Posted on 03/15/2004 9:57:21 PM PST by kattracks
I recently interviewed a 26-year-old Swedish student about her views on life. I asked her if she believed in God or in any religion."No, that's silly," she replied.
"Then how do you know what is right and wrong?" I asked.
"My heart tells me," she responded.
In a nutshell, that's the major reason for the great divide within America and between America and much of Europe. The majority of people use their heart -- stirred by their eyes -- to determine what is right and wrong. A minority uses their mind and/or the Bible to make that determination.
Pick almost any issue and these opposing ways of determining right and wrong become apparent.
Here are three examples.
Same-sex marriage: The heart favors it. You have to have a hard heart not to be moved when you see many of the loving same-sex couples who want to commit their lives to one another in marriage. The eye sees the couples; the heart is moved to redefine marriage.
Animal rights: The heart favors them. It is the rare person, for example, whose heart is not moved by the sight of an animal used for medical research. The eye sees the cuddly animal; the heart then equates animal and human life.
Abortion: How can you look at a sad 18-year-old who had unprotected sex and not be moved? What kind of heartless person is going to tell her she shouldn't have an abortion and should give birth?
The eyes and the heart form an extraordinarily powerful force. They can only be overcome when formulating policies by a mind and a value system that are stronger than the heart-eye duo.
With the decline of Judeo-Christian religions, the heart, shaped by what the eye sees (hence the power of television), has become the source of people's moral decisions.
This is a potentially fatal problem for our civilization. As beautiful as the heart might be, it is neither intellectually nor morally profound.
It is therefore frightening that hundreds of millions of people find no problem in acknowledging that their heart is the source of their values. Their heart knows better than thousands of years of accumulated wisdom; better than religions shaped by most of the finest thinkers of our civilization (and, to the believer, by God); and better than the book that has guided our society -- from the Founders of our uniquely successful society to the foes of slavery to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and most of the leaders of the struggle for racial equality.
This elevation of one's heart is well beyond self-confidence -- it is self-deification.
One of the first things you learn in Judaism and Christianity is that the eyes and heart are usually terrible guides to the good and the holy. " . . . (D)o not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after" (Numbers 15:39); "the heart is deceitful above all things . . . " (Jeremiah 17:9).
Supporters of same-sex marriage see the loving gay couple, and therefore do not interest themselves in the effects of changing marriage and family on the children they do not see. And since they venerate their hearts, the biblical ideal of male-female love, marriage and family is of no significance to them.
Animal rights supporters' hearts are deeply moved by the animals they see experimented on, not by the millions of people they do not see who will suffer and die if we stop such experiments.
Likewise, the hearts of the people who support PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) are so moved by the plight of slaughtered chickens that the organization has a campaign titled "Holocaust on your plate," which equates our slaughtering of chickens with the Nazi slaughtering of Jews.For 25 years I have been asking high school seniors across America if they would save their dog or a stranger first if both were drowning. The majority has nearly always voted against the person. Why? Because, they say with no self-doubt, they love their dog, not the stranger. An entire generation has been raised with no reference to any moral code above their heart's feelings. They do not know, and would not care if they did know, that the Bible teaches that human beings, not animals, are created in God's image.
So, too, those who cannot call any abortion immoral are moved by what they see -- the forlorn woman who wants an abortion, not by the human fetus they do not see. That is why abortion rights groups are so opposed to showing photos of fetuses that have been aborted -- such pictures might move the eye and the heart of viewers to judge the morality of many abortions differently.
It is undeniable that many people have used their minds and many have used the Bible in ways that have led to evil. And some of these people have been truly heartless. But not one of the great cruelties of the 20th century -- the Gulag, Auschwitz, Cambodia, North Korea, Mao's Cultural Revolution -- came from those who took their values from the Bible. And the great evil of the 21st century, though religion-based, doesn't come from the Bible either.
Meanwhile, the combination of mind, Judeo-Christian values and heart has produced over centuries the unique success known as America. Reliance on the heart will destroy this painstaking achievement in a generation.
©2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
1 Corinthians, Chapter 6:
[9]
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts,
[10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.
