Berserk wrote on Mar 14th, 2007 at 11:38pm:[“Well. Let’s see Jesus on a bad day.”]..Actually, Darth, it’s your bad day. Due to your unique blend of arrogance and ignorance, I will make constructive use of you as my whipping boy.
[“Taken from the King James bible version.”] Of course, since you just googled this and would otherwise have no clue on how to put this together. The KJV is based on later and more corrupt Greek manuscripts and is just about the most inaccurate Bible translation.
[“Luke Chapter:19, verse 27-28.......Jesus says to kill his/your enemies!!”]
No, you need to actually read what you mindlessly quote. The speaker is “the nobleman” in the Parable of the Pounds. Parables are symbolic stories based on a single point of comparison in which, unlike allegories, each detail is not separately symbolic. The central character in most of Jesus’ parables is often either morally or intellectually flawed and the parable cannot properly be grasped until this flaw is recognized. You can no more equate the nobleman’s statement with Jesus’ own views than you can equate God with the unjust vineyard owner (Matthew 20:1-15), the unjust manager (Luke 16:1-8). the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-7), the cranky neighbor roused from slumber (Luke
11:5-8), the dumb farmer whose seed generally falls in all the wrong places (Mark 4:3-8), or the irresponsible shepherd who leaves his entire flock in danger to pursue one lost sheep (Luke 15:3-8). Yet in all 7 parables, the flawed central characters are likened to God. Sometimes, the villainy of the central figure is quite subtle. For example, the novice interpreter would not realize that it is a transgression of Jewish law to sow mustard seed in your garden (Luke 13;18-19). Jesus’ pedagogy routinely features shock tactics and Semitic hyperbole to make people think. The suppressed premise is often, “You can learn a lot even from an idiot or scoundrel like this.
[“Luke Chapter 14, verse 26.....Matthew Chapter 10, verse 35-36....Matthew
Chapter 19, verse 29.....Jesus says to hate /abandon your family!!”]
In Aramaic idiom “hate” means “loves more than.” Thus, in Matthew’s parallel to Luke 14:26, he rightly translates “hate” as “loves more than (10:37-38).” In Matthew 10:35-36, Jesus is announcing the fulfilment of Micah 7:6. The expression “I have come not to bring peace, but a sword” is an Aramaic idiom to express the inevitable family-based persecution of new believers, not the desired result. This also explains your misunderstanding of Matthew 19:29. Jesus’ followers were often forced to choose between family loyalty or their nowfound faith. The same point applies to your mischaracterization of Matthew 12:51-53. I know this will come as a shock to you, Darth, but what Jesus actually taught was: e. g. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall bew called children of God (Matthew 5:9).” “I have spoken these things to you, so that you may have peace (John 16:33).” And Jesus of course taught His disciples to honor their parents (e. g. Matthew 19:17-19),
[“Luke Chapter 12, verse 51-53....Matthew Chapter 10, verse 34.....Jesus says he came to cause strife and war. Oh Dear!!!!”]
O dear, indeed! You are clueless! You apparently don’t realize that Jesus taught: “Those who take to the sword will perish by the sword (Matthew 26:52).” “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bles those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you (Luke 6:27-28).” And again, you ignore the fact that Jesus is announcing the fulfilment of Micah 7:6, not reveling in the family discord His message sparks.
[“Matthew Chapter 12, verse 30....Luke Chapter 11, verse 23.....Jesus says he that he is not with me is against me!? Sounds like George Bush! What happened to free will?”]
“Jesus taught the opposite of what you imply: “Whoever is not against us is for us (Mark 9:40).” In this context, He defends the right of a non-Christian Jew to perform exorcisms in His name without first studying Jesus’ teachings! The verse you cite has specific application to the battle egainst the forces of evil in our world. Jesus’ point is that if you are apathetic towards evil, you oppose what Jesus stands for as surely as if you actively reject Him.
[“Matthew Chapter 5, verse 45....God/Jesus? favours neither good nor evil? Whoops. I thought the evil were going to hell?”]
