These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
Proverbs 6:17
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
Proverbs 6:18
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
Proverbs 6:19
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Her posting was in a completely different context than I am submitting, but I didn't think my observation was relevant to her discussion and I didn't want to derail it since I'm very proud of her effort over there (a very intelligent, polite discussion on religion).
In any event, I am posting this because I believe someone that we all know very well and who claims to be very godly has violated every single one of these in spades. I found it humorous, ironic and sad all at the same time.
9 comments:
Here's the problem: Interpretation. Even if you take these statements as the literal word of god, there's still some interpretation and rationalization that has to take place here.
1. Define "proud look" - I mean, one person could assume I am vain when I don't intend to be. Or I could be acting in a vain manner and no one else notices. I know in this case the ultimate judge is god. But how are we to know who's being too proud?
2. Define "lie" - if you truly believe what you are saying, is it really a lie?
3. Define innocent. In the crusades time, innocent obviously didn't include the heathenous Muslims. Nor did it include those accused of witchcraft. Is it merely those without sin? Does that mean, by evangelical standards, if we are all sinners, then that there are no innocents?
4.Define "wicked" and "evil" - Could apply to abortion doctors, could apply to George W. Bush. It all kinda depends on what whomever is reading it thinks qualifies as "evil". The Bible doesn't list specifics. You decide.
I find the last one most interesting. What if by sowing discord you are doing what Sadie is doing right now? Asking some tough questions and making people feel a little bit uncomfortable? Who qualifies as brethren? Fellow believers or all humankind?
Laura -- Exactly. Very much open to interpretation. I was obviously using it to describe Dubya, but it could describe just about anyone.
How can the bible be used as a moral guide for people when what it says can so easily be interpreted in any manner the reader wants? The apparent answer being .... it can't.
6:14 AM
All I have to say is: Read my next post. Even the scripture.
Thanks. And, I love you guys. A lot.
Sadie -- ditto. Your posts have been great. You've done a remarkable job of mediating a potentially contentious group.
Forgive me for intruding! I won't be offended if you tell me to get out! because we don't know each other! I've been crazy about reading Sadie's posts, & the comments left by her peops. I check it a gazillion times a day - I can't get enough! And I like to see who the other people who comment are, so I clicked on your page...
If I could, I'd like to point You & Laura to a website that would define the words she was questioning, in context. It allows you to type in a word from Scripture & find it's meaning.
That passage of Scripture can certainly be applied different ways for different people. But the language & the specific words, were chosen for a reason. Written in Hebrew, the words of the Old Testament have so much more meaning than what our limited English language can handle - sort of like the way Eskimos have something like 20 different words for snow, but we have, *snow* If you look in a Bible concordance, every word has a number next to it. That number is assigned specifically to that word. And with that number you can see where else in Scripture that specific word was used. For instance, *brethren* in that Scripture, has the number, 0251, & is used for talking about blood relatives or kinship, same tribe. And it shows up only in the Old Testament. Brethren, in the New Testament, written in Greek has the number, 80, & also includes the meaning of: Christian, all men, apostles... From all that numbering & cross referencing, we can see that the Scripture you posted about, from Proverbs 6, *brethren* is specifically talking about Jews to other Jews. It has one interpretation, but you already see how you can apply it to things in your own life.
The Bible is very specific, & that's why believers like Sadie & me have to dig at a Scripture before we start using it to understand & explain things.
Sorry for the data dump, but it is fascinating to me! And anyone can go digging.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/words.pl?word=brethren&page=12 is where I got the above info.
Sarah -- Welcome, and you most certainly are not intruding. I welcome all views here.
Glad you stopped by.
LOl... great post.. wish I had thought of it.
dbackdad said;"How can the bible be used as a moral guide for people when what it says can so easily be interpreted in any manner the reader wants? The apparent answer being .... it can't."
I must say, that even as an Athiest, I find the teachings of Jesus to be incredably relevant and logical. I think Christians, and all of us, would be well off to get a red letter edition of the bible (one that highlights the actual words of Jesus in red)and cut out all of the words in black. Throw out all of the old testement, all of the epistles. all of the gospels that don't relate specifically to Christ's teaching.
If we actually focused on the teachings of Jesus, the nature of Christianity would change radically!
GWB said, "I must say, that even as an Athiest, I find the teachings of Jesus to be incredably relevant and logical." -- I completely agree and I said something to that effect on Sadie's blog in a recent post. In this post, I didn't quite say what I meant. I didn't mean to say that the bible couldn't (or shouldn't) be used as a moral guide. I was only implying that some sections of the bible (relating to some contentious issues) are a bit cryptic and open for interpretation.
GWB--
As much as what you said about just reading the red letters is a bit radical, I totally understand why you would say that. The Old Testament befuddles me and often times, I find myself reading the same scriptures over and over again. I think I have read the book of John the most, followed closely by Romans.
I get scared at the suggestions of my *folk*. I worry about the divsions it may cause between churches and families but Jesus had a few choice words about that too--he said he came to turn father against son and sister against brother--probably because the ones that truly follow him will make themselves enemies, just like Christ did.
Narrow is the gate.
Hi Sarah!
Post a Comment