“It is the teaching of Jess and GHod that makes Christianity vastly different from all other religions.”
— World Renowned Theologian Dr. David Tee
The biggest difference is in the teaching of each faith. When was the last time you heard or saw gangs of Christians invading villages, killing their members, setting their buildings on fire, and then celebrating the deaths of those who do not believe?
Unbelievers get upset and call Christians and God many different names, accusing them of crimes they did not commit, all because they do not like the teaching found in the Bible. Yet, that teaching has not ordered anyone killed, nor villages burned, nor for celebrations of the death of the wicked.
Talk about a sanitized version of Christianity, from the teaching of the Bible to present day Christian beliefs and practices. Talk about living in denial over what the Bible actually says.
Sure, some expressions of Islam are violent. However, if we go back a thousand years or so, we find Christians acting just as violently as some Muslims do today. And when we turn to the Bible? We find account after account of God’s violence against those who dared to disagree with him or worship another deity. And when we get to the book of Revelation? Boy, oh boy, God drops all pretense and shows that he is, indeed, a violent, murderous, genocidal deity.
Did God ever command his chosen ones to commit violent acts? Of course he did.
Consider:
Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out; fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’s hands grew heavy, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on either side, so his hands were steady until the sun set. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a remembrance in a book and recite it in the hearing of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner. He said, “A hand upon the banner of the Lord!The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Deuteronomy 17:8-14)
Hundreds of years later, GOD said:
Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way, when you were faint and weary, and struck down all who lagged behind you; he did not fear God. Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies on every hand, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; do not forget. (Deuteronomy 25: 17-19)
And this brings us to 1 Samuel 15:1-8:
Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will punish the Amalekites for what they did in opposing the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”
So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand soldiers of Judah. Saul came to the city of the Amalekites and lay in wait in the valley. Saul said to the Kenites, “Go! Leave! Withdraw from among the Amalekites, or I will destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites. Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. He took King Agag of the Amalekites alive but utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. (1 Samuel 15:1-8)
Virtually every Bible scholar — except Evangelicals — says that God commanded Saul to commit genocide against the Amalekites for what their great, great, great, great, great grandparents did hundreds of years before.
The Bible contains numerous accounts of God’s violent acts, either directly or by his followers.
Richard Dawkins was right when he said:
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.
From Genesis through Revelation, we find a violent God who often maims and kills people out of jealousy or because they pissed him off. Shit, he killed a man just for keeping the Ark of the Covenant from toppling over. Talk about pettiness.
And since Jesus was God — the second member of the Trinity — another absurd, irrational belief — he, too, is responsible for the God ordained violence recorded in the Bible.
God of love, mercy, and kindness? Maybe, but honest readers of the Bible can’t ignore the fact that God was, at times, anything but. Oh, Evangelicals have all sorts of explanations for God’s immoral, sinful behavior, but the fact remains God commanded Saul to slaughter the Amalekites, including children, infants, and fetuses. A pro-life God he is not.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Uh, The Crusades? The Inquisition? The persecution of Jews in Europe? The persecution and abuse of Native Americans in missionary schools? The war between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland?
Tee has serious head up the ass denial.
I just headed here to mention the Crusades and Inquisition. Amen.
Barbarity was the norm in the period known as the Middle Ages, both from Catholic and Protestant Christians as well as Muslim Arabs and Turks under various Caliphates and the Ottoman Empire. Most of the time revenge for an earlier atrocity was the motivating factor. As I have said before, history is complex. Missionary zeal is also a motivating factor for religious violence. Neither Christianity nor Islam have historically clean hands. The issue I have is that so- called Dr. Tee wants to lay the accusation of religious violence squarely on the feet of Muslims. Unfortunately there is a kernel of truth to what he is saying. Currently there is an offshoot of ISIS in central Africa that is raiding Christian villages and killing their inhabitants, sometimes by beheading. I do not believe historically that Islam is a “religion of peace” anymore than I believe Christianity is a “religion of peace”, although both claim to be. Why? Because religions are composed of people who make their religious beliefs the primary guiding factor in their lives. Sure, they rely on their holy scriptures and religious rituals, But at the end of the day a violent asshole is going to be a violent asshole, and they will use whatever vehicle as a guiding factor that enables them to be a violent asshole, whether that is the Bible, Quran, Mein Kampf or the writings of Marx, Lenin and Stalin.
