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| Need a little insight here |
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First off let me say that it feels really good to start Blogging around
Mychurch again. It’s been a pretty long time since my last blog but get
ready to see more.
So to get to the point, I have been looking around facebook and youtube
and have been looking at the Christian vs. atheist or whatever arguments
that are going around. One of the biggest things I see is people using
Leviticus or other old testament books to show that Christianity is a
religion of hate. They use scriptures in Leviticus where it shows that
the Jews were allowed to have slaves and were supposed to stone people
that didn’t uphold the law. They say that, and I’m not quoting, "why would
we want to be a part of a faith that believes in this."
now, i get that the old testament is like... the mayflower compact. It
is the 1st law that we had. Then after that’s been used we have the
constitution, aka the New Testament. It basically still uses some parts
of the Old Testament but it also "updates" what needs to be updated.
Now I hope I didn’t loose you on that but bear with me. When the subject
of homosexuality comes up, many Christians say that it is wrong because
it says so in Leviticus, but they put down others because they say that
we believe in slavery because it says so in Leviticus. So my question
is... what rules in the Old testament are void, and what can we still
use? |
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| To add a comment to "Need a little insight here" |
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| June 27, 2008 |
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Joshmo,
First let me say it is good to see you back here!!
My thought - all the rules are still valid and we can't comply no matter how hard we try. That is why God's grace is so important and what sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. God paid the price for our sin. A price we can't pay. Kind of like jumping. Follow me? Probably not. Let's say you and I are trying to see who can jump the highest. You probably have me by six inches or more. However, the only winner is the one who can jump to the moon. It is simply too far for either of us no matter how hard we work at it, how much practice we have, or how many times we try. We will never make it. God says, I've taken care of it for you.
I know that doesn't answer your question directly, but it gives you a viewpoint that I try to walk everyday. |
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| June 27, 2008 |
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| BTW, I really like the hair!! |
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| June 27, 2008 |
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| thanks voice_in_dc... I actually havent looked at it that way before... |
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| September 10, 2008 |
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Josh, that is an excellent question. We have to understand how to interpret the Bible. Many people have disagreed on this very point, so you are uncovering a very basic problem. First of all, it is my opinion that the scripture needs to be approached in three ways: 1. Literally, 2. Historically, 3. Gramatically we have to ask the questions: who was it written to? why was it written? when was it written? what does other scripture say about it? One basic principle is that we have to let scripture interpret scripture.
So with that said, how do we approach Leviticus? Take it for what it is worth. The point of Leviticus was to separate Israel from the rest of the world and to point out the holiness of God. We see a lot of rules, regulations etc...There are many things in the book of Leviticus that if even the most hard core fundamentalist does not apply. Like stoning your children for disobedience. I would be dead for sure! Like a woman on their period sitting outside of the city gates until the period is over etc...I think we have to take the principles and then let other scripture interpret them. Like God is all about sanctification, separation, holiness. That has never changed. Now in my opinion again, that if Jesus is God which He is, said, "Hang all of the law on these two things. Love God and love man." So we show God we love Him by as James says, "Keeping ourselves unspotted from the world and loving and caring for the orphans and widows." The book of Acts covers how Gentiles are supposed to behave in the Jerusalem council. (Look it up) but the point of it was that they didn't want to saddle the Gentiles with a law that even the Jew could not keep. In fact no one could keep the law, and that is why Jesus came to fulfill it. So, I am not saying to throw out Leviticus but to interpret it in light of what other Scriptures say. I hope that helps and that it did not cause more confusion. |
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