I recently came across this saying and thought it was noteworthy because I know “an eye for an eye” is in Scripture, but this was a different twist. Although this phrase may not be verbatim in the Bible, I think it lends insight into the “eye for an eye” passages in the Old Testament and in the New Testament when Jesus reframes this mandate.
Thoughts? Are you familiar with this saying? Is it biblical?
Is “An Eye for an Eye Will Make the Whole World Blind” in the Bible?
Nope. That line is not in the Bible, no matter how confidently it gets attributed there. It is commonly credited to Mahatma Gandhi, and even that attribution is debated, which is already more uncertainty than Scripture allows for things it actually says.
J.
An Eye for an Eye… @DaughterOfEve24
Jesus Stained Glass - Photo from the Library of Congress
In Matthew 5:38, Jesus speaks about an eye for an eye referring to the original intent of Ex. 21:24, Lev. 24:20, and Deut. 19:21, that punishment should be equitable and should fit the crime.
These limitations prohibited exacting a greater vengeance such as Lamech boasted of in Gen. 4:23 or having different penalties for different social classes (such as we often see today). Jesus contradicted those who saw in this principle grounds for personal vengeance.
Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.
Food for Thought:
Since we are speaking of vengeance and punishment, if we all held to the teachings of Jesus, even in this instance, do you think prisons and jails would be as full and dangerously overcrowded as they are now?If you, like most people, get your ideas and concepts of prison from movies and TV, you should look into other sources of prison news. What do you think Jesus would have to say about it in today’s world?
(Here is a Great Article about how jails and prisons really are.)
This is rhetorical and doesn’t require an answer, just self reflection.
* SIDE NOTE: I think it was Groucho Marks who said… “An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves you with a whole bunch of blind and toothless people.”
The verse is found in Exodus 21:24-25
“eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, **25 **burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
It concerns the law given by God and how those who are appointed to judge the breaking of the law, are to merit out judgement. It wasn’t meant for anyone to do, but for those who are appointed to judge. In other words the punishment must fit the crime.
Jesus; who came to instill the grace the God, also quotes this verse in Matthew 5:38-41. He’s telling the people that those days are past because God’s grace has come. Very soon in this story, our sins will be judged by His blood and done away with. We are to treat the offender with the grace we’ve been given. We go that extra mile.
The saying you posted is not in the Bible. I suppose if it’s talking about everyone getting what they deserved based on what they’ve done, it could be true but its not what God says. Interesting though and thank you for posting it.
Yeap. I truly believe that this is related to abortion. Look at the first time this is mentioned in the Word.
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” Exodus 21:22-25
Then again, here. We changed it to fit the offense to include an adult.
If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done, it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.” Leviticus 24:19-20
This is what Jesus did away with.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” Matthew 5:38-42
However, that being said. The exact phrase “An Eye for an Eye Will Make the Whole World Blind” is not in the Word.
Peter
It depends on what you mean by Biblical. No, it is not written verbatim in the Bible. And it is not a Teaching of Christ. But one could see It as a possible explanation or observation regarding Why the Teachings of Christ are Wise. I believe this poetic Proverb of which you refer perfectly illuminates what happens if we continue in the old ways of thinking.
When embraced by all people, Vengeful, Retaliatory behavior leads to the Death of All People, and ultimately, to the Death of the Whole World. Like Sin itself. And we are given a choice before the Cross, like the crowd just before the crucifixion. A choice between Barabbas and Christ Jesus, one representing Sin and Vengeance, the other a choice to take up our own cross, to turn the other cheek, to allow the humiliation and the slight, in order to destroy sin and break the cycle.
And Cain, the first Murderer, is our Prime Example of the Path of Vengeance. Cain, who felt slighted by his brother was moved by his feeling of being wronged. He was moved to murder his brother, Able, even though Cain had in fact not been wronged at all. And yet Cain still murdered his brother to appease himself and his own wicked urge rather than to appease God. Which is even more deranged when you realize it was his failure to please God that led to his jealousy and urge to kill his brother who did please God.
And we see God, Who is Judge, warning Cain beforehand to deal with his urges before they lead him to do wrong. God Who, beforehand, saw the Path Sin would take and sought to intervene. But God does not force His Will upon a man but seeks to reason and sway the man away from the path that leads to death.
And in Deuteronomy 32:35, we see God say,
It is mine to avenge; I will repay.
In due time their foot will slip;
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them.”