Does religion condition a person to be a violent asshole? It can, but I don’t it think it automatically does. Political movements can be accused of the same thing. I think for many religion and/or political beliefs just enables what is already there, whether by genetics or upbringing. I think we as a nation are fortunate that the vast majority of Muslims and Christians for the most part use religion to try to live better lives and treat others with decency. But as Bruce has said, a committed humanist, whether they are an agnostic atheist or a deist, is also committed to the fair and compassionate treatment of their fellow human beings, and from what I’ve seen are usually much better at it than fundamentalist religious people.
ISIS was formed out of an extreme and fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic scripture, the Quran and Hadith. While I agree with non-Dr. Tee that this is a violent movement that needs to be dealt with, he conveniently forgets about devout True Christian ®️ movements like the Jim Jones People’s Temple, or the historical Crusades, the Spanish conquest of the America, the Native American boarding schools, the Protestant English oppression and outright killing of Catholics just for being a priest or a person being a perceived “witch”, etc. Is there “another side” to each of these events? Sure- the Crusades were apparently a response to Muslims killing Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. The Aztecs were apparently more oppressive to other Indians than the Spanish were initially, etc, etc. So we can “both-sides” this issue all day. But where does that get us? No where other than back to the same “hurray for my side” bullshit that just keeps the bad behavior going.
Whenever anyone tries to paint Christianity as a religion of peace, they often do so by mentioning the violence perpetuated by followers of other religions. It’s true that Islam as a whole has a lot of blood on its hands, but it’s not unique, as we all know. Christianity has a history of blood, death, and more lately, of systemic discrimination and power-grabbing.
The key difference between Christian fundamentalists and Islamic fundamentalists is that Christian fundies moved into politics, and seek to assert a theocracy through political means.
Good point, Ben. However I am suspicious of any fundamentalist Abrahamic religious movement, including those in my own “camp” (Catholicism). I do not put it past fundamentalist Muslims to attempt to get into power if they can. I will concede a key difference is that usually fundie-Muslims are more concerned about imposing a strict form of Sharia on their own community, whereas fundie-Christians want to tell everyone not only what to do, but also what constitutes a “True Christian ®️”..Hence why I as a Catholic am not a fan at all of Christian Nationalism or religious fundamentalism in general. It becomes a scrupulosity race to the bottom, no different than Stalin’s purges of people who were not “Communist enough”.
Religious fundamentalists begin with small conquests in a democratic society. They argue that they are the keepers of true morality, so they set up no true Scotsman purity tests for everyone in a position of power who claims to have religious beliefs (often times to appeal to their electorate). These are no win contests, because any concession(s) just becomes a springboard for the next incremental and outrageous demand. In our country abortion is the main area where this process plays out, but it is moving beyond that one issue.
Religious fundamentalists also seek to police speech- any verbal pushback becomes “Islamophobia” or “Hating Christians” or “Anti-Semitism”. This is very clever on their part, because all three of these accusations can sometimes be made for valid reasons, for example in the so-called Peoples Republic of China, where religious practice is severely restricted (but not outright prohibited) by the state, including incarcerating large amounts of Muslim men because of the actions of a few (this was done after the knife attacks at a train station in Western China). So the fundamentalist always use these situations as a stalking horse to conflate any pushback on their actions to undermine a secular society with “(fill in the blank) phobia”.
So we circle back to non-Dr. Tee. Is he correctly reporting on the situation in Africa with ISIS? Yes. My question is what is his motivation? And does he really have standing to point fingers at another religion that unfortunately has extremist assholes in it?
My experiences with Derrick Thiessen have probably rendered me a less-than-objective party regarding his motives, but it does strike me as ironic that he asserts he has suffered for his faith. He is lumping himself in with the Christians who actually have suffered at the hands of ISIS, which is a blatant act of deception on his part. Thiessen has not, to my knowledge or based on his own words, truly suffered for his beliefs.
