FriedChicken
Matthew 10:34 by the way
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catqueen
Touche.
I think I'm battling my intellectual superior here. How'd you get that reference so fast? I can never remember references and I believe and read the Bible frequently. You've heard the 'metaphor' explanation, obviously. Almost as handy an argument as that God moves in mysterious ways.
I've heard several explanations of this.
1. It's a prophecy (it quotes from the prophetic book of Micah in the Old Testament) and refers to the subsequent invasion of Jerusalem that happened shortly afterwards. This invasion is also often used to explain Paul's reccommendation that people should remain single, and that it would be difficult for pregnant and nursing women - they had to flee Jerusalem and lived in extremely difficult circumstances for a while.
2. It's a metaphor, meaning that we should love Christ above everything and everyone else. (As in loving the person of Christ, not a specific religious denomination or group.) The paraphrase version of the Bible, [i]The Message[/i], seems to indicate this, as it says that Jesus has come to make a cut between attachment to things here, so that people can worship him more effectively.
3. It means that Christians will be disliked and kicked out by their families. And you can see that this is true because many people who aren't fundamentalist Christians thought the war in Iraq was bad! :)
It is one of those passages that is basically imposible to analyse and fully understand, although I'm sure to someone who is not trying to make it 'fit' with the rest of the Bible it is perfectly clear! It would certainly explain why there have been so many 'holy' wars. But again, I think it is important to take things in the context of the whole.
Thomas Quinn, please rescue me here and say that it makes sense from a philosophical standpoint! :)
I think I'm battling my intellectual superior here. How'd you get that reference so fast? I can never remember references and I believe and read the Bible frequently. You've heard the 'metaphor' explanation, obviously. Almost as handy an argument as that God moves in mysterious ways.
I've heard several explanations of this.
1. It's a prophecy (it quotes from the prophetic book of Micah in the Old Testament) and refers to the subsequent invasion of Jerusalem that happened shortly afterwards. This invasion is also often used to explain Paul's reccommendation that people should remain single, and that it would be difficult for pregnant and nursing women - they had to flee Jerusalem and lived in extremely difficult circumstances for a while.
2. It's a metaphor, meaning that we should love Christ above everything and everyone else. (As in loving the person of Christ, not a specific religious denomination or group.) The paraphrase version of the Bible, [i]The Message[/i], seems to indicate this, as it says that Jesus has come to make a cut between attachment to things here, so that people can worship him more effectively.
3. It means that Christians will be disliked and kicked out by their families. And you can see that this is true because many people who aren't fundamentalist Christians thought the war in Iraq was bad! :)
It is one of those passages that is basically imposible to analyse and fully understand, although I'm sure to someone who is not trying to make it 'fit' with the rest of the Bible it is perfectly clear! It would certainly explain why there have been so many 'holy' wars. But again, I think it is important to take things in the context of the whole.
Thomas Quinn, please rescue me here and say that it makes sense from a philosophical standpoint! :)