4th century BC
Plato
- Idealism — forms over particulars
- The Republic ethic: “God is not the author of evil”
Lyrics
[Intro]
[Verse 1]
I was twenty-six years old the morning that they called
Said come on down and see us, son, it is nothing much at all
I drove on to the meeting house, no reason to be scared
Three elders and a door, and an empty chair
They had pulled an empty chair
[Verse 2]
They said you have not tithed the way the Scripture says you must
I said the Scripture says a cheerful giver, and I trust
I stand fast in the liberty that Christ Himself made free
But they did not want the Book from me
No, they did not want the Book from me
[Chorus]
Three elders and a door
I walked in looking for a brother
I walked out looking for a church
They shut the only door I knew
And never felt it hurt
No, they never felt it hurt
[Verse 3]
They said a man should not go reading where his elders have not gone
They took the little ministry I carried, called it done
They told me find another place to lay this trouble down
So I have been a stranger, town to town
Lord, a stranger, town to town
[Chorus]
Three elders and a door
I walked in looking for a brother
I walked out looking for a church
They shut the only door I knew
And never felt it hurt
No, they never felt it hurt
[Verse 4]
I walked across the gravel and I sat down in the car
I called my wife and told her, honey, here is where we are
I wept there in the parking lot, a young man cut adrift
And I did not know that morning what that shut door was
No, I did not know what it was
[Bridge]
It was the first door
It was not the last
I have heard that same latch fall a hundred times since then
And every time it falls I hear those elders once again
Three elders and a door
Three elders and a door
[Outro]
Come on down and see us, son
It is nothing much at all
Three elders and a door
Commentary