the fact that Jesus (your son of God, Lord of Lords, etc) saying that you must hate your parents, family, etc if you wish to be his disciple? As stated in Luke 14:26. Why must you hate? Your God and savior said this and it is obviously perfect and not up to interpretation, it must be followed.
2007-10-09 09:56:11 · 16 answers · asked by disturbed001500 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
As Paul-e-t stated, the word in the scripture is miseo, which means "HATE". How can anyone take Christians seriously when they are always trying to change their scriptures, but yet say they are the word of God? Take a stand, grab a back bone. Admit that you are following stuff where logic does not exist, only faith and you change your scriptures to suit your purpose.
2007-10-09 10:05:58 · update #1
No, its not that they don't follow the Old Testament, its that they only follow what they WANT to follow in the old testament. Just as a small example, in Leviticus, they say "no gays". Most christians choose to follow this strictly, yet they seem to have NO PROBLEM murdering people that don't follow these bs guidelines, ie the crusades, Matthew Shepard, KKK, etc.
2007-10-09 10:11:42 · answer #1 · answered by Kiefer H 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I am not going to look up the verse, but I do know which one you are talking about so I will take a stab at it.
Jesus IS saying that if you are a follower of God, then other followers are your family. If your blood family refuses to become a follower, then you must essentially stop communicating with them - they are no longer your family. I hesitate to use the word hate, but I do believe that it is the word used...
Now, that being said...obviously the teachings of Jesus were very simple - follow me, I am the way, believe in my death as salvation and cleansing of your sins, have meals together daily so that you may talk amongst yourselves and keep your faith strong, etc... Let's face it, he left very, and I mean VERY, basic teachings, there really wasn't much time for anything else.
As time went by, followers began to wonder about certain things he did not mention, question, and or argue about his teachings - this caused leaders to get together and exegete answers - read into the scripture for clarification and set up doctrine for followers.
Whether people want to believe it or not, the New Testament was written for man by man - scholars generally believe that the sayings of Jesus are fairly accurate in MOST of the texts, but they were passed down and changed over time to fit a growing and ever defining population of followers.
So now we come to modern times - the writings in 1 & 2 Timothy are very prominent in Christian minds - and they were NOT written by Paul, rather by someone using his name... these two texts teach something very different from Paul's writings or the stories of Jesus - but it is so easily forgotten or not even known.
Hating your family if they aren't followers isn't something that is done - it is more of a cultural thing, I think, than a religious dictate.
So yes, you are right.. that is what Jesus said...you use the argument that because it came from Jesus, it is infallible and perfect...and by your case, I would have to agree with you from a NON-OBJECTIVE point of view only...
2007-10-09 17:34:38 · answer #2 · answered by SisterSue 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off I do follow the OT. The first Christians who wrote the NT had nothing else. The NT is a continuatuion of the Old and the 2 are not seperable. You can not be serious! It only takes a modicum of understanding to know that Jesus is only saying that if you love anything more than him you are lost. This includes your parents and your wife. Come to Christ and learn what the Bible says. Nowhere does Jesus command to hate. Come to Christ!
2007-10-09 17:09:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
He did not say you must hate your parents, he said if you love anyone more than me you are not worthy of me. Christians follow the New testament, boy do you have it all wrong you need some intervention. It is saying if your parents do not agree with your christians beliefs do not stop because of them or any one, do not give up your salvation for anyone. Just like some Muslims have become Christians and their parent do not love them anymore, they are to continue in their faith, because Jesus said anything you give up because of me he will reward us 100 times over. So sad you have no faith and you are so empty.
2007-10-09 17:06:58 · answer #4 · answered by hexa 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The bible uses different kinds of language to communicate to us. One of the ways of communication is hyperbole, which means, exaggeration to underscore a point.
Also, we need to always compare scripture to scripture, to make sure we understand the context of a verse, not just pull one verse out of the bible.
If the bible tells us in other parts to honor our parents, or that a man should love his wife as Christ does the church, then how should we interpret this verse that you have listed?
What it means is, that nothing should take precedence in our hearts over Jesus Christ, nothing. Including our families.
2007-10-09 17:05:26 · answer #5 · answered by Esther 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Look at the translation of the word, "hate" in this scripture. It actually means "to love less".
That means we have to love God and Christ more than any one here on earth. It involves personal sacrifice and devotion to God.
2007-10-09 17:03:55 · answer #6 · answered by nowyouknow 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Not up for interpretation? Try praying and asking God to let you read with understanding. Also try looking at the original Greek. This is often helpful. The word translated as hate there means to love less. This means that we are to love Jesus above anyone and anything else. Including our lives.
One of the posters above me states that we try to soften it. So for your reading pleasure here is the exact definition from Strong's Concordance.
G3404
μιÏεÌÏ
miseoÌ
mis-eh'-o
From a primary word μιÍÏÎ¿Ï misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); by extension to love less: - hate (-ful).
2007-10-09 17:00:54 · answer #7 · answered by Bible warrior 5 · 3⤊ 3⤋
Since you use the terms "obviously perfect and not up to interpretation" you are clearly asking fundamentalists this questions, not Christians.
This verse HAS to be interpreted, of course. Jesus would never want anybody to hate, esp not their parents. Of course you know that, but you are hoping to catch a fundamentalist trying to justify this verse literally. Good luck. Slippery little eels, them.
Jesus was saying that it's hard to put the Kingdom of God first and everything else 2nd. The word "hate" symbolizes that almost violent re-organization of priorities that has to happen to many people when they become serious about following His teachings of love.
2007-10-09 17:00:05 · answer #8 · answered by Acorn 7 · 3⤊ 5⤋
He was making a point that we should love him so much that the love we have for our family seems like hatred by comparison. God must be first. And he is in my life. Because I've made him first in my life I find I have the capacity to love my family more.
The person above me should be embarrassed...and needs to study Greek before he claims to know what it means.
2007-10-09 17:00:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple." -- (Luke 14:26)
Most Christians feel obligated to soften the face meaning of the word 'hate' to something like 'love less than me,' even though the Greek word miseo means 'HATE.'
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Philip Badowski breaks chainsaw while cutting up the bodies of his Christian Missionary Parents
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. Dec 11, 2004 — A college student who admitted he fatally shot his parents in their bedroom and broke a chain saw cutting up their bodies told investigators: "GOD told me to."
He said the killings were "spur of the moment" after his parents scolded him when they returned from a weeklong missionary trip to Haiti.
http://www.bluelineradio.com/godsaid.htm...
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2007-10-09 17:00:27 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