What everyone is thinking but afraid to ask?

Question

I was raised a baptist since before I can remember. I have a very demanding career now and don't really have the time or desire to go to church. I have always asked questions about everything, including religion. I once asked my pastor some questions but have NEVER received a satisfactory answer. So, at risk of pissing off the whole world I will ask here.

Answer these questions for me:

1: The old testament says,"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." The new testament says "turn the other cheek". How can I do both? Am I damned if I do and damned if I don't?

2: About religious rituals...isn't that a form of witchcraft? We're invoking the power of a higher being to influence the results of the ritual. How is that different from, say, Wicca? If they're similar, how can one be right and the other wrong?

3: I have heard a lot of people in the church talk about how they shouldn't judge. "Judge not lest ye be judged yourself". But clearly they do judge others. Why?

Answer 1

Glad to see that you are thinking critically...most people in churches simply take what they are told and settle into a pew somewhere.

1) Looking at the OT ordinance, this is when Israel was a Theocracy, a nation with God as it's King. This was the civil law given. When Jesus came down to be among us, Israel was no longer ruled by God but by Rome. When Jesus gave the command (which is different than an ordinance) to turn the other cheek, this was in relation to you as an individual follower of Him. If you are mistreated simply because you are His disciple, you must "grin and bear it" so to speak. His example shows that is what we must do.

2) Witchcraft, Wicca or other pagan religions are requesting the influence of a higher power...but higher than whom? Themselves, but not the Ultimate Higher Power, which is God Himself. God is above these "spirits" that we know according to Scripture, to be fallen angels. To pray to these sinful beings and seeking their power to "help" would be no different than bowing down before your boss and asking his "help" with your love life, finances or whatever these folks are asking. The "right" is looking to the One who made you; the "wrong" is looking to someone other than Him. (Thou shalt have NO OTHER GODS before Me.)

3) You answered your own question here. They/we shouldn't judge. But what does judging mean? Are we to not be discerning people and use the brain God gave us? Should we let a child molester run the children's Sunday School classes? Maybe let the chronic womanizer have full charge over Women's Ministry meetings? Judging is one thing, being a smart, discerning person is another.

Peace.

Answer 2

It is your human right and duty to question. No one should blindly believe anything just because someone says "This is what it means." If something is real it will stand up under the light of scrutiny. If it is false, it will fall.

Eye for eye; tooth for tooth/turn other cheek: I think this shows the progressive nature of the social laws/admonitions of religion. In an older more barbaric age, it was perhaps not possible even for the best person to do more than take eye for eye. At a later time, humanity had progressed to the point of being able to be passive, maybe even forgiving in the face of aggression. Social laws of religion come and go according to the exigencies of the time and place. Spiritual laws on the other hand are eternal, although expanded as human capacity grows through time.

Religious rituals or cult unite the group or symbolized solidarity with the group and with the revered center of the religion, say, Christ in Christianity, Buddha in Buddhism, etc. The outward behavior represents the inward reality. All religions have ritual. I think it’s the members of one group bashing the beliefs and practices of another group that you mean. The rightness or wrongness of a particular group is in the eye of the beholder.

People are imperfect. Ego gets in the way of obeying the admonitions of the religion to practice virtues.

Answer 3

ok, I am not a minister, but I have lived a long time, and I will try to give you a few answers.
1. The old testament is based on life before Christ. Before Jesus, people had to follow certain rules to be absolved of sins. When Christ became the lamb, and was put to death, he paid for all our sins. While he was alive, he taught about the love of God, but he also taught the laws of God. The New Testament does not change the basic laws of God, but it does give us a way to be forgiven for our sins without out as may rules.
2. This is a faith thing. First of all God created the Devil. The devil was an angel with more responsibilities and powers than the other angels. When he tried to take over Heaven, he was cast out. He was cast out with all of his followers too. The Bible states that the devil is not stronger than God, and he can not win the final battle. The rituals are similar, however, the difference is one power is for good, and the other is for evil. The problem is that most people can not see the devil for what he is until it is too late. The devil is not twisted, with horns, a pitchfork, and hidious to look at. The Bible says that the devil was the most beautiful angel that God created. That is why sometimes things look really great, until you get involved, then you find out that you are in trouble. That is the devil's hook, he uses us against ourselves.
3. You are right! But once again, this is a short coming in human nature. We can not be perfect. Jesus was perfect, and they crusified him. All we can be is human, and as humans, we all have flaws. It is easy to tell people how it should be, or what they should do. It is hard to do it yourself with diligence. I guess for me I try not to judge ppl, and I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But when it comes right down to it, none of us will have all the answers until we are dead. We just have to do the best we can with what we have, and try to follow God's teachings. And when we fail, ask for forgiveness with an honest heavy heart.
I don't know if this helps you any. But I do hope so!