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I will quote this verse to allow the reader to detect Darth’s status as a lost ball in the tall weeds: “He [God] makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45).” Whoops, I hate to break this to you, Darth; but God actually favors love and goodness. But He loves evil people and is also showers them with earthly blessings. Matthew 5:43-48 is paralleled in Luke 6:27-28, 32-36, where the last verse makes Jesus’ meaning clear: “Be merciful [even to your enemies] as your Father is merciful.”
[“Matthew Chapter 6, verse 5-6....Jesus says to Dont pray in public places. Hey. What about the churches. They cost us a fortune to build!”]
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Clueless to the point is being comical! Jesus is warning against unpsiritual motivation in public prayer. He lanents public ostentation and the flaunting of one’s spirituality; He is not attacking corporate prayer (see e. g. Matthew 18:19-20). “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray in the synagogues and street corners, SO THAT THEY MAY BE SEEN BY OTHERS. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward (Matthew 6:5).”
Your nasty comments about non-Gospel texts are equally misinformed, but this is a thread about Jesus; so I will stick to the topic.
Don
More endless scriptual 'psycho-babble' from the "The Gospel according to Saint Don" ..
Tell what wonderful version of the bible is the correct one? Should be interesting
checking it up with christian websites....You may have those simple minded members
of this forum fooled with your solely self-centered and personal interpretation of the
new and old testerments, or did you google it up from other authors unknown to us.
Bet you even got a huge library of christian cd's, dvd's, and videos. I know your explanation
of the plagues that befalled the jews in egypt were taken from a documentary we seen
here on australian TV!..Did you buy the video, old boy? Maybe in future you should
quote where the information you write about is coming from....Hey. Give the authors some
credit....And your interpretation of my quotes from the bible. Apart from your intellectual
replies being nothing but simple evasion from the main quotes(quoting other passages as
to try to steer the readers away from the original passage or words. A mode usually applied
by lawyers, politicians, criminals under interrogation, etc)...and I believe you say you were/
are some harvard professor of theology with students. Past or present...Well how about
giving us your real name, years and date you spent at harvard. Right here publicly on
this forum, or is this another of your fantasies. My sister works for the Dept. of Education,
here in Australia. She can easily email that college to verify your claims, or, does this
scare you?...Does the new age movement you hate so much frighten you that you spend
all this amount of time on it? or, are you really here by subterfuge, rescuing us poor souls
from all those false beliefs that must be from that guy in the red suit with horns. Or, by a
long short. Maybe one in a million. Your christian faith you have doubts about? Remember
what jesus said about those with doubts and lack of faith!!???....
I have been reading posts on this forum since 2000. I have now seen it degrade into
nothing but a sounding board for christians and their allies. All the original strength of
this board have now gone...Linn, Ginny, Gordon Phinn, to name a few. There are many.
Marilyn is still here only to have you insult her in previous posts. She is a real spiritual
person, a long way ahead of you. ...William Buhlman closed down his forum last year
or the year before. In an email he told me it was because of the 'bad element' . I found
out later from those former members who started a new forum, it was because of the
christian element constantly harrassing posters(our view is the only true view...Sounds
like your attitude Don about the christian tradition)... I see this forum slowly going the
same way as the Buhlman site, it wont be long it gets those fundy right-wingers telling
us we are all going to hell. Well, we already have that Afikaner lass talking about blasphemy.
....God. Save us from the Boers(Lord Kitchener 1899-1902 Boer War)....Why dont you
just get honest and tell us why you have been, all these years on this New Age site about
Astral explorations and rescues/retrievals...Me. I explore the Astral, like Bruce. Love to do
it his way but I rely on the sleep/trance method...I've also been to a christian hollow
heaven with a look-alike jesus and all..You should have seen the look on his face when I
shouted Jesus!, Jesus!'(telepathically. That's the way we communicate there if you did
not know!?) as he walking down the church aisle in some sort of a procession. I was making
fun at him, and he knew it(the phony jesus I mean) ...Love to meet the real!? one....
Darth...May both sides of the force be with you.