But what is God really saying or doing here? I think He is taking Vengeance away from us, out of our hands, telling us it is not ours but His Alone because we cannot make right what is wrong. Because He Alone, Who is Wise, and Merciful, and All Knowing, and Just, can fairly Judge the situation. Only by His Guidance do we follow the right path and actually balance the scale rather than creating further harm, death, bloodshed, loss of life.
And I don’t mean “guiding” like how some people pick up the Bible, read a Scripture, and suddenly feel empowered to go after sinners. That is not the same thing as being Guided by God, His Spirit upon them. Many people have died because someone thought they had a right to kill when it is not theirs to destroy a life. The Wicked Urge within them, taking the opportunity provided by an isolated Scripture, used it to murder and to fulfill that Thirst for blood, the Desire to Sin. Which is why I am constantly saying, be careful about correcting another and how you do it because you may actually be moved by the Wicked Urge rather than God, a log lodged in your own eye trying to remove a splinter from your brother. Perhaps instead of pulling out, to jab it further in, like Cain, until they are no more.
God, who could have taken Vengeance upon Cain, instead sent him away with a mark. Why? God, who created Sanctuary Cities for accidental murderers to flee and be safe. Why?
In my opinion, destroying life never rights the wrong. It always creates further debt, sin, death. Which is one more reason the Law could never save us. The Law leads to Death. It shows us our iniquities. But it does not show us how to defeat them. Only the Spirit of God can claim the Victory over Death. It leads to Life. And that Spirit Restores Life, Resurrects, Makes New. It Recovers what was lost so it is found again and known, returned to life, as the prodigal son is restored to life to his father and brother, while the brother stews- why am I not so loved. But brother, you are LOVED. You just don’t know it until you sink to your lowest depths how greatly LOVED you truly are. Blessed is the one, for whom the Shepherd abandoned the 99 in order to save. So that not even one will be lost.
Because God and God’s Character are so intertwined with Justice, and because that same Character is also intertwined with Grace, Mercy, Wisdom, Kindness, Compassion, Forgiveness, LOVE, and so on, Justice is also intertwined with these qualities and pursues the Restoration of Life. Rather than to make a larger void through a greater loss of life, it finds a way to close the gap and restore the Whole. The Whole Person, and the Whole World, throughout all space and time.
So Justice seeks a way to balance the scales and restore the Whole Creation to Life, to make it New again.
So what does God do? God uses all space and time to set the chess board, to set the pieces in place, each in their time, movements that will Save the World. For God so LOVED the World, and God looks for some way that his Exiled ones will not remain estranged but be restored to Him, for He is Lord of the Living.
And so we find:
God, as Judge, is making movement after movement to ensure that no one is lost.
And in the past, I have posted a link to a video on Crosswalk of a discussion on how HOLINESS evolves as a concept in both the Old and New Testament- Another movement of God. How God’s Holiness, which at first is destructive to us if we go near His Presence unclean, transforms into a Redeeming movement that cleanses the sin when someone is touched.
And Christ, who is not made unclean by leprosy or by touching dead things, as Hebrew Law would dictate as a consequence of such actions, clears sickness and restores life instead.
This is a perfect illustration of how the Power of Sin keeps us away from God, through a transferable residual unclean effect, while the Power of God which is Greater than Sin, purifies us instead, clearing the Sin itself without destroying us so we can stand with God, but similar to the residual of Sin, God’s LOVE is also spread into our lives by us being touched, Affectionately by God, and through us touching the lives of others to counter the evil infection of Sin that caused division and separation in the first place. An idea stacked upon an idea stacked upon an idea, staked over a great deal of time.
God, giving man one understanding at one point in history, takes centuries and centuries to grow that understanding and spread it out, in order that Mankind might learn, grow, and expand their own capacity. That is God Alone, Ancient of Days, playing a very long game, building one framework that will eventually lead to another. But if you did not understand the first, you would have no frame of reference for the second. So God creates a rule in order to teach, that through prohibition and illustration, proverb and parable, God leads us into understanding later, if not in this generation than one further down, giving an idea time to take root before yielding the harvest.
And if someone can see how eye for an eye does not work- mankind has borne fruit at God’s dedicated tending.
