You list yourself as a Christian, and I'm trying to take you seriously. Not my fault if you have a mental block when discussing ideas different than yours.
Nice, mental block? Nothing like doing all we can to keep a door of civil discussion open. Anyway... you don't like my answer, that's all. Esau was punished IN THIS WORLD... that doesn't mean it has a bearing on the next.
As for this thread... the word "hate" means one thing in English and another in Hebrew. When there is true HATE, it is generally written differently, for example...
Zechariah 11:8 I dismissed the three shepherds in one month.
My soul loathed them, and
their soul also abhorred me.
The word for
loathed is qatsar (to vex, to grieve, to be short) and the word for
abhorred is bachal (to loath, to hate with contempt). But let's look at at one of the verses I started this thread with...
Genesis 29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was
hated, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
The word for hated is sane, it can mean hate but bachal (above) is a better word for the idea of HATE as in utter disdain. Sane is more aligned to 'standing opposed' or 'standing against.' Jacob loved Rachel from the start and was tricked into Leah... he didn't HATE Leah, it was Labin's fault not Leah's... he simply desired Rachel and in the end, loved her more. Jacob still went back into Leah and had multiple children. This is not something one does when they "hate" (as we use the word) another.
People have meaningful discussion of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," most of whom I'm sure don't accept that Lady Macbeth was a literal person. It seems a bit narrow minded to suggest that you can only have meaningful discussion with like-minded people. Seems to me that might get boring after a bit. I find it more effective to discuss one point at a time. I simply picked the first(?) one you listed. However, I do recognize your need to protect your beliefs. If you ever get the courage to step out of the yard and venture down the street, I'm always available.
Narrow minded? Lack courage? This is promotes good discussion and makes me want to come back for more?
Anyway... I gave you answers you didn't like and you kept coming back with the same questions. That is all that has happened here. Since I kept coming back and answering even though I had already given the same answer... doesn't that show a desire to interact DESPITE us not seeing this the same? It was YOU who didn't like MY answer and are not, basically, name calling... because I am getting frustrated having to spend time saying the same thing over and over.
Unless you view Christians to be "sinners in the hands of an angry god."
Almost makes me think you have done a little background searching. "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" is a seminar taught by a friend and mentor who also happens to serve as an elder at the same congregation I attend. His point of course, which I very much accept, that God is not angry (He has moments I am sure) and is not looking to condemn but rather restore. The idea of an angry ogre of a god in the OT and a god of love, peace and joy in the NT is inconsistent.... as God does not change. When one comes to that conclusion, their lens is clouded.
I joined CF as a Christian in 2004, and was a Christian for over thirty years before the "truth set me free."
I would be interested in hearing (in a private message of another thread) what it was that caused you to turn away. I have found that in most cases (not all, but most) it is the inability to reconcile certain things in Scripture. And by "inability" I am not saying you lack(ed) skills... I just know this... the church's view of "discipleship" is giving the student "facts" to repeat like a parrot. If unchallenged, the parrot will live a long uneventful spiritual life. If challenged, the parrot does not have the means to defend any answer it has because every answer it has was GIVEN to the parrot... it didn't earn the answer, learn the answer. This is just the method of the religious society we are raised in.
In the first century, a good Rabbi would not give answers but rather methods... methods that would allow one to find their own answers. Likewise, a good Rabbi would make his students know BOTH sides of a point equally... even having them debate from the side they don't agree with. This is really the only way to OWN your answers because once you have thoroughly explored all possibilities... you can arrive at a conclusion with some security. You can even defend it if challenged. But we are not taught that way today and I have found that many "atheists" are created because somebody threw out something that just didn't have the ability to deal with. And again, please understand, I am NOT SAYING you are dumb or lack anything... I am simply saying that as Christians we are not taught to stand.
Here is a post, it is long, that makes some connections using many different writers over the course of hundreds of years and can serve as an example. This wouldn't be my first choice, but once you see the length here, and knowing that for me to make connections like I said it will require a long post like this... then this will have to do since I don't have time to do 2 of these in one day... and I just did this one.
Peace.
Ken