He strikes me as a classic manipulative abuser/narcissist, who attempts to blame-shift in order to take the spotlight off their own actions. These folks love to incorporate religion into their persona, that way they can add the fear of an unknown and invisible master of all things into their behavioral manipulation of other people.
I know he regularly attacks you and Bruce because both of you bravely call him out on his bullshit. An abuser always attacks those who call them out, and they also sometimes try to hide behind a wall of their loyal followers (hence his use of “we”).
Ben, if I may, I get a lot out of these discussions and I appreciate your willingness to engage in them. I evaluate my own life journey everyday, and being able to discuss my thoughts with everyone on Bruce’s page are a great help.
John, the pleasure is mine! I am generally always willing to have a conversation, what I can’t do is promise to always be coherent 😀
One of the aggravating elements about Thiessen is that he arrogantly believes his version of Christianity is the best. He does not practice the tenants of love, kindness or compassion, yet somehow believes only his brand of Christian (namely himself) has those qualities.
It sits in stark contrast to the worshippers at a local Church of England establishment, who welcomed my wife and I with open arms when we attended for the reading of our wedding bands. They were among the loveliest, kindest, warmest people my wife and I ever met, but Thiessen would probably denounce them for being the ‘wrong’ sort of Christian, because of his arrogance.
https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/48124/why-did-samuel-hack-agag-to-pieces-in-1-samuel-1533 Actually Saul didn’t go far enough.Saul’s sparing King Agag and not slaughtering all of the animals of the foes of Israel showed that Saul was unfit to be King of Israel. The prophet Samuel was so enraged about Saul’s sparing King Agag that Samuel personally chopped King Agag into pieces. Of course, Samuel wasn’t a trained soldier so he was not able to kill King Agag with one thrust of the sword. In fact, God told Samuel that He was displeased with Saul for not having totally fulfilled his order to destroy everything of the Amalekities. Saul didn’t kill all of the animals of the Amalekites like he was supposed to. When God tells someone to slaughter, yours is not to partially obey that order. https://www.bible.com/bible/1359/1SA.15.9-23.ICB Even Homer Simpson would have been a better king for Israel than King Saul. https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/190te6c/oh_spiteful_one_show_me_who_to_smite_and_they/
There are so many good comments here. I think most religions have rules about behavior towards other people. Many of those rules are regarding how to treat people better. Ancient humans learned that certain behaviors are not conducive to a cooperative tribe/society, so they enacted rules with consequences regarding those actions. However, some religions (which probably began as tribal entities to teach tribal origin stories, explanations about how and why the people exist, explanations about how the world works) developed rules about how to treat people outside the tribe. The Ancient Jews, for example, had rules about who could and could not be your slave (non-tribe members were ok to be enslaved).
Christianity itself is an exclusionary religion. Christians are to have only the one god, and Christians are required to swear fealty to the one god/religion. Christianity in general tells its members not to be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers, and not to have fellowship with them. Some sects have colorful descriptions of nonbelievers, often likening us to demons or to being demon-directed. Outsiders are othered and considered lesser-than. Is it any surprise that people were physically tortured and killed during the Inquisition, or that some Christians try to treat unbelievers like garbage today?
There are so many good comments here. I think most religions have rules about behavior towards other people. Many of those rules are regarding how to treat people better. Ancient humans learned that certain behaviors are not conducive to a cooperative tribe/society, so they enacted rules with consequences regarding those actions. However, some religions (which probably began as tribal entities to teach tribal origin stories, explanations about how and why the people exist, explanations about how the world works) developed rules about how to treat people outside the tribe. The Ancient Jews, for example, had rules about who could and could not be your slave (non-tribe members were ok to be enslaved).