But going back to Vengeance and Retaliation- if no one breaks the chain of Vengeance and Violence, and ultimately accepts the blame or loss, then it just never stops until no one is left to claim Vengeance. This is part of the logic in wiping out whole communities in ancient tribal warfare- leave no one left who might come looking to do the same to you. And this is part of the reason Christ dies for us. The buck stops here. God takes responsibility for something man cannot escape of their own initiative. The Desire for Bloodshed and Death ends in Death, and we are Restored into New Life, a New Way, Where we no longer pursue someone’s end but the well being of all. And if you are a New Creation, then you have left that battle on the cross and accepted His Death in place of the murder you would have craved in Vengeance and Retaliation. And He died for you, for your sin and the Murderer looking to claim you. And together, you and the one you would murder, and the one one who would murder you, find Peace, Restoration, Forgiveness, Grace, LOVE, In that Spirit that now binds you together, in the blood that washed and set you free.
People often confuse Justice and Vengeance. They are not the same things. Vengeance is fueled by one’s emotional response to provocation, hurt or harm, real or imaginary. But Justice is mediated by an unbiased party, a Judge. Justice dictates a balancing must occur, and how that will come. While Vengeance cannot ever create balance. If your bother kills my brother, my family is at a loss. Now if Justice claims the life of your brother, or orders restitution in some other way that spares further loss of life, the family of the brother who committed the crime must respect the court. But if I take matters into my own hands and kill your brother, achieving Vengeance, then I have taken your brother from your family and may have created a desire for Vengeance within you. And yours. And when I am gone, those who valued me, whether it be my Father, or my Master, my Beloved or my Kin, someone will feel cheated and seek Vengeance further still. And the cycle continues for as long as their are generations to pursue it. This cycle must end.
Because the same God that plays this long game, toward Salvation and Redemption, who plants a seed in Ancient Times and tends it throughout the centuries in order that a New Creation comes, sees what will happen if a New Creation does not come. For the wages of sin are death. Mankind, with all their weapons of mass destruction, and leaders who are not afraid to use them in the heat of the moment, will destroy themselves one retaliation after another. Eventually, they will Destroy the whole world in their Sin.
I personally believe that all True Wisdom and Inspiration that guides mankind toward right behavior comes from God. Regardless of who comes to be profoundly endowed with that Wisdom, who expresses it, or where in the world it occurs. But that is just my personal belief.
I think and hope you meant to say “Justice is supposed to be mediated by an unbiased party, a Judge.” Have you paid attention to America’s Criminal “Just-Us” System lately? Throughout history even? It’s not even close to unbiased.
This you are right on, if you include Police, Lawmakers, Judges, Juries, and Prosecutors as well. They do this every day. More so since the 1994 Crime Bill was signed into law and touted to be tough on crime, exacting harsher punishments for crimes.
Perhaps their idea of punishment comes from the following…
If you’re not fighting it, you’re embracing it by allowing it to go on. The longer it goes on, the more it grows. The more it grows, the more out of control it gets. The more out of control it gets the harder it will be to stop it.
Prisons and Jails are not justice, they are a breeding ground of violence and hate, serving to bend and warp those who enter it into an even more hardened criminal. This is accomplished simply by exposing lower crimnals (who must adapt to survive) to a violent and harsh system of rules set forth by the most violent and dangerous crimnals they are forced to live exist with. Simply put, Prisons and Jails function as convict colleges.
So why do people let Courts, Jails and Prisons continue on as they are? Easy answer. They are kept unaware of the horrors that go on in Jails and Prisons by the same people pushing to fill Jails and Prisons. The very ones making money off of it.
Everyone should take some time to look into the daily corruption by guards, sheriffs, wardens and jailers. The daily abuses of inmates and prisoners. Then ask themselves, Is this is an eye for an eye?
Where does a woman writing bad checks equate to daily sexual abuse from guards? How does stealing clothes from a store equal ten years of medical neglect? Yet this, and worse, goes on behind the doors of “justice”.
An eye for an eye? Not even close. America and its “justice” system have removed God from the equation.
@Joe-Also I think you are trying to detour my talking points toward American politics for some reason. That is a subject for another post.
I am not talking about governments or man-made courts. I am talking about the Nature of Justice Itself, the Spirit of Justice. The Qualities of Justice. And what I am suggesting is that man’s idea of what constitutes Justice does not meet God’s standard. As with every other quality of God, we fall drastically short. And this is most likely due to man’s sinful nature. Vengeance itself is why Justice cannot be reached- as long as punishment is the goal rather than rehabilitation, restitution, and salvation.
Christ shows us that the Way to Life is to die to the old Sinful Nature, and it’s wayward pursuits such as Vengeance and pursuing material wealth. And we see through Christ that the Father’s Plan is Salvation, that the man worthy of death would be reborn to live as a New Creation.
