Results 41 - 60 of 465
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Parable Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
41 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 105949 | ||
You said "the question is not what would Jesus do, the question is what should a follower of Christ do?" I say a follower of Christ looks to Him for direction, courage and strength. Accordingly, I have offered a position and biblical support for it. Regarding the "what if's", this is not about hypothetical situations, the question is real and it is before us now. We are not talking about legislating morals, we are talking about a specific challenge to a specific practice. There are many Christians who vehemently oppose even having the dialogue, let alone submitting to the authority of the State should it come to that. As for this submission, and for pledging allegiance to a nation, Jesus said to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God. So, if you were a Supreme Court Justice with the Constitution in one hand, and as a Christian with the Bible in the other, how would you vote and how would you justify your vote on whether "under God" shall remain in the Pledge of Allegiance? Peace, Parable |
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42 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 105994 | ||
The question of civil disobedience as an option is not the issue. Rather, it is the question of whether or not "under god" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance and if Christians should obey if the Supreme Court rules it to be unconstitutional. According to Kalos, post #105993: "The applicable biblical principle seems to be that civil disobedience is only acceptable, and perhaps even required, when it is to protect innocent human life." I submit that those who seek to remove "under God" from the Pledge may be innocent in need of protection, misguided as they may be. Of course, it is debateable if this is a life or death issue, but surely the defense of the constitution often has cost people their lives. Parable |
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43 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106026 | ||
Interesting approach. You seem to suggest that doing what may be deemed unconstitional is ok because there is no law expressly forbidding it. The problem with this idea is the constition is the highest law of the land, higher than any legislation Congress may pass. Indeed, the constitution is the standard by which all congressional acts are measured. More importantly, in our spiritual lives, isn't this line of thinking how we often delude ourselves into justifying what we want instead of what is right? |
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44 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106028 | ||
Actually, I agree with your point. Indeed, in my first post, I suggested that the Pledge is not law, but rather a practice imposed by the force of tradition. The problem is that this practice is imposed on everyone at public schools, which are funded by tax dollars and this where the conflict arises. Sure, you can make the Pledge part of your day at a private school, but tax dollars carry with them the obligations to uphold the constitution. | ||||||
45 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106104 | ||
I respond point by point: The doctrine of separation is well established and is central to our freedom. The issue is not your individual speech, but the 1954 congressional act that inserted "under God" into the Pledge. The real debate is narrowly defined and has nothing to do with how the constitution is interpreted. Your religious freedom is intact. Americans now enjoy the greatest religious liberty in history. No one here is persecuted for their faith. If you disagree, look at Sudan and then tell me you are suffering for your faith. No mention of God appears in the constitution, by design. The framers were careful to avoid this. While the creator is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, this document has no standing as law. Congress opens with prayer out of tradition, just like the Pledge. It is the job of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution in terms of the document itself and precedents set by earlier courts, not to imagine what the framers intended. This is because the intent of the framers is not law. The Pledge, said every school day by millions of students, teachers and administrators is much more than a "mention". Again, your freedom of speech is not the issue, but rather the imposition of speech on those who may not believe as you do. Peace, David |
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46 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106113 | ||
What do you suggest the framers intended? | ||||||
47 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106122 | ||
My concern is that if the Supreme Court decides that congress' act to insert "under God" is unconsitutional, how many Christians will respect that ruling by acting in a manner that reflects WHY the court reached that decision. Yes, you are free to say "under God", but don't skirt the issue by saying that you're not coercing others to say it with you. For all practical purposes, young students are completely powerless to oppose what the teacher makes them do in class. Regarding your persecution in high school, I suspect that it was not the content of your speech, but rather the time, place and manner you delivered it that got you in trouble. From my experience here at a university, I suspect your persecutors would suggest you were disrupting the institution. Not that I agree, but that's how I expect they justified their actions agains you. |
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48 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106124 | ||
'one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" is meant to be the ideal we strive for, not the reality we enjoy. We are far from "indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" Parable |
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49 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106136 | ||
Regarding your persecution, clearly your teachers acted inappropriately. As a Christian, you can rejoice that you have been chosen to suffer for Christ! Like you, I see what is happening with our culture. At a university, I am witness to how it plays out in the lives of our young people. I guess my concern was prompted by decidedly unchristian comments that were very uncharitable toward those who dare to challenge the powerful majority. |
