gnine said:
How come Christ showed no interest in overthrowing the brutal Roman occupation of the Jews when He knew that they would destroy Jerusalem a few decades hence?
Because the Lord decreed their destruction!
God is no respecter of persons. He shows no favoritism. The Jews in Jerusalem were rejecting the Christian way of life and were returning to the very life that had him crucified.
"When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law." Acts 21:20
It was God who detemined that Jerusalem be destroyed in 70AD. Men did not. If the Jewish believers were faithful, they would have been
"salt of the earth" and Jerusalem would have stood, and been blessed.
Prior to that, the land of the Jews had been wiped out by God's judgement more than several times. The very fact that Israel was occupied by Rome at that time revealed that the Jews were not right with God to begin with.
Nor that there is ever any exhortation to use armed resistance to persecuters in the New Testament?
Not true! Jesus, himself.... said:
"But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe." Luke 11:20-21 niv
As I said... one must be careful abandoning clear biblical principles to embracing abstract conglomerates such as 'just war' - especially if they violate those principles that ARE clear.
So how do you reconcile these?
By knowing what the
complete Word of God, says. Not just the snippits you cling to.
" Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? " 1 Corinthians 14:8 niv
When Jesus spoke of
"turnin the other cheek", he was not speaking of typical conflicts. Jews were not in habit of slapping fellow Jews. Israel was under occupation of Rome. Jews were getting themselves killed by resisting Roman arrogance. Jesus was teaching them how to stay alive and out of harm with the occupying force.
When he told them to go the extra mile, he was not telling them to help a friend out. Romans would demand instant induction into service of those they occupied.
"You! You! You! Come with me! We have a job to do!" If the Jews refused? They could end up getting killed. Jesus was not teaching passivism! He was telling them not to be proud and stupid in resistance, getting themselves killed.
Jews did not demand other Jews to give them their coats! Romans did that! "Turn your other cheek," is survival instructions for an occupied people when the occupier is ruthless and corrupt! It has nothing to do to a
free people under attack from an enemy threatening them!
Can you make sense of the evils of the world?
Yes... but that's another thread.
This is manifestly incorrect. Didn't you realise that Christianity thrives under persecution? I'm not saying persecution is good, but it has never eliminated Christianity anywhere, to my knowledge.
Christianity does not thrive under persecution where it has no chance to start. Christianity does not thrive today in nations that instantly persecute believers when they pop up. The reason Christianity thrived in Rome was that there was no laws to stop its spread until later on. It had a base to work off of already laid. In Communist Russia and China, Christianity did not thrive.
There are plenty of Iraqi Christians that have spent their entire lives in Iraq - we should be praying for them and supporting them in other ways, confident that the LORD controls their circumstances completely.
The quality of their Christianity is poor, at best. Saddam's Deputy Prime Minister, Tareq Aziz (remember lying, Bagdad Bob?) was a part of the so called Iraqi Christian community. Christianity can not thrive without sound teaching. Without it, its like planting seeds and giving them no water. Christianity only thrives where there is freedom. If no freedom, then only when sound doctrine is taught and accepted. Which is rare these days.
"Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." 1 Timothy 4:16 niv
For example, sound doctrine is what explains correctly what was meant by,
"turn your other cheek." It prevents erroneous passivism which ends up getting the misinformed killed by an enemy they should have defended themselves against.
Grace in peace, GeneZ