Answer 4

Let me say a second time, in the old testament they lived under the law. Jesus Christ had not come yet. When He came in the New Testament, things changed. For the Best, I might add. Jesus says, "turn the other cheek." The Law said," an eye for an eye." Jesus knew the better way. I have "no" idea what your #2 question is talking about. #3 Judging and standing up for God's Word, which I live by, are 2 different things. The non christians like to make them one in the same, but they are not!! Judging is strictly when you criticize another person without desiring to see them turn to the Lord and His ways. And when you criticize a person knowing that you yourself are not right with God.

Answer 5

The Jewish law and infrastructure needed to cover every aspect of their life. Their laws were it. There was no other government to integrate with. God does pay back to people what they have done.

In the New Testament, Christians are told strategies of getting along with any governments that they may be living under. Romans 13 says that we are in subjection to the superior authorities. We are not to use money as a god. We must pay our taxes to the ruling authority. The current advice is to "turn the other cheek." This means that if you are attacked in any way, shape or form, pray immediately and go limp and keep praying. This means that you will not give the attacker any reason to add fuel to the fire in terms of any resistance you could have made.

Businessmen are basically people who have obsessive compulsive disorders. They tap on furniture a certain number of times before they make a decision. They're weird but they have the money because everybody's scared of weirdness. They don't want to do the "wrong" thing. That's what's wrong with all the different categories of mental illnesses in the world. The layperson doesn't need to know. Besides that, prayer helps and so does taking a things one step at a time. In any event, you're right about the ritual. It's TERRIBLE. And yet those people make money. Colossians 2:18 says: "Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such people also go into great detail about what they have seen, and their unspiritual minds puff them up with idle notions." The word for worship here is threskeia, which means ceremonies and rites, as opposed to proskuneo, which refers to kissing the hand. Angels are messengers. I assume that the ceremonialists could be the hierarchy and the messengers could be the anarchy. There are ceremonies built up around them, but not much attention is paid to their messages. You can see that spells are wrong from Revelation 18:23. In contrast, Christians are supposed to attract the attention of others by storing up their treasures in heaven, rather than on earth. (Matthew 6:19-21)

As for judging, it goes along with business enterprises. Religion is not the problem. Business is. That's what the Bible says too. Why would you call it busy-ness? Aren't families busy? In fact, business pokes fun of the need of families for fun time and relaxation. It's a great big farcical installation thumbing its nose at forgiveness and every personal skill that doesn't need money to smooth it over. That's all it's there for. And basically you get more money if you're a manager. You're not doing the work, but you're watching others and getting paid a spotter's fee for knowing what "quality" is when you see it. So people get used to judging others at their place of work and bring it into the church. Compare 1 Corinthians, second half.

Answer 6

Church of Christ belief: (leans toward the literal most of the time)
1. When Jesus died on the cross for us, the Old Testament was also laid to rest - to use to learn from but not as a law for us anymore. If we were living under the old law, the women would all have long hair, and noone would wear gold or adornments of any kind, and we'd all have to sacrafice our best herd animal everytime we sinned. Jesus took all that away with his (and God's) sacrifice. We are now under the new law. Thus "turn the other cheek" is what we are obligated to do.

2. I'm not sure what rituals you're talking about. can you give me more details? Generally speaking, I'd say the difference is the history of the two entities you described. I don't think Wiccans can identify a single savior and all powerful diety like God. There is only one God

3. This last one is a human foible. First we're all guilty of it. We try and we try not to but we do. SECONDLY and very importantly, it is necessary for us to somewhat categorize risks or dangerous behaviors that others commit so we know not to be lead into temptation. This is discussed in numerous places as well in the New Testament. I think it means we can decide if something they do is bad or not but we cannot decide if the person is worthy of heaven or not. God gets to do that. We don't know that person's heart and we don't know what God has in store for them later on.

