Legalism And Liberty, Pyro Style

Last month, Phil Johnson of Pyromaniacs fame wrote a post on legalism and Christian liberty, and said he desired to write on this topic again in the weeks to come. He asked commenters to ask questions they would like answered. So, I chimed in with a couple of questions I would consider not the act of lobbing softballs:

I agree with what you've had to say about legalism and liberty in these two posts. An observation: I've never heard a legalist admit to being a legalist. Legalists always seem to claim their legalism comes directly from Scipture, even if it takes twenty successive logical fallacies within a greater slippery slope fallacy to make their claim. Do you see the same thing?

Also, could you give your view on "offending" the "weaker brother"? Do you think that somebody inducing indignation within their own heart over an activity they see another engaging in constitutes offense, or do you think it has to do with actually inducing somebody into an activity contrary to their conscience? In between?

Oh, and would you see somebody as "weak" because they abstain, or because their conscience hasn't been fully persuaded?

I look forward to hearing Phil's take on legalists, conscience and the weaker brother. If he gets around to this topic, I'll post more.