Store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven
where moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal

Thursday, October 4, 2012

“Do Not Judge . . .”


That must be the favourite verse of atheists. Outside of verses in the Old Testament, that is certainly the verse that on-line atheists quote the most. Like all other verses in the Bible, these condemners understand it not.

What Jesus is saying is, Do not judge in a hypocritical manner.

. How can we judge a person for the wrong he does today when we don't know the suffering he endured yesterday?
. How can we judge a woman for the sexual indiscretion we see today when we know nothing of her childhood sexual abuse?
. How can we condemn for a lack of confidence when we've not heard of the torture that came in the years previous?
. How can we turn away from his smothering attention when we haven't been told of the fear of neglect?
. Are they too slow. Do we know of what happened the last time they rushed?

How often have you judged a book before you read enough pages to make an accurate decision?
Do we really want to write off a painting when the end result is not yet visible?

He who began a good work in you will certainly carry it out to completion.”
Pilippians 1:6

2 comments:

  1. Jesus can certainly be a good guide for certain things, but in the end, you and I do the same: we use our own judgement and personal opinion to determine what makes sense. We are the ultimate judge of what's right or wrong. Reasoning about why something is right is the rational way to go; being gullible and blindly following rules leads nowhere.

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  2. "we use our own judgement and personal opinion to determine what makes sense."

    No actually, I don't. Loving my enemy doesn't make sense to me but because Jesus has told me to do it I know that it's best for me. Not fantasizing about someone else doesn't make sense to me, but because Jesus has told me to do it I know that it's best for me. And so on.
    =====

    "blindly following rules leads nowhere."

    That depends on whose rules you follow. Which of Jesus' rules would make my life worse?

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