Podcast Powered By Podbean
As usual, with a new book let's take a look at the wikipedia page. Apparently this book was written to counter the idea that Jesus came in spirit only, and not in the flesh. It seems pretty highly agreed upon by scholars that this book was written by the same person who wr['ote the gospel of John and 2&3 John. It also seems pretty highly agreed upon that it was written at the end of the first century.
The Word of Life (v. 1-4)
"the life" was made manifest to us by God. We have seen it, heard it, touched it, and now we are telling everyone about it so that they can have fellowship with us.
I'm not exactly sure what "the life" is, but my best guess is Jesus himself. At any rate, what is being said here, is that John and his friends have seen this thing that they are excited about. They are telling everyone about it so they can worship along with them. Although I would argue that this is misguided, I think their intentions are quite good here. These people have seen something that they think is miraculous and makes them very happy, and they are trying to share that with everyone.
Walking in the Light (v. 5-10)
God is light, so we should walk in the light to be with God and have fellowship with one another. To do this we must confess our sins. If we claim to have no sin, we are liars and we walk in the dark, we also make Jesus a liar and his words are not in us.
This message is basically that we are all sinners, this is a big message for Christianity and as far as I am concerned is completely toxic. The very idea that claiming to be without sins automatically makes us a liar is terrible. What a horrible view of humanity must be necessary to believe such a statement. Also, I don't understand how us lying leads to Jesus also being a liar.
According to Guzik, if we confess our sins then we can be in the light and have fellowship, but we are not sin free, this avoids a potential apparent contradiction where it says confession cleanses us of sins but if we say we are sin free we are lying. You would think "being cleansed of sin" and "having no sin" would be the same, but apparently not.
For the overview post (If you think I should add or remove stuff from this list please let me know, I think it would make good conversation)
Good:
1 John 1:3 You should share good things in life with other people
"that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."
Bad:
1 John 1:8 We are all sinners
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
I think the idea that we are all "sinners" is one of the most "toxic" (to use your word) ideas in all of Christianity. Think of everything we know about psychology...where does it say that tearing people down, before they can even start something is a positive or beneficial thing? It doesn't, yet this is what Christianity does to its followers.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to think of all the damage that has been inflicted on others and self-inflicted on humans throughout history because of this concept. It really is stunning to think about...the amount of self-loathing that is bred from this notion is mind boggling.
Yeah, it really is one of the most disgusting things about the religion. It's especially terrible to tell children. Sometimes I wonder how different my teenage years would have been if I didn't have the constantly reinforced idea that I was a piece of crap.
DeleteAgreed. Then multiply that by all the kids over centuries...
Delete"where does it say that tearing people down, before they can even start something is a positive or beneficial thing?"
DeleteTo be fair, this is a positive thing in the military. Breaking down the men and turning them into soldiers with constantly calling them "maggots" and other things that rhyme with that word.. Actually, I'm grasping at straws here..
The fact that the military uses it to good effect only shows that it is good for making obedient soldiers.
DeleteIf you accept everything to do with lust, attraction, and sex is a sin, then I could believe we are all sinners. Of course, no one should accept this.
ReplyDeleteActually, there are probably a few asexual folks out there so they might not sin in this capacity, but they probably violate some other biblical rule.
That's an interesting point. I've been wondering lately why the church is so interested in sex. Why does the church care so much? I wonder if this idea plays a part in it. Part of their agenda requires everyone to be sinners, if they make everything involving sex a sin the job is pretty much done already.
Delete