Christianity itself is an exclusionary religion. Christians are to have only the one god, and Christians are required to swear fealty to the one god/religion. Christianity in general tells its members not to be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers, and not to have fellowship with them. Some sects have colorful descriptions of nonbelievers, often likening us to demons or to being demon-directed. Outsiders are othered and considered lesser-than. Is it any surprise that people were physically tortured and killed during the Inquisition, or that some Christians try to treat unbelievers like garbage today?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2015&version=CEV Hey, when God tells you to slay utterly and you fail to obey his commands, He isn’t going to be happy with you. I’ll admit that this is the CEV version and not the King James version of the Bible, but you get the drift. You should have gone further than just the first eight verses of 1 Samuel 15 if you really wanted to show how mad God was with Amalek. You can take this as either being sarcastic or joking. The entire chapter of 1 Samuel 15 is a lesson about how God demands obedience rather than sacrifice.
This isn’t a debate about the Old/ New Testament. Tee is saying that Christians are non- violent compared with Islam. That’s only true if you obey the New Testament, where believers in Jesus are told that they must be harmless and never resort to killing and other kinds of violence. That’s why the behavior of Europeans don’t make sense, because White Supremacy is not the Gospel, even though they wanted to believe that, and acted accordingly. They wanted what they wanted. They didn’t really care about their afterlife, or they’d have obeyed all those admonitions. And who is Jess and GHod anyway??
All three Abrahamic faiths consider the other two “infidels” of sorts. Jews and Muslims consider Christians polytheistic heretics for worshiping Jesus as “God”. Christians consider Jews to be the ones who rejected Christ as Messiah and the Logos, the Word of God. Jews consider Muslims as sub-human descendants of Ishmael and trespassers on the site of the temple. Apparently ancient Christians according to St. John Damascene, who actually was employed by the Caliph of Damascus, considered early Muslims to actually be heretic Christians who had fallen under the spell of Arianism, which considered Christ to be a created creature and not equal to God. This is just off the top of my head, so I may be missing something.
Each of them have their scriptures that give their religion the right of supremacy. Muslim fundamentalists believe the Hadith gives them the right of plunder, as well as the right to subjugate the other People of the Book, being Jews, Christians and Sabeans, who were remnant followers of John the Baptist. They still exist in small numbers today. As Obstacle stated, Christians are told not to be yoked with unbelievers. Jews are told to avoid dealings with Gentiles.
Violence in the name of Yahweh/Christ/Allah is the only constant denominator among the three religions.
However, along with warfare, inquisitions and persecutions, there have also been periods of co-existence as well. It usually depended on who was in charge, and who had been victorious in the various military campaigns.
So long as this idea of dominance and supremacy exists in all three religions, fundamentalism in these religions remains one of the most dangerous ideologies in our modern age, more dangerous than political ideologies. Religious fundamentalism causes people to torture others, blow themselves up and kill entire populations while feeling righteous at the same time.
Not so, John..about Christians seeing the Jews as the ones who killed Jesus. Sure, in history, the Jews ✡️ underwent terrible persecution. But at the end of the day, we see it as our sins having nailed Christ to the cross. The sins of the whole world 🌎. The Just for the unjust. The Jews, according the Bible, are God’s holy people. He said in Jeremiah that His covenant with them He would never break. That He would punish them for rejecting Messiah, scatter them to the 4 winds…which, as we know, happened in 70 A.D. when Israel lost its national land. He said they would still receive mercy in the land of their captivity, it was like the Babylonian captivity, except much longer. He promised in Jeremiah that the sun and moon would cease to exist before He would ever totally destroy them as a nation,and one day, miraculously return them to their own land. Which, against all odds, happened in 1948, JUST after WWII!! The history surrounding that, the details, are another entire HUGE subject of study altogether, so much to unpack.
But, going back to how Christianity sees the Jews, look at the Book of Romans. There, we are warned not to be arrogant towards the Jews, that a partial hardening has occurred, but it’s still 👌 the Root of Jesse (Jews, the natural olive 🫒 branches) that supports US (Christians).
One book to read is “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom. True story of a Dutch Christian family, ✝️ who hid Jews ✡️ in their home during Nazi occupation of Holland during WWII. They had quite the operation going, and considered it to be the greatest honour to help protect God’s holy people ( from whom we have Jesus). The story of their eventual betrayal by an informer, and them being taken into Ravensbruck concentration camp, sets the background of the bulk of this historical and amazing story.
