I am actually a former Seventh-day Adventist, and find that that church has a lot in common with the Mormon church.Sstavix wrote:Yeah, I think I have to apologize. I may have muddied things up a bit. Blame it on the (election) season. When I read "conservative Christians," my thoughts immediately went to politics.
So back to the topic at hand, Incognitus, what do you mean by "conservative" Christian? As in those that strive to find and maintain a church as it existed when Christ walked the Earth? Or those that hold to tradition and try to remain steadfast in an ever-changing (and possibly, in their perspective, ever-darkening) world?
If so, then I am in an interesting category, indeed! Being a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, I am a member of a Christian church that strives to restore the organizational structure that existed in Christ's time. We have a prophet, twelve apostles, teachers, bishops, deacons and other offices that were in the church that He organized. However, many other Christians disagree with the LDS church - or even claim that it isn't Christian - because it's a departure from both the Catholic and Protestant traditions, and doesn't adhere to the Nicene creed.
So by many definitions, it's conservative, but by others it isn't. Come to think of it, that's how some view my Libertarian / Constitutionalist stance, too. Maybe it is about politics....
Here is where I stand: I don't believe God would ever allow His word to be lost or corrupted, thus needed to be "restored." I believe the Almighty is omnipotent enough to preserve His truth and words for all times, never allowing it to be corrupted. I am a King James Bible Believer, and that is my final authority.
It's dangerous ground to go on raw tradition, but equally enough, when new doctrine comes into play that never existed throughout history, that is equally dangerous... Remember Satan is the originator of new doctrine. He questioned God's original command not to eat of the fruit, saying "Ye shall not surely die."
Our influence must come from the 66 Book of the (KJV) Bible alone, even history can be shaky ground. This is another debatable issue, but I believe if you pray and research both sides of the issue, you will see that every Bible published after 1880 have some serious problems, when comparing it to the KJV, which is based upon a trusted manuscript used by godly men in history preceding the KJV. In fact, all English Bible before 1881 were based upon the Textus Receptus (Recieved Text) which has its origins in antioch, which is where the T.R. has its origins. (Acts 11:26)
Nevertheless, to answer your question: I would say a conservative Christian is one who holds to the original faith of the Bible, the faith of the disciples, not allowing new ideas or beliefs into the church, and holding to conservative values. I think tradition does play a role, but again, at the same time, tradition is not our final authority, but the Bible alone. I suppose there is a line to be drawn so far before you're considered a liberal Christian. More conservative Christian women for instance, tend to wear long skirts, no makeup, no jewelry, etc. I think this is a great idea, it's very modest, but you also should be careful of putting a burden on someone of something that is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible as a commandment. The Bible says for women to be modest, it doesn't go into details if that means absolutely no makeup. This may be an example of an area of Christian liberty. I don't think Christian women should wear short shorts, bikinis, and all kinds of jewelry or earrings. That's where I stand.