when is it appropriate to have an eye for an eye and when is it appropriaite to turn the other cheek?

Answer 1

All I can say about this one is "Vengeance is mine sayeth the lord" We are always supposed to turn the other cheek, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, is God's job not ours.

Answer 2

I must agree that eye for an eye is a cliche, where as we are biblically instructed to turn the other cheek. I should like to poing out however that I am not a pacifist. If someone attacked me personally I would like to think I would have the guts and self control to turn the other cheek. I was a novice boxer before I became the follower of Christ and man I am or hope I am today. It should be pointed out that if you are defending someone else i.e. your family or a person otherwise under your protection fighting is not in my opinion wrong. Christians that feel otherwise should read the old testament. There are cases where God ordered wars and even became angry when the isrealites allowed a king and some cattle to survive in one incident. So in summary self defense bad, defense of others with the help of God good.

Answer 3

An eye for an eye is appropriate only for God on judgement day. Turn the other cheek is appropriate for everyone else all the time.

Answer 4

An eye for an eye was pretty advanced thinking in those days!

The idea being taught here is simply DO NOT OVER RETALIATE - JUST take an eye for an eye. No more.

TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK is done by boxers all the time-- it is a standard way to deflect a blow. ( If a Roman soldier hits you - you don't hit back or you are DEAD. --just , TURN THE OTHER CHEEK!

Simple - Hay Wot!

Answer 5

Eye for Eye is what the trouble is with all the conflicts nowadays. This is vengence. In anger management, the first principle is not to look for revenge because it only escalates the anger.

Take Mahathma Gandhi for example: Through non-violence he was instrumental in getting independence from the British. No war, no bloodshed, no verbal exchange. He endured a lot of abuse by the British for non-cooperation but never came to fist-to-fist fight.

So, an I 4 an I is never appropriate. Resort to non-violence. The present Israel/Hamas conflict could be solved through non-violence. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan----- I could go on.....

Believe me, it could. It is just that neither party is willing.

Answer 6

An eye for an eye is the old testament and no longer valid. It was created to display our sin and complete inability to avoid it without God.

The new testament, turn the cheek, replaces the old. It is to show God's mercy and love in spite of our sin. And in so doing, God took our sin upon himself by having Jesus die for us.

So yes, we must turn the other cheek. God is more than able to handle the rest.

Answer 7

I believe turning the other cheek is appropriate when it's an accident. But that doesn't mean you should sit there and allow someone to abuse you... sooner or later you will have to fight back.

Self-preservation.

Answer 8

It's pretty clear scriptural.

Most people think you should always turn the other cheek.

This is why, we have no prayer in schools, Getting In God we Trust off money, blah..blah...

Christians simply can't take a stand, and we are losing everyday.

Answer 9

AN EYE FOR AN EYE, ITS A CLICHE', THE BIBLE HOWEVER SAYS TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK.

Answer 10

If you do as God does, then you will do neither. If you get upset, you should drown your foes. Drowning is God's favorite method of murder. If you are a believer, you should drown as many people as you can. Suffocation is also allowed so long as you only do it to your illegitimate child on a cross.