Originally posted by Proper Knob
I guess that's the problem with theists, when they get in a tight spot they just go all vague and resort to a spot of 'theolodgobabble'.
Duecer, i'm asking for a straight answer. You claim to have, after a period of reflection, come to the conclusion that God has always been merciful. That same God in the OT comdemned people to death by stoning and bu ...[text shortened]... uld you please enlighten me, within a paragraph or two, how you've come to that conclusion.
I said what I needed to say in one sentance but if you like I can offer some further elucidation. Lets begin with the story of Abraham, Lot and the city of Sodom. Most Christians take the condemnation of Sodom as a condemnation of Homosexuality. This is a false assumption. What made Sodom reprehensible was that they raped visitors and outsiders, both men and women.
God is going to destroy Sodom and Abraham entreats God to save the city if 50 good people could be found. God agrees, and Abraham continues to haggle, until God agrees to save the city if 10 good people could be found. Ultimately Abraham goes to sodom and finds only Lot and his family to be decent people. God destroys the city, but does not destroy Lot and his daughters.
Fast forward to the story of Jonah. God sends Jonah to Ninevah to warn the city prior to its ruination. The people repent and God forgives them. the following exchange takes between God and Jonah:
Jonah 4
Jonah’s Anger at the LORD’s Compassion
1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 But the LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a leafy plant[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
God always offers a way for the least amount of damage, its up to us to accept that offering. In Levitical Law it took two witnesses before someone could be convicted of a capital crime. People were not taken out into the street willy nilly and stoned for no reason. As to the reasons for stoning, that was a different time and place, assigning modern day enlightenment and moral standards to a 3000 year old culture is impossible.
Ultimately all of Levitacal law and its punishments are boiled down into Christ's saying, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" If he was theologically incorrect, they would have stoned him along with her.
Free 'gifts'
09 Nov '10 04:58
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