Subject: I just started reading the Bible and.... |
Bible Note: Dear Keliv, I never got to respond to your post yesterday so I’ll do it now. Thank you for all the kind words you have given. I will try to give my concerns as politely as I can. Forgive me if I seem redundant and careless. I mean no disrespect. You Said: ““…a selection of passages that seem to be contradictory on the surface, but when lining them up with the whole of Scripture, God's wonderful plan becomes abundantly clear. Scripture will always prove Scripture. It is against God's nature for there to be a single contradiction. When there appears to be anything amiss, it is always us who possess the faulty wisdom and not God.”” I agree with you that it is not God's nature for there to be a single contradiction. He is all powerful, all knowing, ever present and the creator of all. He does not have faulty wisdom. Regarding your statement that it is always us who possess the faulty wisdom and not God, let me ask this, how then are we to know at what precise time our faulty wisdom is not faulty. Is our wisdom faulty only when there seems to be a contradiction? If there is a possibility that our wisdom is flawed then how can we be certain when it is not? My questions began as I was reading through the book of Deuteronomy. In chapter 10, God gives us the commandment thou shall not kill, a moral law applicable to all. He promises many blessings (Deut 11), if we earnestly obey His commandments, judgments and statutes. God warns us (Deut 12:32), "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it." He commands us to kill our brother or any other family member if they try to entice us away from Him (Deut 13:10). Baffling to say the least however, using your rationale, it is my faulty wisdom that is flawed and that is why I can’t understand how this is not confusing and blatantly wrong. You say that God’s wonderful plan of salvation becomes abundantly clear when we line those troubled verses up with the whole of scripture. Keliv, help me here please, how does killing your brother line up with the opportunity of salvation for all? Shouldn't your brother be given a chance to repent? Even if he doesn't repent, is killing him the correct message to send to other non-believers? If killing him is the right thing to do then why didn't God kill Lucifer way back in time before all of this mess began? How does it line up with the message of love, mercy and grace? How does it become abundantly clear that my wisdom is flawed about this passage? In a recent post, Tim Moran said it best, the moral aspects of the law never change. It is always wrong for everyone to lie, steal, kill or worship other gods. Exactly! This is what I feel deep in my heart, it is always wrong for everyone to kill. How then can it be explained that God commanded the killing of a family member? The Mosaic law of not killing applies to everyone, so to use the argument that we are no longer under the law is baffling. If we are still under the moral law of God, thou shall not kill, why shouln't we still be under God's moral law to kill our brother who tries to turn us away from God? Why is it okay to go against God claiming that this law was only for the Jews? Why then is it not morally wrong for the Jews to kill their brothers, but morally wrong for us? If we admit to our wisdom being faulty, we then concede that every bit of our mortal wisdom is suspect. Going forward to the New Testament you use your sometimes faulty wisdom to tell yourself and others that Jesus is the Son of God by which all of humanity can have eternal life. All we need to do is accept him. But then when the Son of God he tells you in Mark 10:21, sell all that you have, give to the poor, follow him and then you will have your treasure in heaven, you reject him. Your sometimes faulty wisdom prevents you from doing exactly as Jesus says. You use that wisdom to convince yourself that Jesus is only speaking to the Jews. Confusing to say the least. He died for all of humanity but only the Jews need to sell everything they own, give to the poor and then become his disciple in order to make it to heaven. Are you absolutely sure your faulty human wisdom is accurate? Tough questions I know, but they fiercely jump out at me. I want to know why. Thank you for all your help. God Bless, Pete |