Luke 12-13

[wolfpurplemoon]

So, you shouldn't fear someone who can 'merely' kill your body, because after that they can't do anything more to hurt you (that part's true). But you should fear the one with the power to throw you in to hell, after your death. As I've said before, no part of our concious mind can survive the death of our body, so it really is pointless to promise heaven or threaten hell to make people follow your religion.

Comments

Re: Christian values

[marci38.livejournal.com]

I will wait to discuss Paul until the epistles. However, I will use an example from the gospels. After the resurrection, Jesus told the women to go tell the disciples about what they had seen. He was making them witnesses that the disciples were to give credence to. The only thing is at that time in Jewish history, women could not be witnesses because they were not considered equals of men or independent of men. When Jesus made the women witnesses, He was making them the equal of His male followers.

Just because something is common sense does not mean it can't come from God. Many of the commands God gave were logical and full of common sense. For example, if a rat died on a blanket or piece of clothing, it was to be burnt(black death anyone?).

As I stated earlier, Jesus was not telling his disciples to abandon their families(in point of fact, most early christians were the ones who were abandoned and it still happens today, especially in the Middle East). He was telling His followers that He is to be first in their lives. Again, the man was using his family as an excuse to get out of the hard stuff, in all likelihood his parents were alive and well and needed no help.

Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give them to the poor. Jesus knew that this young man was putting his wealth before God. In a later passage we'll see a story of a rich man who put his wealth first and ignored the poor and what happened to him. This was not a blanket statement for all Christians. It dealt more with priorities and making God first in your life. However, Christians are told to help the poor and to give to whoever asks them. Unfortunately, many Christians do not follow Jesus' commands. Money is still #1 in many people's lives, and Christians aren't immune.

I'm not sure where you're not understanding love God and love your neighbor the way you love yourself. It sounds pretty self-explanatory to me. If you clarify what you don't understand, I'll try to answer. Also, it's more than just saying you love someone. Love requires action.

I like to study both sides of an argument and I try to be open minded which is one reason why I started reading this blog. Too many Christians condemn others without trying to learn anything about them and then wonder why people get upset.

Marci

Re: Christian values

[zen-says.livejournal.com]

when jesus told the girls to witness, he had got no choice, only the gals went to visit him early morning because none of his disciples believed him.

he even refered the gentile woman as "dog"? feed the children 1st and the dog eat the crumbs....

so much for being equal,,,,