Yes, The Holy Bible is very clear on a lot of things. Circumcision, for instance. And what about Leviticus 15? That's pretty clear, I think. It's always amazed me how so many of the rules of God can be dismissed by man, while others are so violently upheld.
As a kid, when I asked my mom (as she was frying pork chops!) about why we don't follow all the rules in the Old Testament she wisely explained her take on it in terms that her 9 year old could understand. It may or may not have been entirely accurate, but it made an impression on me and has served me well.
She told me that, at the time God made them, every rule had a purpose whether man [sic] understood it or not. For instance, pork wasn't able to be easily preserved so it could be dangerous to eat it. There were reasons for the rules, but as time passed and people and situations naturally changed there needed to be new rules.
Eventually, as people followed the rules, God recognized that there was one really big rule that He needed everybody to understand. He sent his only son to make sure everybody knew that to get into Heaven the most important thing to know is that He expects all of us to treat every other person with love and respect. If everybody could treat other people the way he or she would want to be treated we'd all get to go to heaven. (Ah-ha! I recognized the Golden Rule when I heard it! I was aware even then it appears at least twice in the gospels.)
I've always thought that was one of the best answers I've ever gotten to a question about religion. I recognized that she lived her life that way, so I always had a good model growing up. I hope I'm half as deserving as she is of the reward.
I feel strongly that we're to treat every person with the respect God demands regardless of whether they eat pork, or if they're circumcised, or on their period, or gay.
Marriage today isn't at all the same as it was in biblical times. It might just be time for some new rules again. Or maybe we just need a refresher on the big one.
Comment of the Day
Thursday December 4, 2008
Categories: Comment of the Day, same sex marriage
The conversation continues my most-read Beliefnet post to date: Same Sex Marriage Blogalogue: How I Went from There to Here. Ben contributed this:
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About The New Christians
Tony Jones is the author of many books, including The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier and The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life. He is a leader in the emergent church movement and a renowned expert on postmodern theology and the American church landscape.
Find out more about Tony, his books, and his speaking schedule at his website.
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Don't miss the forest for the trees.
For those of you who are questioning why Tony would choose Ben's comment I don't think it was because he believed it perfectly interpreted scripture...I think it was because Ben's comment captured God's heart in the matter at hand. There is a time and place to scrutinize the scriptures but there is also a time to let stories, poems, illustrations, paintings, music and the sort tell us something about God. Ben's comment gave me a glimpse at God's heart and immediately reminded me of Jesus saying that the law was completely wrapped up in loving God and loving others.
EricW: You wrote: "...Hebrew/Old Testament/Torah scholar Richard Elliott Friedman in his Commentary on the Torah says that there is no rhyme or reason for a lot of the laws." Throwing out a statement like that is not very helpful for me. Could you please at least summarize the main arguments Friedman used?
I may have exaggerated a bit, but in his running Commentary - which is in footnotes to the English translation (Friedman's own) and Hebrew text side-by-side format of the book - Friedman discusses the text and when there are problems with interpretation, including the dietary laws and other laws. There is no way to "summarize" Friedman's arguments; you have to read the book and see what he says about the various passages and laws, etc. He has an interesting solution to the problem of how the Tabernacle was constructed per the dimensions given.
Daniel E King,
As I said in the post to which I linked, there are numerous, grave problems with Ben and Tony here, but the grandest error of the Emergent whatever-it-is and the social "gospel" as a whole is a complete screw-up of the biblical doctrine of man. Where is any recognition evidenced of Romans 3-8? Of Ephesians 1-2's pronouncements of humanity's lying dead in transgression and sin? Of Isaiah's denunciation of our good works as dirty, disgusting menstrual cloths in God's sight?
Why do we need a Savior at all? We don't. We apparently just need a good moral teacher.
One wonders why Jesus bothered at all - just stay up there in Your heavenly glory, Jesus; we don't need You. Just send another prophet, or even just a nice, charismatic man who makes cool videos. We promise that THIS time we won't abuse, scorn, persecute, or murder him! We're more enlightened in this day and age to be so barbaric!
No, the problem is that we CAN'T treat every other person with love and respect. We sin. We sin against others and against God.
No one is arguing that GLBTQ people should be mistreated.
Perversely, Ben would have us withhold the greatest news and greatest love that a GLBTQ person could ever hear - you may not think you have sinned (or you might), but you have, and you have no hope of eternal life by yourself, but a wonderful and wonderfully loving God has given Himself FOR YOU, to stand in your place, to redeem your whole life and to redeem you for eternity. Walk His road and give up on your own, the one that leads to death.
No, Ben would prefer we blow sunshine in their faces to blind them from their greatest need. These men are serious hindrances to God's work in the world. I pray they will repent.
Daniel,
Ben brought up what God wanted us to believe by sending us His son (which implies reading and using the Bible to understand what God wants us know). I was just clarifying what the Bible actually teaches about how to get to heaven. That's the gospel, short and simple. Calling it a "sermon" makes me think that you are trying to mock/degrade it. And if it is a sermon, so be it. What's wrong with saying what the Bible teaches, if we let the Bible interpret itself and not inject our own beliefs?
There is not a tone of questioning the "many pious, god-fearing men and women" in my post. I'm happy if they don't share "my theology" but if they are going to quote the Bible as a source of forming their thoughts on salvation, then they (and all of us) should be open for comments/discussion.
The "your name" comment is just trivial. Just an error that was overlooked. Thanks for pointing it out.
I like your shotgun tactic with everyone's comments, btw.
michael
see? it did it again! i think it has to do with the "refresh" button.
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