We see this in the Old Testament too, in the book of Job. Job is tested, brought on by events unrelated to him. Job is used as an example, by God, of a point that God is trying to make regarding Faithfulness, and True Faith, that they have nothing to do with receiving and keeping a blessing from God, like those who chase after quick wealth or blessing manifestation. The point is not the blessing. Even Christ tells us not to chase after them, or worry about them, because God naturally takes care of the blessings for us like He does with the Lillies and the Sparrows, and no Lily or Sparrow goes through the motion, putting on a faux front of loyalty, to get those blessings. They just live their lives.
It is about being loyal to God, no matter what happens. It is about being a friend of God, a friend to God, someone who will have God’s Back, upholding His Name, someone who chooses to Trust God and walk with God, as it was intended with Adam in the garden, because that person knows in his or her heart of hearts that God has a good reason for leading us where He Will and asking us to do what He Will.
David was also someone who stood up for God with great conviction.
But my point about Job is this: Justice for Job was that all things lost be restored. Including, potentially, those who had died. The story is vague enough that we don’t know for certain if there was a resurrection of his children, but Christ proves there could have been. God has the Power to restore everything that was lost during the test.
And if it is true, and if it turns out that we, like Job, are all being tested, then it could be argued that when the time of the Great Testing concludes and the Test itself has finally been successfully passed, then what happened for Job could also happen for us; That life would be one hundred percent restored as if the fall and every subsequent loss due to sin had never happened in the first place. Not just for one generation, the one where Christ returns. But for all generations, for all time. It is within Gods Power to do this.
But first there must be a moment where a Great Test of some kind takes place, that must also be successfully passed. A test that would be far greater than the one experienced by Job for it is the whole world being tested. Interestingly enough, this concept was explored in Manifest, on NBC and Netflix not so long ago. It makes me wonder if the story was inspired and planted to let people know the test was in progress.
And as Christ says in Scripture, “…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) Maybe put another way, Will Christ find anyone, like Job, who can pass the test?
It’s the test of Job. And the Return of Christ Correlates with The Test and or the End of the Test.
For Job, we don’t know what would have happened if he had failed the test. But God, knowing all things, would not have chosen Job if he would have failed the test. But it was not until the Test was complete, and Job had in fact passed the test and was proven Faithful, with some Lamentation, and some discourse with God, that all things were finally restored.
For us, and the whole world at large, I believe the same will be true. God will pick the generation that is ready for The Test. He will set the pieces on the board, bring the students in, and start the clock. Rather than, as many believe, setting a date and time and then returning, regardless of who is ready. God is doing this intentionally; there is no randomness to it.
You are so very close to the truth. I would love you to get there.
“All are sinners who need the same forgiveness, one example of God balancing the scales.” Yup
”The Blood of Christ cleanses us all of Sin, another way of balancing the scales.” Through repentance, faith, and acceptance of His Word.
”That we die with Christ on the Cross, another way.” And we pick up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Him.
”That we become a New Creation through Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit by which we are called Sons and Daughters of God. And yet, another way.” Yup, as long as the old creature is done away with. Put to death. Like I said, so close.
Oh, and when He does return? It will not be all roses and lollipops. It will not be all-loving and compassionate. It will be the end of the world as we know it. It will be the burning of the judgment of sin, and the end of an age. A warrior like the world has never seen. The love will only be extended to those who have been adopted into His family.
Peter.
I didn’t get that from the context of what you had previously said, so thanks for further elaboration.
As to your statement of…
I would like to point out that it is simply a continuation of a previous aspect of my first response in this topic on the subject. (Which tells me you did not read or pay heed to previous posts.) I thought you were passively responding to me. Also, it’s not just a Problem in America. It’s just that America is the worst at it. I used it as a primary example.
↓
Now I could say YOU are trying to detour MY talking points, but I will not. As you said (and I quote), “I am not talking about governments or man-made courts”, note that I was. Just prior to your posting. So please Brother, before laying blame, inspect the situation.
I’m a state fed boy. have spent 15 of my fifty years locked up and these people have heart! they are not stupid. by any means. and I see there story. If you want to learn a people learn from there worst.
Does anyone today truly know what it means to delight in his judgements? because they do what . They. Get us right.
Sounds extremely conditional and narrow, like thin ice. Good luck with it.
No thanks. I am good right here, where the ground is nice and solid and Faithful.
