did. They are by no means exhaustive, but I am always adding to them. It is my prayer that people will read them with an open mind and will be willing to accept the Bible as the final authority — not man’s teachings.