Judging Others
Don't judge others or they will judge you. Don't criticize others when you have the same problem but worse. first solve the problem about yourself and you will be in a better position to do the same for your brother.
This is just good advice. I like it.
Ask, and it Will Be Given
Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, etc.
So no one ever seeks and fails to find anything. I disagree
The Golden Rule
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
This is also good. We'd live in a better world if everyone did this.
A Tree and Its Fruit
False prophets look good from the outside but inside are bad. You will recognize them from their fruit. Every tree that bears bad fruit should be thrown into the fire.
Sounds like good advice. Makes me think of Peter Popoff
I Never Knew You
Many who called Jesus "Lord" will not get into heaven. They will say they did many works in his name, but Jesus will reply that he didn't know them, so they should leave.
I guess this is saying doing the things Jesus wants you to do is not enough. Is this the origin of the whole "personal relationship with Christ" thing?
Build Your House on the Rock
If you listen to Jesus and follow his words it is like building your house on a rock, if you don't it's like building your house on shifting sands.
The Authority of Jesus
Everyone was astonished when Jesus finished as he was speaking with authority, not as the scribes.
I gotta say, I'm not really that impressed with the sermon on the mount. Some good stuff, some bad stuff, some confusing stuff, and some contradictory stuff.
I agree with everything here. Love the reference to Popoff lol. I heard he had a lot of people duped, even after being exposed.
ReplyDeleteChristians tend to credit the bible with the origin of the "golden rule." However, it's been around longer: from Hillel (10AD), Brahmans 300 BC, Confucius 500 BC, or the Zoroastrians in 1500BC.
I am surprised you didn't comment on the part about few people getting into heaven. Does this mean God is happy to see people burn? Something I was never able to reconcile is how an all loving God can create people that will end up in hell? Presuming he is omnipotent of course.
I think the "golden rule" is pretty much common sense if you think about it... although it surprises me how so many people tend not to get it.
DeleteAs for your comment about God being happy to see people burn and how is it possible for God to create people that will end up in hell...
Yes God is love, but God is also holy. What is holiness? It means to be clean and pure, clear of all sin. Because God is the ultimate holy being, there is no tolerance for sin. What is sin? Sin is direct disobedience to God's law (a reflection of God's character)--which if anyone were able to follow, would make that person be righteous and holy. What you need to understand is that God is not able to commit sin of any kind because that goes against who He is. All sin and any sin is offensive to God and the person committing sin deserves the punishment of death.
If you read Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Which means every human being sins and will sin--and not one is capable of meeting God's holiness standard (the law).
God created humans with a free a will--one aspect of God is that He is a Father. He wanted humans to love Him but their own choice, not by Him forcing people to love Him, because then that wouldn't have been real love (imagine making your kids "love" you by force--would they?) By giving them free will, He was also giving them the choice for what kind of life they wanted to live: one with God, or one without God. But that choice means that if one chooses to live without God, then they are choosing to go against God--and thus breaking His law. People make choices everyday--many people make pretty bad choices--to steal, kill, rape, fight, etc. Those behaviors are all deserving of punishment and in most countries around the world, there is a law system set up that sorts out what type of crime deserves what type of punishment. For God--anything that goes against His moral standard is deserving of hell.
Because of the fall of Lucifer (Satan), evil already existed. Satan rejected God and thus rejected the goodness and the holiness of God. This is already taking too long, so I'm going to sum it up... Satan tempted humans, they went against God's command, and chose to live a life of sin--and ever since then humans are separated from God. Jesus is the solution and by accepting Him people are reconciled with God once again.
"how is it possible for God to create people that will end up in hell..."
DeleteDidn't God create everything? My understanding is that Christianity says God is all knowing and he created everything. (If this is not what you believe please correct me, however, people I have interacted with in the past have made such claims). So he knows who will go to hell beforehand, yet he created them anyway. I believe that is what JKerber is referring to.
You also said something else that I have heard before and I always find a bit confusing. Let me see if I can explain my confusion properly. You said "sin is offensive to God" and that for God there is "no tolerance for sin." This sounds to me like "No one who sins can go to heaven as it is offensive to God". Also, EVERYONE has sinned and is therefore offensive to God so they don't deserve to go to heaven. But if you accept Jesus you are forgiven and can go to heaven. But won't you still be covered in sin and offensive to God? It's not even like you become Christian and stop sinning. It just doesn't make sense to me. Is there something I am missing?
One final thing I will add, referring to your analogy about a parent not forcing their child to love them. Imagine a parent who gave their children a choice of how to act, and if they did not act appropriately the parents would torture the kid in the basement. What would you think of that parent. I know this is not how you see things, but imagine what it looks like to an outsider. To me this analogy seems pretty apt.
Are you referring to verse 13? About the gate being too wide and easy leading to destruction. I guess he is basically saying that a lot of people are going to hell. I think it flew right over my head as I was reading.
ReplyDelete13 and 14. Yes.
ReplyDeleteSin.
ReplyDeletePlease correct me if I misunderstand you on the sin thing (which I think I am). God is the only one who is really holy, as he never sins by definition. Sin is defying God's laws. "All sin and any sin deserves punishment of death." No one is capable of following all of God's laws. Therefore, all people deserve punishment of death.
Free Will.
The thing that always bothered me is why would God create a person whom he knows is going to end up in hell. I always thought that God knows everything that has happened and will happen. So, he knows every decision I will ever make and have ever made. But did he not design and create me the way I am. The way I am will reflect on my past and future decisions. From small things like me passing or putting light mayonnaise on my sandwiches because I don't care for it much, to (I hope) being able to risk my life to save someone if it comes down to it.
Wouldn't God have known that Satan was going to fall? I just can't really believe that he "didn't see it coming."
Goodness of God.
Does this mean that his laws are good because of some other standard? Or because he says his laws are good? The later sounds like it would mean they were arbitrary. This was a dilemma posed in Plato's Euthyphro. It's a fascinating read.
Maybe you can clear some of this up for me. Thanks. :)
Another thing that has always bothered me about the blasphemy thing or other sins is probably best stated by Christopher Hitchens when he said something along the lines of "its infinite punishment for a finite crime"
ReplyDeleteSo, I was thinking a lot about the free will thing, and an unnamed author pointed something out.. When someone gives you the option of "follow me and my laws" or "suffer eternal torment" under the guise of being loving, it really is a dictatorship. Another analogy taken from elsewhere to illustrate my point is that a vanilla or chocolate is a choice. Vanilla or eternal damnation really isn't.
ReplyDeleteThat is a pretty amusing way to say it with the ice cream example.
ReplyDeleteAnother way I've heard this expressed is if someone says give me your wallet or I'll shoot you, it's not really a choice either. (you know, assuming you are not in a movie where you can just kick the gun out of their hand)