The love, the courage, the forgiveness in this story are real. Today, Christians around the entire world 🌎 are supporting Aliyah ( Jews being able to return to their homeland) and helping Holocaust survivors who remain, and caring for Israel’s orphans and widows, young families and elderly sick people. “Comfort, oh comfort My people, Israel ” As believers, we feel it is our duty and great privilege to do this.
This is part of a homily (sermon) for the early church Father St John Chrysotom
“ II
Do not be surprised that I called the Jews pitiable. They really are pitiable and miserable. When so many blessings from heaven came into their hands, they thrust them aside and were at great pains to reject them. The morning Sun of Justice arose for them, but they thrust aside its rays and still sit in darkness. We, who were nurtured by darkness, drew the light to ourselves and were freed from the gloom of their error. They were the branches of that holy root, but those branches were broken. We had no share in the root, but we did reap the fruit of godliness. From their childhood they read the prophets, but they crucified him whom the prophets had foretold. We did not hear the divine prophecies but we did worship him of whom they prophesied. And so they are pitiful because they rejected the blessings which were sent to them, while others seized hold of these blessing and drew them to themselves. Although those Jews had been called to the adoption of sons, they fell to kinship with dogs; we who were dogs received the strength, through God’s grace, to put aside the irrational nature which was ours and to rise to the honor of sons. How do I prove this? Christ said: “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and to cast it to the dogs”. Christ was speaking to the Canaanite woman when He called the Jews children and the Gentiles dogs.
But see how thereafter the order was changed about: they became dogs, and we became the children. Paul said of the Jews: “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision”. Do you see how those who at first were children became dogs? Do you wish to find out how we, who at first were dogs, became children? “But to as many as received him, he gave the power of becoming sons of God”.
Nothing is more miserable than those people who never failed to attack their own salvation. When there was need to observe the Law, they trampled it under foot. Now that the Law has ceased to bind, they obstinately strive to observe it. What could be more pitiable that those who provoke God not only by transgressing the Law but also by keeping it? On this account Stephen said: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, you always resist the Holy Spirit”, not only by transgressing the Law but also by wishing to observe it at the wrong time.”
He represented the early Christian’s attitude towards the Jews, including others such as St. Justin Martyr.
By the way, I am not necessarily condemning these men totally ex post facto. This is just indicative of the overall thought of the time, and sunshine is the best disinfectant.
I’m sure Brice can add better context if need be.
Terri: “. But at the end of the day, we see it as our sins having nailed Christ to the cross.”
Zoe: God-ordained Terri. You said it yourself. Your belief. He put it all in motion. You are trying to educate those who are educated. We’ve been there, done that and well, I’m not sure what t-shirt I’m on now. We did not nail your Christ to the cross. It was His plan all along. God-ordained.
I have much to say about the Amalekites, but time does not permit right now.
But I can say this: God is extremely protective in the Bible. Like a Good Shepherd is, to sift out anything that could jeapordize the flock. The practices of the nations in Canaan before Israeli conquest had become so vile and corrupt, parents were sacrificing their babies to Molech, in the fire, to appease their ‘god’. The “worship” consisted of practices of fertility rites that involved temple prostitution and exploitation of young men and women, their children who didn’t get torched for Molech. Depravity. Instead of watching the children of these nations get caught up in all of this, He took the innocents to heaven, and made sure to take this evil out of the world, to prevent it from spreading.
It seems that people get mad at God for being a God of justice ⚖️ and protecting what is left of the living, in Old Testament…and establishing the Law. Remember, we take this for granted today, but back then, the nations were so dark, that God had to clarify in the Law what was right and wrong. Things we just take for granted today. Because we’ve been “Chistianized” so much. Example: He had to clarify that it was WRONG to sleep with your sister, your daughter, your daughter-in-law, your mother, your aunt, your dog, etc. Super BASIC things.
