What is crazy Rockfox is that I thought to myself today, "I would like to make an expanding brain meme." (Not because I had seen one anywhere that I know of.) I came on here to post it and there you were...
Anyway, here's mine:
1) "European Christ"? Is that even a concept? Until here, I'd never heard of it.
2) While many have taken the concept and ran w it in unBiblical ways, local churches submitted to local elders. Thus the "members" knew who their elders were, and, conversely, the elders knew who their church was. Similarly, they knew who to expect submission from and who not to, thus when members from Jerusalem taught heresy in Antioch they sent a delegation back to their elders in Jerusalem to hash out the discrepancy in teaching (Acts 15). This whole concept is rooted in masters/slaves similar to husbands/wives. If the neighbor kid behaves badly, you take it up w his parents, right? So those who belong under this eldership are those "members". How can an elder "watch over your soul" (Heb 13:17), if you don't acknowledge his guardianship of it?
3) Wedding rings: Gen 24:22 Abram's servant gives a ring and bracelets to Rebekah as a promisory of the wedding proposal.
4) "Officiated marriage": I have no real disagreement here. Biblical marriage was either very private him/her and no one else such as Adam & Eve or semi-public parties between the 2 families. There seems to be no 3rd party involved until RCC and later the government.
5) Sermons: Everywhere Paul went, he spoke to crowds to establish the local church. When he returned, the church often gathered and stayed to here him speak.
Acts 20:7
"On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight." Sounds like a sermon to me.
The more unBiblical concept is the paid, local evangelist. Instead, it teaches "mutual edification".
1 Corinthians 14:26
"What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up."
BTW, there it is again "a lesson". Sounds like a sermon to me. But this is everyone sharing something weekly, not the same 5 people doing everything and everyone else doing nothing.
6) "Sunday sabbath": There are 3 ways if viewing this phrase.
A) Sunday - Jesus rose on the 1st day of the week just before dawn when the women came to attend His body. This is then commemorated by the early church such as Acts 20:7 earlier "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread,..." This was their regular habit. By the time of Revelation it was aka "The Lord's Day" (Rev 1:10).
B) Sabbath - Sabbath means 7th. So Sunday is 1st. Sabbath is 7th. So "1st 7th" is nonsense in this case. The Mosaic law of "keeping the sabbath" makes it synonymous w rest. So "Sunday rest" makes sense in keeping w the principle from Exodus 23:12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; ..." Of the 10 commandments, 9 are repeated. Only "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy" is NOT repeated in the New Testament. Thus worship is moved from weekly to daily; gathering is moved from Saturday to Sunday; Jesus is our rest and no official rest will come until He returns, but rest is important and should be engaged in.
7) "Multiple wives" is this entire forum so, again, no disagreement here.