The current problem with the Christian Church

[keith99]

The founder of the Christian Faith ...

When asked to condone the Law which allowed a woman taken in adultery to be stoned, He neither condemned her nor the Law, neither did He say what she ha done was OK; He simply asked those without sin to cast the first stone, and told her to sin no more. We might do well to do as He did.
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Anglian

At one time I was rather fond of those verses. But I'm a bit of a purist and it turns out that in the oldest and most reliable documents it simply is not there. I wish it was, but is simply is not and I for one value truth, even when it is not to my liking.

 

[Beanieboy]

Amen! There's definitely too little love and forgiveness in this world, which is quite saddening.

A Christian on another board told me that he was forgiven, but used Scripture to support the fact that he did not have to forgive until the person repented, just as Christ did not forgive, until we repent.

I told him that Christ told of a parable where a wealthy master who forgave a man a great debt, but when the same man refused to forgive a small debt of his servant, the master revoked the forgiven debt.

In other words, "Forgive us our trespasses, and we forgive others who trespass against us" suggests, you are forgiven if you yourself forgive. If you do not, you are not forgiven. If you are judged without mercy, compassion, or understanding, that is the measure that you are judged as well.

Christ told a parable to those who were a bit too comfortable in their own righteousness and salvation about the Pharisee and Tax Collector.


When we see ourselves as simply sinful, we recoil in shame. We quickly assuage our guilt by pointing to the imperfections of others imagined or real. We are not in a place to receive love, let alone, give it.

When we are thankful for the love of God, we give it to others. When we know and understand God's mercy, forgiving us even before we ask, we do the same in kind. When were are aware and thankful for the gifts given to us, we give to others in kind. When we realize that God became man, a poor man, who was humble, we realize that no matter what our status, we can approach others as a servent as well. And in doing so, we serve God.

 

[cantata]

Why is murder wrong? It isn't because of logic, it is because we value human life.
Why do we have speed limits? Again, not because of logic, but because someone valued the safety of people, and some people valued the Earth and considered the pollution issue.

Logic is a thought process. We beleive that human life has value, so we use logic to determine the best way to protect human life and punish those who go against the moral value of life, which gives way to a law.

Logic is the tool used to take a moral ideal and find a practical application of the ideal.

We have laws against murder because society could not function if murder were permitted. It has nothing to do with ethics or the value of human life. It has to do with prudence. You and I agree that we don't want to be murdered, so it is in both of our best interests to agree to a system in which there are deterrent and preventative measures in place with regard to the act of murder. We don't need to bring morality into it at all.

Laws exist to allow society to function in a healthy way. You could think of the development of legal systems as a sort of evolution. Natural selection dictates that more ordered societies tend to flourish better than anarchistic ones, because most people in the group benefit from certain rules being in place.

 

[Fuji S5 Pro]

Our youth pastor was told to "get a hair cut" because it was too long.

Imagine saying that to Jesus?