There are good number of things that Jesus didn't mention, at least that we have record of. (see John 21:25)
Believe it or not there are quite a few "Christian" web sites and face book pages using this fact to indicate that by virtue of omission we then have permission.
What do you think?
Here's what I think.
I can find no rational logical that would lead me to conclude that there is divine blessing (permission) by virtue of omission on any subject, from Jesus teachings and especially on issues that have been previously addressed in the Old Testament.
Let's be real, Jesus didn't mention a lot of things. It really only seems to indicate that what stood, still stands.
Yet we seem to want to pick and choose which teachings, or lack there of in this case, as we go along to support whatever it its we wish to be true and ignore the parts of the Bible which makes us uncomfortable or don't fit our sense of justice.
But then, what about Matthew 5:17 where Jesus says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
It seems to me Jesus is directly stating saying that the law, God's law, stands but that Jesus is the completion of it, no? Or are we perhaps suggesting that God changed his mind somewhere along the line about those things which are offensive to him?
There are a good number of questions that Jesus is noted as not having answered in his life. Does this mean that we are to answer for him since he did not? I don't think so.
Perhaps that Jesus doesn't mention any particular subject only means he knew he had 3 brief years of ministry and didn't want to waste time addressing subjects that people already knew about (or should have known). Things that, as mentioned, had already been addressed.
If we consider Jesus as an authority we must to then consider that he was a Jew and subscribed to Jewish law.
I certainly don't imagine that anyone would suggest that their authority to be greater than God's so should we say ,"Jesus never directly said for children to obey their parents, so do what you'd like kids."? Good luck raising those kids.
But this is exactly the same logic used by Satan in the garden by bringing doubt to the table on issues we already know the answers to.
For example, when he asks Eve "Did God really say you should not eat of any tree in the garden?" Of course God didn't say that and that is where the whole fall starts, by bringing into question that which was never said by God.
So, if permission by omission is your stance, you should be prepared to allow any number of evils to occur and know that you are not at all at liberty to address them because Jesus didn't.
Right?
Just thinking.
The only real issue I take in any of this, is the presumption of homosexuality as a choice. from a somewhat unrevealed position, there was no choice in my becoming whom I am today. I was this person at a very young age. I didn't have any active role in this other than to embrace the person I am and not deny my truest nature.
ReplyDeleteI also think that a true analysis of anything biblical must come with MUCH filtering and MUCH consideration of metaphor. The King James version of the bible was a commissioned work, with many insertions of things that benefited the kingdom of King James, with all of the honor thy king as though he were God himself.
I think for the large part you aren't too far off the mark, but that being said, there is not really a choice in one's being homo/hetero/bisexual. It is what it is, and one can embrace this, or let this fester and turn one into a bitter angry and hateful person.
Well, there's a lot of stuff in Leviticus that we clearly consider to be irrelevant today. I'm not talking about homosexuality; I'm with the commenter above in that it's not a choice.
ReplyDeleteI'm talking about not trimming your hair on the sides of your head, not eating shellfish, not eating pork, and on and on.
When I hear anyone say, "The United States is a Christian Nation, and we must be governed by Christian principles!" the hair raises on my arms. Here's why:
Clearly, they mean Biblical Law. The question is, "Which Biblical law? The one about shellfish? The one about marrying your brother's widow?
Obviously, they don't mean all the Biblical laws. They, in fact, want to be the one who picks which Biblical Laws we have to live by and which we don't.
In other words, they want to be a dictator, in the guise of being a "Christian" leader.
“When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross,” possibly attributed to Sinclair Lewis.