God is good, god is wonderful, so why should little children suffer because he says so. Kind of sick if you ask me, then again you didn't eh!!!
2006-11-01 05:15:43 · 22 answers · asked by Steven W 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Mark 10:14 Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Mt 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Mt 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Mt 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Mr 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
Lu 17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
"Suffer the little children..." does not mean they are to suffer. It means nothing should get in the way of them coming to Him.
Blame the faulty translation on King James English.
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2006-11-01 05:29:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is a mis-quote from the Bible. First of all, God is good, so the phrase in your question needs some explanation. It is probably found in an older translation of the Bible (Perhaps the King James) where the term 'suffer' had a broader meaning than we are familiar with.
The only way I can explain any broader meaning is by referring to a line in the film 'Doctor Zhivago.' Alec Guinness refers to an experience he had with his brother, played by Omar Shariff. The line goes: "He sudffered me to buy him a new suit." Here, we can see the term has nothing to do with pain, but comes in the form of a request. The line might just as easily said: "he begged me to buy him a new suit."
In many modern tranlations of the Bible, where you might find the phrase in your question, you will find the word 'suffer' replaced with the word 'let.' The scripture may be Matthew 19:14.
To answer the question of suffering, suffering comes from the choices we make and the choices others make for us. God promises a time when all suffering will be ended forever (see Revelation 21:4 particularly, but there are many other scriotures that you could look at like Psalm 37, Isaiah 65:25 and there is another one is Isaiah about a child playing at the door of a snake's home but no harm coming to him. There are many many more that show how God hates to see people suffer and will do something about it soon. Pray for guidance.
2006-11-01 05:47:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
He does not say "oh suffer little children"... "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."
The King James Version of the Bible was written back in 1604. In that day they often used the word "suffer" like we use our modern day word "allow"
The same word is used in Acts 16:7 as "the Spirit suffered them not" and in Acts 21:39 "suffer me to speak unto the people."
It was just a poor way to say "allow" or "permit"
The original Greek phrase in this context is "mh kwluete" which means: "no hinder, prevent forbid" or "no withhold a thing from anyone" or "no deny or refuse one a thing".
Hope this helps!
2006-11-01 05:33:54 · answer #3 · answered by xretroflowerx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check the context of this scripture. In this case "suffer" doesn't mean to cause harm to someone. He is telling the people around him to allow the children to come to him and that we are supposed to come to him like the children, honestly and openly.
Don't read something into the scriptures that aren't there.
2006-11-01 05:24:05 · answer #4 · answered by teachingpk2008 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I love your question! We suffer anyway, so what's the difference, who cares what God really meant, who says he actually said that anyway. Also what the hell kinda language would God speak anyway, that could just be the way it translated into that person's language; God must not mind if we suffer (all of us are supposed to be his children, right?) because we do.
2006-11-01 05:26:37 · answer #5 · answered by Mrs.Anna Cavanaugh 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Suffer, in this context, is an archaic term that basically means "allow."
That is one of the benefits of having a more modern translation.
"But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus, however, said: “Let the young children alone, and stop hindering them from coming to me, for the kingdom of the heavens belongs to suchlike ones.”
ADDED; PERSONAL TO LINNIEPOOH : To answer your email: Yes. When I replied I got "Oops
Your email did not go through because the recipient\'s email address has not been confirmed."
2006-11-01 05:17:21 · answer #6 · answered by Abdijah 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Suffer here is an old English word ( which is why we need modern translations) that mean allow, or let. So Jesus was saying let the young children come to me.
2006-11-01 05:20:09 · answer #7 · answered by linniepooh 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
In the old english of the kjv, suffer means allow. So It means allow the little children to come to me.
2006-11-01 05:18:25 · answer #8 · answered by jerrri 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Suffer Little Children", is a biblical phrase from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 19, verse 14, in which Jesus rebukes his disciples for turning away a group of children and says,
"Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
2006-11-01 05:27:22 · answer #9 · answered by surfer_grl_ca 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Suffer the little children to come unto me" meaning talking to Moms, Dads and overly protective Apostles Oh let them come on in.
If you are going to quote try at the least writing a paragraph so people know what your saying.
2006-11-01 05:21:50 · answer #10 · answered by esoreinna 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