What do you think of this passage of scripture?

Question

“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
“But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him. . . .
“Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.”

Without judging it for not being in your religion tell me what you think of this scripture.

Nemesis: To you it may be so, but to others it is reality. To others it is the very guide we've been
looking for to tell good from evil.


heidavey: yes it only has 3 sentences, but it was originally translated from Egyptian, and it was translated as closely as possible with as little change as possible. The flowery words was exactly how they spoke. We won't change our scripture just because the words are different from our overly casual modern language.

Isaiah: It is scripture to us. It may not be scripture to you, but we should all learn to tolerate differences and get it into our heads that one man's rubbish is another man's scripture. I suppose you don't think that God would give us a guide on how to tell good from bad.

psychologist_4u: Yes, that includes every person. Just because the person was not given knowledge, does not mean God doesn't love them. He gives it to every person, but it is up to that person to remain worthy of the spirit's presence.

psychologist_4u continued:

God can define good and evil, and he does: Anything that brings you closer to God is good. Anything that does not, is bad. It's pretty simple.

Miguel: 'He' is a generic term in the Bible and other scriptures that includes women. The way people spoke back then was not only in a different language, but was completely different. I am studying to be a linguistic archaeologist and can tell you that it isn't only referring to males.

And I would also ask that you not be so disrespectful, although I'm sure you won't listen to me and probably don't care.

Just because it isn't your religion, doesn't mean it is bad. I find wonderful teachings of peace and kindness in Buddhism, and Judaism and many other religions, but that doesn't mean I take the rest of their doctrine as truth. Try to stop being rude to people of other religions, and try being kind for a change and without prejudice. You'll find it does the soul good.

Answer 1

Thank you for the uplifting scripture --
if it is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after it -- as it comes from the author of all righteousness.
Merry Christmas

Answer 2

We're all given a conscience- a way to know good from evil.

(btw- Miguel, haven't you ever heard of "the race of man"..?? Even though I'm a woman, I'd prefer being called a man to being called a.... horse, for example.)

I think this "Spirit of Christ" is the first step to becoming a Christian- We have to know good from evil before we can prefer one (preferably the good) over the other.

Answer 3

You were taught through the teachings of Jesus Christ.. so that you can distinguish what is good and what is bad. It is therefor shown to you by judging that if you were advise to do good and to believe Jesus Christ, you will come to know that He is God.
But if you are tempted to do evil things and you do not b eliev e Jesus Christ and deny him and you do not serve God. You will know that you are on the devil side and doing the devil work because you were tempted or enticed to do bad works but God give man his free will.
Therefore brothers, I tell you that if you know good things and do it as good one, you are certain that you are the son of God or Jesus Christ.

It is a good one to thin it over and over . Follow it for the sake of God and for your own welfare.

Answer 4

When human beings got consciousness , say about 10000 years ago, they also got a pre recorded instruction ,as a part of their genetic make up , which reveled right from wrong, this message is also time or land mark related as the whole message is not revealed , but slowly as human society and human beings evolve this message is also revealed bit by bit.The scripture presents this inborn ability of humans to distinguish right from wrong .
After birth the environment , the people around the child and or others influence the child and if this influence is not according to script the inborn ability of the child to distinguish right from wrong gets muddled. This Scripture , perhaps, presents this human condition .

Answer 5

Quote: "The spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil."
Translation: All women and all non-Christians are excluded from Christ's "spirit."

Quote: "I show unto you the way to judge."
Translation: Only male Christians have the Christ-given right to render judgment on all people.

Quote: "...whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him...ye may know...it is of the devil."
Translation: Christ is omnipotent, but for some unexplainable reason he is rendered inutile and impotent by Satan when it comes to real evil deeds!

For anyone who buys into this claptrap, I shall pray to the cosmic Mickey Mouse to bring forth unto them a cure for the defective brains their Jesus god-man bestowed unto them.

Annalyn: You missed one of my points. You're obviously no feminist, but if I were a woman I would take great umbrage at the despicable way the Bible (especially your Old Testament) portrays women. Don't take my word for it. Thorougly read your "holy book" for yourself. And lastly, I want you to know that I have great respect for the Bible as a classic work of fiction.

Answer 6

i know quite a few of those from the devil on here. but thank God some of the time you can tell the good soil from the rest.

certainly sounds like paul or peter... he's saying to the christians, now that we can discern in the manner Christ intends, we shouldn't be a friend to sin, because it is keeping greater things from us.

Answer 7

Without judging for not being my religion:

It is terribly written. 3 paragraphs and 3 sentences. And this and that and the other and for good measure and another thing. Overusage of the semi-colon. Overly flowery words.

EDIT: wait, what - it was translated from egyptian and the English flowery words are what they used?! Yeah, good come back!

Answer 8

It is absolute rubbish, 1st. line "the Spirit of Christ is given to every man,". That includes cannibals in darkest Africa who have never heard of Christ, can't read, and merely copy their parents/ grandparents way of life ? Followed by "that he may know good from evil", who defines 'good' and 'evil' ? I could dissect the whole passage, I repeat absolute rubbish !

Answer 9

It saying those who believe in God and do good work are God's children.

Answer 10

It could be saying "Let your conscience be your guide"