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50 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106181 | ||
I was hoping someone would challenge my statement and your response is quite excellent. Your examples show that when taken too far, by people who don't understand the law, legalism leads to abuse. This supports my view that many Americans really don't have a clue about how our system is supposed to work. Sadly, many Christians sometimes fall into that same habit. Cases which test us against our principles, like the "under God" case, will help strengthen our country, not weaken it. |
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51 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106194 | ||
No doubt you make a good point. My concern is how Christians respond to the authority of the state when they disagree. |
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52 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106195 | ||
The worms wiggle when you open the can, don't they? | ||||||
53 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106200 | ||
this is true, but this logic is not what the "under god" issue is about. in your analogy, the logic would then be if abortion were illegal, you wouldn't go ahead and have one anyway, right? |
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54 | Pledge, "under God", WWJD? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 106240 | ||
For me, the issue boils down to whether we as Christians, in this particular case, will submit to the authority of the state, which scripture says God has ordained, or if we will obey a more personal understanding of His Will, sometimes known as moral conscience, which He has planted in our hearts through His Word and Spirit. |
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55 | Are Deacons limited to serving communion | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 114199 | ||
Every member of the church has an obligation to confront sin, especially when it threatens the community of believers and jeopardizes the witness of our faith to the world. | ||||||
56 | documented, biblical justification | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 114236 | ||
I guess it depends on your theory. What are you trying to establish? As for the example set by leaderss, see 1 Tim 3:2a "Now the overseer must be above reproach...", Titus 1:6 "An elder must be blameless..." As for what to do about sin in the church, see Matthew 18:15-17 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." The final step means to remove from the fellowship. Regarding legal action, because we are called to submit to the authority of the state, see Romans 13:1-7, especially verse 4, your suspicions of financial impropriety should be reported to the police or IRS. Does this help? |
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57 | Is the role of deacon limited? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 114240 | ||
"Deacon" in biblical times may not have meant what it means today, i.e. grunt or peon. If your church is trying to apply biblical principals, it needs to get away from legalistic questions like this (which try to derive doctrine from one or two verses) and instead, address issues through meaningful fellowship, accountability, honesty, openness, trust, corrective discipline and proper lines of authority. In my church, there is a board of directors who oversee the senior pastor. In others, it might be that a bishop oversees the priests. In any case, matters of conscience and integrity must be addressed or the church will be infected and it will spread like leaven in the dough. | ||||||
58 | why does God allow evil to exsit | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 138097 | ||
Dr. Gregory Boyd addresses this question in his book "Satan and the problem of evil". He defends his thesis on scriptural grounds and has answered this question to my satisfaction. I will summarize his argument in my next post. (I'm out of town and I don't have those notes with me.) Peace, Parable |
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59 | why does God allow evil to exsit | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 138911 | ||
According to Dr. Gregory Boyd, in his book, "Satan and the problem of evil", evil is a necessary possibility in a world in which the following realities make love possible: 1. Love entails freedom. (freedom to choose otherwise is what makes choosing love so special) 2. Freedom entails risk. (the risk is that someone may actually choose not to love) 3. Risk entails moral responsibility. (people are responsible for their choices because of the consequences they bring. Sometimes those consequences are evil) 4. Moral responsibility is proportionate to the power to influence others. (if you are powerful, you have more responsibility that someone who is inconsequential. Satan was the most powerful, so he carries the most responsibility for rebelling against God) 5. The power to influence is irrevocable. (God's gifts are genuine, not taken back if abused.) 6. The power to influence is finite. (God has established boundaries within which we operate, so the consequences of our poor decisions are not infinitely bad for everyone everywhere.) If you experience evil, it is because someone, including possibly yourself, chose to follow something other than God, and that choice was close enough to you that the consequences were within your sphere of influence. Boyd derives his point from scripture. A good summary of his ideas are available in "God of the Possible" and at his website www.gregboyd.org/gbfront/ |
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60 | why does God allow evil to exsit | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 138989 | ||
My summary of his conclusions does not do justice to his derivation from scripture and his application to real world evil. For example, one of his most compelling examples is the case of Nazi concentration camp guards who gang rape a young girl, then gouge out her eyes. Hardly "strictly verbal means". Boyd's ideas speak directly to the unlimited depravity that evil can manifest. His explanation is gut-wrenching, not noble, and accounts for all manner of real evil, not the abstract concept some people have who have not seen it personally. As for meeting evil, no explanation or system of thought is adequate, rather the only defense is Jesus Christ, his love and goodness. We are called to overcome evil with His goodness. Peace |
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