“Scaughdt, please try to understand what I am saying …”

Oh I’m pretty sure I know exactly what you are saying, Dan, as I am actually relatively well-versed in conservative Christian dogma & conservative Christian beliefs.  I also happen to agree with you that we all truly are to “love the sinner”.  Where Jesus & I differ from you is how we are to go about doing so …

 

On the one hand, you believe that the Bible authorizes you & yours to arrogantly (and hypocritically) call out homosexuals and incorrectly condemn their homosexuality as being a mortal sin.  As I have already explained to you many times in this thread, there actually are no such verses therein that provide such authorization (though I will admit that there are verses that seem to support your doing so).  Of course, the interpretation I am offering is far more biblically accurate and at least as True: namely, that other passages of the Bible (&/or other, more Loving interpretations of your own favorite, seemingly anti-gay passages) call for us to hold our tongues when dealing with the sins of others – stating instead that we are to take care of our own sins & our own relationship with God and allow others to work out theirs therewith.

 

Now there are exceptions to this call to Humble Silence, of course (see John 7:24), exceptions that encourage us to denounce the actions of others that directly harm third parties.  And yet barring the presence of such “evil deeds”, we are clearly commanded to simply keep our mouths shut, keep our Hearts open, and keep having faith that the Father will do as the Bible says He will and lead all sinners (including you & yours) back to a perfect relationship with the Divine (see Genesis 12:3, Psalms 22:27, Psalms 65:1-2, Psalms 145:8-9, Isaiah 25:6-8, Isaiah 45:22-24, Isaiah 49:6, Jeremiah 31:33-34, Hosea 11:9, Zephaniah 3:9, Matthew 5:44, Matthew 8:11, Matthew 12:50, Matthew 18:14, Mark 9:49, Luke 3:6, Luke 20:38, John 1:9, John 3:17, John 4:23, John 6:45, John 10:16, John 12:32, John 12:47, John 15:16, Acts 10:34, Romans 9:25, Romans 11:32, Romans 14:4, 1 Corinthians 15:22, Ephesians 1:9-10, Colossians 1:19-20 & Titus 2:11).

Dan, I have admitted repeatedly in this thread that your claims do have Biblical support – from the authors of the Old Testament, from the letters of Paul, and from the book of Revelation – and it remains just as True that my claims are equally valid, supported as they quite clearly are by the life & teachings of Jesus Christ … You & yours look at “the whole Bible” by claiming that each independent passage is True on its own, and this, even when those passages happen to directly contradict one another (which they do on literally hundreds of occasions – see pages 377 to 379 herein).  I, on the other hand, look at “the whole Bible” in its over-arching, complete context – speaking to how its various books & authors & characters augment & amend & even abolish one another (which they most certainly do with astounding regularity from start to finish) …  Your way of interpreting God as being simultaneously both Loving & judgmental, of interpreting Jesus as being simultaneously both forgiving & wrathful, and of interpreting Love as being simultaneously both unconditional & conditional, makes a practical mockery of the Scriptures and severely tarnishes both the power & the credibility thereof.   My way of reading the texts, however, shows how the biblical texts all inter-relate with one another as a whole; how the various books challenge each other and thereby work together to lead to the ultimate moral resolution – namely, The Way of Jesus Christ, as well as how the different Biblical authors and the different theologies of each of those authors do the same … And – interestingly enough, the Bible itself happens to agree with me, confirming the fact that where Old & New testament verses collide, the New trumps the Old (see Jeremiah 31:33-34, Hebrews 7:18-22, Hebrews 8:8-13, John 1:7 & even 2 Corinthians 3:9-15), and that where the teachings of Jesus clash with the teachings of any other New Testament author, Jesus always wins (see Matthew 15:14, Luke 12:1, Philippians 3:4-5, 2 John 1:9, 1 Corinthians 3:11, 1 Corinthians 11:1, 2 Corinthians 4:5 & Galatians 6:14).

 

That having been said, my intent with this thread is not to arrogantly tell anyone else that I am right or that my more-Loving way of reading the Scriptures is in any way “better” than theirs (in stark contrast to the manner in which you & yours frequently state that you somehow have access to the only proper way to read the Bible – which ironically happens to be a direct violation of Jesus’ commandment to become “humble as a child”; in Matthew 18:3-4).  What I am doing, however (and indeed have conclusively done throughout this thread) is show that every Christian has an equally valid alternative to reading the Scriptures that is readily available to them, an equally valid way to worship God, an equally valid way of being a Christian, and an equally valid way of following Jesus Christ.  I have proven that this is indeed the case with thousands of verses of Scripture, I have proven that this is indeed the case with hundreds of pages of sound reason, and I have proven that this is indeed the case with consistent references to sound Biblical scholarship.  Anyone wishing to deny this Truth need only start reading this thread from the beginning to see that I have indeed done so, and that I have indeed done so fairly & more than thoroughly …

 

In essence, it is not necessary to worship a damning, judgmental God (or bash homosexuals – or condemn homosexuality in any way) in order to qualify as a truly Good Christian, and it is good that everyone reading this thread now knows that this is indeed the case.

Filed under: Burnishing Bigotry by Scaughdt