You could, but think about it… Did anything I wrote indicate I was going to steer my focus from what I was thinking to the direction of your thoughts? Did my ideas flow into your questions? Did it seem we were on the same page, in sync? Or on different planets?
I am not saying you are wrong, or don’t have valid points or a good thread of thought, but it wasn’t where I was. We are working on two different aspects of something. If you have ever experienced creative flow then you understand that when you are in the Spirit you run with it. You don’t get distracted by anything else. The thought, the energy, the purpose, it needs to be said, expressed, to make itself known. It just comes pouring out like a faucet turned all the way on, like you can barely keep up on the keyboard to write it out. That was where my mind and heart were. I was in the middle of something trying to make itself known. And now it’s done. It spoke it’s peace, dropped the mic, and is enjoying a nice Saturday night.
1, No, but we do not live in a world where God’s Wisdom is embraced. We live by man’s understanding of what God wants, twisted to fit what man wants and finds acceptable, which is by far greatly inferior to the Way of God.
This is a world where those who rule focus on their wicked desire. A world where greed, corruption, selfishness, and a murderous desire for vengeance and retribution reigns supreme, where instead of restoring people to good standing, the victims of this world want to see the perpetrators of suffering to receive their share of suffering. Even to the degree of convicting innocent people just to see someone suffer for the pain and loss. The sentiment bares more weight than the truth, and the religious focus more on that day of Judgement, and God’s Wrath, than the realization of His Mercy.
This is a world where relationships are broken, where man does not know or understand the full consequence of what he does which causes broken relationships between us and our world, the environment, our food, our communities, our neighbors, our families, our loves, and a complete disconnect from our own bodies, hearts, minds, wills- everything is fractured, weak, unable to make a solid good choice, caught up in addictions to pleasure to distract and numb, to ignore how truly screwed up everything is.
This is a world where even the people who are supposed to have Jesus in their lives often seem like nothing more than cut out caricatures from toothpaste commercials. Robots, masks, complete fictions. Or they seem like they have been indoctrinated into cults. Or they are just as broken and lost as the next person who doesn’t have any relationship with Christ. While those who do have it figured out are rarely seen because they are actually in the thick of it, the war zone that is this world, doing the work that God has called them to do because they don’t have time to be screwing around. They get the stakes and know Church is not a country club where we go to have a good time. It is where we plan our strategies to fight principalities of darkness that are vying to destroy our world and using people like puppets to do it.
2. I think Christ would do everything within His power to set the prisoners free. He would fight for better conditions in the prisons and other institutions. He would make sure the elderly, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner were properly taken care of.
But I think Christ would focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. To help people work through whatever landed them there. If it was an issue of unfair treatment and social injustice, then He would challenge the system and work toward reform, challenge the biases, prejudice, that focused on appearance rather than the action and the cost of the action.
And where actual crimes were committed, then he would heal the person. He would Counsel them, value that person as someone worthy of LOVE and LIFE, work to grow their understanding, heal their trauma, restore the connection between reason, survival and empathy, family, and community. Guide a person toward a Life Affirming direction rather than a pursuit to serve self, addiction, and or death. He would Treat and Heal the physical brain, where MRIs show a connection between certain behaviors and brain activity and abnormalities, or He would heal the mind itself where the behavior was grown in child development.
And Christ would make sure no one went hungry again, or go homeless, and bring Peace. There would be no need to steal or kill to survive.
That’s what I think Jesus would do.
@Hungry His Rod and His Staff, they comfort me.
The nudge and pull of God. It redirects the lives of a people who, like sheep, cannot save themselves. And so they must rely on the Unseen Hand to guide them home, by a hooked staff that grabs hold, obstructs forward movement, pulls back from danger, and a pole used to nudge forward or to pick up the step, but never to beat. Because the Good Shepherd never mistreats His Sheep. Sheep are stupid and would only lean into it, or to run away into the mouth of wolves or over cliffs to bash against the rocks and the water.
I have hope that someday, you will give up your human ideology for the Wisdom of God’s Word, and allow God to forgive you, and send the Spirit of adoption into your life to set you free from the bondage of sin and death. I encourage you to read Romans 8. I would also remind you of this.
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Romans 11:33
You keep looking to the wisdom of the world, then use the passages of the Word that you feel agree with you, yet reject all that you disagree with. Remember.
“For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 1 Corinthians 3:19
This is why I am saying I truly hope, as God does, that you come to HIS Wisdom and His Truth.
“Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ”1 Timothy 2:4
With love, yes, really,
Peter
What you call “love” reminds me of a young man I knew many years ago in a church youth group for young adults, who so “loved” a certain girl in our group that he made sure to be at every event she attended. He so “loved” the girl that he asked her out every time they crossed paths. But in no way did she want to go out with him. In fact, she often looked like a wild animal scratching and clawing and trying to escape him.
He made things very, very awkward for our group, and we would often talk about the situation to figure out what to do because we did not want to chase him away from God. But she felt stalked, rather than wooed. She never invited his affection, nor did she pursue it. You could often see her trying to pull away from him. And it got to the point that this shy, quiet girl who never screamed at anyone finally stood up to him, told him to stay away from her, and demanded that he not come to any more events, gatherings at her house, until he could respect her boundaries.
Because at the end of the day, he did not “love” her at all. He lusted to have, to own, the image of her in his head rather than the person she actually was. In his mind, she was the victim that he needed to rescue. The helpless maiden who needed a man.
I assure you, @PeterC , I am good (with who I am, where I am, with what I believe and practice.). I am LOVED beyond my wildest dreams and hold no fear of the things you fear, a fear you try to share with others.
God is great company, always provides, and accepts me as I am. While you can’t accept anything I say. I can’t imagine how you would treat the rest of me. I don’t believe you know what “love” is any more than my friend did twenty years ago. Who, as it so happens, met the love of his life after going through much heartbreak, rejection, and eventual self-correction, he discovered what LOVE actually is, and what it means to be in RELATIONSHIP. He had to grow up quite a bit before he truly figured it out.
I can certainly say the same of you, @PeterC . You are rejecting God’s LOVE for a man made theology bent around Retribution, Judgement Day, Damnation and Hell rather than being based on the full Character and Purpose of God, created from man’s lackluster study of a few vague and limited metaphorical Scriptures in order to meet man’s thirst for Vengeance and Blood rather than God’s intention to redeem the exiled, as 2Samuel 14:14 clearly states. And used continuously since that day of creation, or inception, in order to keep people in check, to either terrify them into joining the Church or to quell anyone who would question your interpretation of WHO GOD IS. Because your “theology” paints a very specific image of God. The only question is, does it paint the correct picture?
The Gnostics speak of something called a, Demiurge..
“In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the Demiurge (/ˈdɛmi.ɜːrdʒ/) is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. Various schools of Gnostics adopted the term demiurge.” -wiki Demiurge - Wikipedia
“Gnostics present a distinction between the highest, unknowable God or Supreme Being and the demiurgic “creator” of the material, identified in some traditions with Yahweh, the God of the Hebrew Bible. Several systems of Gnostic thought present the Demiurge as antagonistic to the will of the Supreme Being, with his creation initially having the malevolent intention of entrapping aspects of the divine in materiality.,”
I am by no means Gnostic. I find some of the materials I have seen to be rather racist. But one day it occurred to me- Maybe they aren’t being literal. It’s a coded message. A footnote in history, using metaphor to describe an event where “God” and “Christ” were usurped from the original True believers and refashioned to serve ROME.
Again, not a Gnostic. But this sort of sideways method is a very fascinating way to look at context, history, and belief in order to get at a Truth someone has tried to bury, Isn’t it?
In case you did not know this, @PeterC When you judge others, you judge yourself. It’s a fascinating phenomenon that occurs naturally in human behavior. It’s very much like a sort of reversed confession for people who pay attention to every accusation made and thinks to ask the right question.
When people point the finger and espouse accusations, they do this as a way to project out from themselves the deeds they have done, to cast the blame of sin on to another. It’s a pattern that holds true throughout history, highly observable and recordable.
So tell me, why do you choose to embrace a theology of damnation over one that grants you everlasting LIFE?
Well, isn’t that a special mental image?
So are you saying that I’m lusting after you? I really did need this today. I can’t stop laughing at this.
As I said, one day.
Nope. Not man-made. God created and warns us about them through those:
Warnings that can save your soul. Again, one day.
That is what God is. That is where you can learn who God is. That is where you can learn if you are living in sin, following the creation, or denying yourself and living for Him. Sorry, not sorry, but the Word of God Trumps ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in creation.
One more time. I hope one day you will see the truth.
Peter
Not true at all. But this is because you do not understand, nor do you care to understand Scripture.
Sometimes. However, we are CALLED to judge Sin. Not the individual. Warn them that they are in danger, and show them there is a better way. Calling sin good does not make it good.
Sadly, that seems to be you. God Bless.
Peter