And, in New Covenant, people get mad that He appears to let all this happen today. So which is it? Justice or mercy?
Is it just to punish people for what others do? Should children being punished for what their grandparents did? Should finite “sins” be punished infinitely?
Furthermore, why should we care one whit what a book says? The Bible is an errant riddled, fallible ancient religious text. From multiple deities in Genesis to multiple plans of salvation, the Bible is hopelessly convoluted and contradictory. Before any of us grant the Bible authority, you must answer WHY we should do so.
Claims is faith have no merit here. Just facts.
About Molech:
https://youtu.be/FiPaVeOSSW4?si=CvoVbfWba9p_Yc5T
I’m sure glad you think it’s okay to slaughter innocent men, women, children, infants, fetuses, and developmentally disabled people for what others do. Of course, you’ve been conditioned to accept such barbarity by being told by preachers that you are guilty and headed for hell over what Adam did; again a clear violation of what the Bible says elsewhere.
I assume you are also okay with genocide — regardless of how you try to justify it. Oh the lengths Christians go to to defend their capricious, violent deity. What’s next? Justifying slavery, incest, and the wholesale slaughter of humans and animals?
Terri, you have accepted that you are literally worth nothing without your Christ. Many of us once believed as you do now. Did you think anything you share here is new to us? Many of us studied likewise and preached likewise. By your rationality here, the Good Shepherd is justified in sifting out my life for fear I will jeapordize the flock. Will you stand with Him as He casts His judgement and throws me into the Lake of Fire? You chastised me for not KNOWING what Bruce has been through. You then diagnosed him. There is more than a desperation to your approach here. I hear an arrogance built on the foundation of your belief in Christ. I well remember thinking I knew it all too.
Thanks for your thoughts, John. Yes, sunshine is a very good disinfectant for sure! I know about what alot of the early church thought about the Jewish nation they came out of, (and early fathers like Chrysostom) to become “one new man”, as the Apostle Paul wrote, born by the Spirit, and not by the letter only. That’s the born-again experience Jesus speaks of to Nicodemas, a Jewish ✡️ Pharisee, who was a good man. All of the 12 disciples were Jews, the writers of the New Testament were Jews, Jesus Himself was a Jew on His human side. Mary and Joseph were Jews. And countless others, practically all the heroes in the Bible were Jews.
In the book of Ezekiel, God speaks through the prophet, saying, “a New Covenant I will make with you, I will take out the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, I will write ✍️ My laws upon your heart.
The valley of dry bones in Ezekiel refers to the whole house of Israel, being “raised from the dead” and brought back to the land of Israel, after a time of expulsion and dispersion to the nations. The Diaspora.
Paul, who had been a persecutor of “this New Way” that Jesus taught, was transformed and taught about bewaring of the Judaizers…because being right with God was not about only being circumcised in the flesh, but circumcision of heart. Not about outward “signs”, but a pure and Holy heart. Some of the Jewish leaders, many of them, were telling people they still had to be circumcised in order to be right with God, (guys Jesus actually called, ‘white-washed walls’ ) and excluding the Gentiles or forcing circumcision on them. They were nullifying the grace message and the “offense” of the Cross ✝️. The message of grace poured out on the whole world, the promise of forgiveness and Holy Spirit at Pentecost through the shed blood of Jesus for the Jews AND for every nation under heaven, was SCANDALOUSLY Good News! It didn’t make sense to the “religious crowd”, but the humble, the poor, the downtrodden, the unincluded, the so-called ‘untouchables’ , the downcast, the orphan, the widow, even some Pharisees (yes!) and holy rich men and kings! Jesus made room for them all!
Oh, no, Terri, now it’s clear that you have a full blown case of sermonizing logorrhea! Quick, woman, cure yourself of this dreadful illness by plunging your head in a bucket of ice water and blowing some bubbles! Show us heathens some charity, I beg you!
Lol, you’re funny 😄 and witty, Karuna Girl! I LIKE it! But I’m not thinking you guys are a bunch of heathen! I was just having a chat with John about the place the Jewish ✡️ people according the writings ✍️ of the Christian faith.