Answer 7

In answer to #3 we are told not to judge if we don't expect the same judgment. However it also says we are to judge even the angels so we should be able to judge the things of earth. It also teaches we are to judge those IN the church, not outside of the church in order to correct, but through love. So the Bible does not say do not judge.
#2 I'm not sure what you consider a religious ritual but as a Christian I have no ritual that I go through. The difference in a ritual as compared to Wicca would be the object of worship.
#3 We find a lot of customary language in the Old Testament where the New Testament is a clearer indication of what God is like because it comes from the teaching of Jesus. My best advice is do what Jesus did.

Answer 8

1. eye for an eye was in the law. What it meant was what ever the crime you repaid back in full.

Turn the other check, is the love of God we should present to others. You don't do both. This is where being a Christian takes being strong in faith. If someone wrongs you, forgive them and go on. Vengeance is mine saith the Lord.


2. About religious rituals I'm not totally sure what your asking.
Jesus Christ is the highest power. He said all power is given to me in heaven and earth. rituals are wrong. Calling on the Lord Jesus is the greatest thing anyone can do. ( I assuming that rituals you mean in form of organized religion. I am non-denominational for this reason.)

3. This is talking about don't condemn someone for a sin and you are sinning yourself. But we do have the Word of God to go by. By this we know what is right and what is wrong. I don't feel that everyone is qualified to make judgments.

1 Corinthians 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters.

Answer 9

Church is a place where we worship God, do his will, and serve our fellow man. Perhaps the reason you dont desire to be with fellow believers is that you are more focused on the world than on God. But to your Q's...

1. The law rightly points out that when people do things like murder, then they have demonstrated that they dont deserve to live. Living is a privelidge, not a right. But such a thing written into the law of the land is in the context of both Gods judgment, and the interests of justice.

Turning the cheek however has nothing to do with the law of the land. Jesus was talking about how we respond to agression in our personal life, which is NOT to repay evil with evil or try to get revenge. But earthly revenge is NOT the same thing as justice. So in short, the law should repay lawbreakers, you and I shouldnt try to avenge little personal injustices but instead show grace as God has and it works good too I must say.

2. We as Christians believe there is tremendous power in prayer granted by God which was intended by him. The problem with witchcraft, is that it is all about seeking the strength of everything and anything that is not of God, for personal gain. So when we seek God in prayer or honor him in ritual, he appreciates the acts of worship and sacrifice. He does NOT appreciate people seeking out the evil kingdom dedicated to destroying his.

3. That must be the most misinterpreted verse in the history of all Scripture. If you read the entire passage, youll discover that its not making the point that we shouldnt let others know that what they are doing is wrong. In that case, any prophet that every came was wrong. Jesus is simply stating that if youre going to offer judgments, hold yourself to the same standard and dont be a hypocrite. Dont lecture people for instance about smoking if you yourself smoke. Dont lecture people about not being a homosexual while cheating on your wife. The point of the verse is that you have the integrity to help others, and they benefit from your example and rebuke. We also need to consider the object of the rebuke before we do it.

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. -Proverbs 9:8

He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. -Proverbs 15:31

Answer 10

Frind, I am not afraid to answer you, It may not be what you have been taught, But in my 37yrs as a Christian, God has given me some wisdom. Question # 1 An eye for a an eye, There was certains laws that allowed a women To be stone to death if she cheated on her husband, Tody it is Justice for the Truth, #2 Some churches does go thouh a ritual, My church don't, we are not handled any papers when we go in giving their Creed & beliefs, I was raised in a Methodist church .But years before I got saved God let me know get out of there, Why should I pledge to the Roman Catholic church & give my orcles of faith to a trinity. # 3. Thou shall not judge Read 1st Co. 6: 1-3 Know ye not that the bride shall judge the world & if they can't judge the little things of everydays life how can they judge the higher thing of God. Down In verse 3 it says Know ye not that ye shall Judge angels, That is only few scriptures.But I do believe before our judge the little thing on this earth makk sure thy are true accusations against the one that is being judge.