In the KJV it reads:
9 ¶ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
The key words to this discussion are "abusers of themselves with mankind"
(sorry for the sketchiness as my on-line strongs is down at the moment and I'm recreating this from memory)
AotwM comes from the Greek word Arsenkoites which itself is derived from Arrhen meaning male and koites which has one of four different meanings.
so we have Male and
1. bed. A bed has no gender so this meaning doesn't make sense in context.
2. Marriage bed. Agauin there is no such thing as a male marriage bed so it fails the context test.
3. cohabitation. In biblical days it was common for a man to remain in his parents house until married. He lived in the same room with his brothers that he did from the time of his weaning. It was common for related males to cohabitate and there was nothing wrong with it. So why would two brothers living together not make it into the kingdom? fails the context test again.
4. Sexual relations. Sexual relations between males are savagely condemned throughout scripture. This behavior is an abomination where the participants are to be killed before they can infect others with their sin. Makes perfect sense that they would be excluded from the kingdom as God has already condemned this behavior
So of the four possible meanings of Arsenkoites only "those who practice male sexual relations" fits the context test. King James Version translates this as "Abusers of themselves with mankind"
So it passes both local context, that is, it makes sense in the verse where found, and general context, in that it is in agreement with the rest of the scriptures.
While RSV mistranslates this very specific word to be "sexual perverts", KJV translates it to be the very specific (and accurate) "abusers of themselves with mankind" But the Word doesn't stop there. Check out vs 11:
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
God shows us right here that Same-sex Attraction Disorder is curable and people are not doomed to be 'once gay always gay'
Yes he was a brilliant thinker. My favorite quote from Tommy is:
Lord, give me chastity and self-restraint, but do not give it yet.
What hypocrisy, When arguing Creationism vs Evolution or where to put up the ten commandments then the Old Testament is valid but when it's something embarrassing to Christians than it all of a sudden doesn't matter.
As for slavery in the NT, Here you go
Titus
2:9
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
2:10
Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
Colossians
3:22
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God;
1 Timothy
6:1
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
6:2
And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.
6:3
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
You may be suprised that I agree with you. We should all be wary of religion. That is why Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
It is every persons responsibility to establish a relationship with God. Considering the influence Jesus Christ has had on human history, one can only attribute ignorance of His life and teaching, to the influence of evil.p> What we see is a willful ignorance that can only be explained by supernatural forces. Who can excuse the intellectual ignorance of the academic community as well as the journalistic community, when it comes to knowing what the Bible says on any given topic. 82% of Americans claim to be believers in Jesus Christ, and yet when an ethical issue comes before the public, the scriptural position is purposefully ignored.
It is easy to get a copy on computer and search for any word or topic in moments, yet supernatural forces cause there to be a resistance to do such a simple task.
Religion is of man, God wants a relationship. This is why He chose to become a man, perfectly capable of relating to us in every way. Jesus is not some nebulous force outside time and is alive today as a glorified Man in heaven. He walked the face of the earth for 33 years. Check out what He has to say, and why much of the world spends Sunday seeking Him.
Your ignorance of the subject is breathtaking. To understand the difference, you would have to understand the difference between the Abrahamic, Mosaic and New Covenants: The fact that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law. HE is our Ten Commandment.
The Greek word for "servant" used in these verses you cited is doulos which can be translated as "slave" "servant" or "employee."
In now way can these verses be construed that the Apostle Paul favored slavery. Nowhere in these writings does he endorse the system. In fact, in 1 Timothy 1:10 "menstealers" or "slave traders" are classified with "whoremongers," "liars" and other evildoers. The Roman world at that time was full of slaves. Some historians estimate that about 1/3 of the population of the Roman world consisted of slaves. Paul did not recommend outright revolt by slaves but rather advocated faithful service, as to the Lord.
But don't let the facts get in the way of your hatred.
That was Augustine, IIRC.
Oh.
Of course it can. History is rife with politically motivated interpretations of the Bible.
You are correct. Let me rephrase that (and fix the misspellings): In no way can these verses be plausibly construed that the Apostle Paul favored slavery with any validity whatsoever.
Well, armed revolt doesn't seem to be very much like "faithful service".
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.