Posted on 06/18/2018 8:49:38 AM PDT by Salvation
The *turning the other cheek* passage is about letting insults go, not about not defending oneself.
Self defense? How did that get in the discussion? Lets reframe it, protection and defense of others which we are called to do.
Had a pastor once that didn’t want a gun as he wouldn’t shoot anyone. I asked , “what if your wife or grandchildren were threatened?? He has a gun now...……………………………………..
(Exodus 15:3) The LORD is a warrior; Yahweh is His name!
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
http://treehouseletter.com/2015/01/30/the-sheep-the-wolf-the-sheepdog-ltc-dave-grossman-american-sniper/
That’s a good account of the way it most likely must have been. Thanks for your thoguht-provoking reflections.
Well, it’s sure true that there’s a lot that we don’t absolutely know. There are seeming paradoxes or discrepancies among the four Gospel accounts, and it’s not like every detail even needs to be ironed out. It started out with “Blasphemy, He says He’s God” and ended up with, “He’s fomenting opposition to Caesar.” The false witnesses couldn’t even get their own stories straight, as the Gospel says.
After all, they had no evidence of wrong-doing. It was a kangaroo court and a travesty of justice. Malice and lies.
I am particularly struck by the way Jesus said, “Nobody takies my life from Me. I lay down my life.”
Thank you, Jesus my Savior.
No.
That’s a way to teach a lesson to your enemies but doesnt apply to weapon wielding enemies.
Neither does ‘forgiveness’ apply to actively stopping criminals from committing their evil upon others.
Did you read the entire article?
Exactly X2.
Indeed. I sleep well, mostly.
What Scripture also says is
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Romans 12:17-19)
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)
For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: (1 Peter 2:20-23)
Thus retaliation is proscribed, and enduring persecution and wrongs is prescribed. Yet appealing to just laws, and exposing injustice and combating it, at least for principle sake and when it hinders the preaching of word of the Lord, is positively exampled:
And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? (Acts 22:25)
And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. (Acts 16:36-37)
What your priest does not ask is, "Does Jesus Forbid The Burning/Extermination of Heretics by the sword of men in the hand of the RC church?" And physical punishment by the same means against wayward members?
Time to sleep.
I own a sword!
It’s not a very good sword, mind you. Not very sharp.
And the next sword I plan to get will probably have pieces flying off at high velocity.
I guess I’m just a bad consumer of stabby implements.
Also, placemarker for the article.
It is evil to execute vengeance, but it is not evil to summarily execute without malice, but purely defensively, a beast—human or animal—in the process of unjustly taking the life of oneself and/or a fellow human.
I disagree, I say: turn the page(s), all of them. Don't try understand Matt 5 by itself through reflection. Listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, don't be a self-defense sheep.
John 10:27-28
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand
Luke 12:5
But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
2 Peter 2
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
Deuteronomy 13
13 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee
Acts 7
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep
Great post. I'll say this about heresy though, it's real and worthy of hell fire. Dealing with it is problematic, not dealing with it is just as perilous.
Yes, heresy is serious, but the issue is the basis for determining it, how it is to be dealt with. Catholicism makes her presumed ensured perpetual magisterial infallibility the basis for what is Truth vs. error, which is heresy itself, and thereby sanctions coercive physical punishment to deal with those it deems to be heretical, and papal teaching required RC rulers to exterminate them, or else the people did not have to obey them. - Canons of the Ecumenical Fourth Lateran Council (canon 3), 1215; http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/lateran4.asp
And which recourse is one of the many things Protestantism had to unlearn from Rome.
The Church has the right, as a perfect and independent society provided with all the means for attaining its end, to decide according to its laws disputes arising concerning its internal affairs, especially as to the ecclesiastical rights of its members, also to carry out its decision, if necessary, by suitable means of compulsion, contentious or civil jurisdiction. It has, therefore, the right to admonish or warn its members, ecclesiastical or lay, who have not conformed to its laws and also, if needful to punish them by physical means, that is, coercive jurisdiction. — Catholic Encyclopedia Jurisdiction
► Q. 540. How did the Pope acquire and how was he deprived of the temporal power? A. The Pope acquired the temporal power in a just manner by the consent of those who had a right to bestow it. He was deprived of it in an unjust manner by political changes. - http://baltimore-catechism.com/lesson12.htm
I shudda read ahead.
Interesting!
Just what kind of 'thing' would get a person to turn down Jesus' offer of salvation?
I love it when folks really understand the hidden things in scripture!!
Just WHO were the dudes that actually were carrying the swords?
OBVIOUSLY the tax-collector fella! He MUST had had all kinds of MONEY on his person he needed to protect.
Maybe one of the fishermen.
They'd need to take out a nasty critter caught in their nets before it could harm them.
Thank you for that post. Very good.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.