Does "Where ever there is more than one of you gathered in My name" apply to the Internet?
score:9
Physicality is not specified at all. Although you could make a case that online, we are in some manner physically present to each other. :)
However, if you are together, praying, but gathered over great distances, I don't think there's any technicality in play, here. God doesn't work in technicalities, but in what's in our heart. So, I figure that yes, virtual gatherings also do count.
There are plenty of examples of people throughout the world using telecommunications to pray together. And I have never seen anyone question the idea that Jesus wasn't actually present. To the contrary, it always is understood that He is. So I would treat this as a common understanding.
Upvote:2
The primary context (Matt 18:15-20) of this passage is about correcting other believers. It's about when another believer sins against you and how you should attempt to bring them to repentance, to repair your relationship with them and to repair their standing in the church. It is not, primarily, about any generic gathering of believers.
I believe that what Jesus is saying in this and the previous verses is that when his followers work together, if they can come to a consensus then it will be the will of God. It's not directly explained here, but I would understand this to be through the work and influence of the Spirit. So when there are two or three Christians together, united in a desire to serve God faithfully, Jesus will be there to enable them to do just that.
So I don't think anything has really changed through technology. The unity we have as believers is because of the Spirit, and technology doesn't change that of course! Jesus is always with Christians, because his Spirit lives within them. The idea that anything we can do will change whether Jesus is with us or not is ignoring the Holy Spirit!
And in the context of church discipline, it too can work through technology. Getting the advice of other believers is always valuable, even if you can't see them in person. But I think it will always be better to meet in person if you can, especially when you are discussing the alleged sins of other believers.
Upvote:5
A small number of people may gather in a fancy building, on a street corner, in a coffee house or library, or on the telephone (or yes, on the internet) for worship, praise, and service. Of course, that's the promise of this verse.
It's important to take this verse from Mt 18 in context, though. It comes right after the verses on church discipline, where Jesus urges people to use appropriate means to cope with disputes, avoiding making a big public deal about things that can be handled faithfully by a small number of people.
As is often the case with things Jesus says, there's a streak of radicalism here. Jewish tradition and practice calls for a minyan -- a gathering of ten -- for prayers. Here is Jesus, in the Gospel written for the Jewish community, saying two or three is plenty.
Finally, @Mason Wheeler made a good point. Please don't mistake Christianity.SE for a congregation. If you don't have an in-the-flesh congregation, please consider finding one. Christianity is most definitely an in-the-flesh religion and spiritual path.
More post
- 📝 Are men more important then women?
- 📝 What happens if someone who is not elect tries to seek God?
- 📝 Which prophecies are fulfilled outside of Scripture?
- 📝 What do day-age theorists do with "very good" in Genesis 1:31?
- 📝 Why was God not angry with Solomon's Census
- 📝 What questions raised by ancient Greek philosophy were answered by Christianity?
- 📝 (Jehovah's Witnesses view) Jesus statement about Great Tribulation and the situation due to which "no flesh will be saved"
- 📝 Do Catholics believe that God is actively "fighting" Satan?
- 📝 Who thinks women are not made in the image of God?
- 📝 Why did Paul want God to repay Alexander the metalworker?
- 📝 Why does the LDS Church put an emphasis on prepping?
- 📝 What was Satan's view on the authority of Scripture?
- 📝 Is dressing oneself in formal attire on Sundays (Sunday hat and dress) solely an American Christian custom?
- 📝 What are some criticisms of "Spirit-filled" church soteriology?
- 📝 Did Jesus forbid the disciples from worshiping him before the Resurrection?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for believing that it is sinful to commit illegal actions?
- 📝 Do Calvinists believe they know whether they are saved?
- 📝 Account of the Feast of Heaven
- 📝 Do Young Earth Creationists believe that insects, microorganisms, and animal cells died before the Fall?
- 📝 Are there any accidents (philosophical term) in God?
- 📝 In Catholicism, do scripted and unscripted prayers have equal importance to one's spiritual identity and development?
- 📝 Did Jesus condemn contraception
- 📝 According to Roman Catholicism, can the death penalty for heresy be squared with any New Testament teaching?
- 📝 What is Young-Earth Creationism, and how is it argued for?
- 📝 Was Mormon a priest according to the LDS?
- 📝 Can I get some help understanding the exact definition of an Idol, and Worshiping an Idol?
- 📝 How can the Son not know what the Father knows?
- 📝 Is numbers.10:7 a picture of how the church shall be spared from "sound of alarm" or great tribulation?
- 📝 Did any heretical Christian sect believe money is evil?
- 📝 How can a Wholly Good God Deliberately Create Evil?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Does "Where ever there is more than one of you gathered in My name" apply to the Internet?
- 📝 There are at-least 4 Gospel Books; did anyone ever think they were describing More than One Jesus?
- 📝 Is there more than one Joseph in the Bible?
- 📝 What is the theory that there is more than one "Satan" called, and what is its basis?
- 📝 Looking for the Bible Verse: "If any of you have more than one <some-thing> give that to another"
- 📝 In Catholic understanding when there is more than one Pope, who decides which Pope is real and by what criteria?
- 📝 Is there an example in the Bible of a human ever praying [a prayer] to someone other than one assumed to be God/god?
- 📝 Is there more than one High Priest in the order of Melchizedek?
- 📝 Do any Christian traditions assert that there can be more than one "messiah"?
- 📝 Does the Trinity share one mind or are there three separate minds?
- 📝 Why does Jesus value leap of faith more than those who rely on direct evidence?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church teach there is only one person?
- 📝 Why does the LDS church (Mormon) put so much more emphasis on the family than most other denominations do?
- 📝 Why does God often permit his children to suffer in this world more than the wicked?
- 📝 How does the LDS Church handle verses that imply there is no one like God?
- 📝 Why does the apostle John write far more clearly about the deity of Christ than seems to be the case in the other gospel accounts?
- 📝 Does 1 Corinthians 2:9 mean Heaven will be more joyous than we can contemplate?
- 📝 Can a Catholic simultaneously profess more than one rite?
- 📝 There is more to know than that which is written
- 📝 Does canonisation make one more meritorious before God?
- 📝 Does the Church believe that an economic system with shared property is better than one based on private property?
- 📝 Did Moses have more than one wife in his lifetime?
- 📝 Does this mean that Pope Paul VI thought that the Rosary is more important than the daily examen?
- 📝 Is "There's more sanctity in a dog's loyalty than there is in all your human laws." a quote from the Holy Bible?
- 📝 How does the LDS Church reconcile their understanding of the "Godhead" which is three beings/three gods with the Bible stating there is only one God?
- 📝 Does only one sin in your entire life disqualify you for the kingdom of God?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church teach that belief in the possibility of more than 3 persons in God is heresy?
- 📝 Mormons believe in more than one god so how do they reconcile this belief with 1 Timothy 1:17?
- 📝 Mention of being more profitable if you do a business rather than a job?
- 📝 Are there any Christian groups that believe in only One God (The Father revealed by Christ) and only One Gospel rather than 4 Gospels?
