Yak Butter

Pascal claimed that the Bible has perfect knowledge of man. I agree:

The Pentateuch says that the sins of the fathers will be visited on the
children for many generations. Ezekiel 18 says that if the son is righteous,
his righteousness shall be rewarded, no matter how evil the father. Romans 1
says that homosexuality, and other sins, are due to the fact that men who
knew God chose to turn away from God.

What this says to me is that: When a parent makes bad decisions for which
they are culpable by any standards, and their children decide to make the
same bad decision, that God finds the children culpable.

We sometimes would, sometimes wouldn't.

In our current society, if we found some isolated tribe doing atrocious
things, and they weren't doing them to us - we would probably analyze them.
If they escaped and started doing them to us, we would institutionalize
them - but not in the penal system.

What I see God saying is that, 12 generations ago, their parents knew it was
atrocious. Therefore, the penalty is the same as it would have been for
their parents.

By the way, I referred to Romans 1 - I never read it without considering
Romans 2:1, which most very definitely tells us not to judge.

I find that the Bible does give me perfect knowledge of what I need to know.
By far, the number one message in the Bible is to Love. I John says that
everyone who loveth is born of God.

While, I agree that there is a little more to it than that, I find that if
others can 'out love' Christians, that Christians aren't meeting their
calling.

In summary, I believe the Bible says that idolatry is bad, in fact it is
like being a religious whore. The children of this generation are guilty,
because at one time their ancestors did it knowingly to spite God. However,
while God is willing to have us know this, our job is not to condemn them,
but to love them - and to explain the truth to them as they are receptive.
If we love them well, they are more likely to be receptive.

Additionally, as has been mentioned, we cannot know what is happening in
their hearts and spirit life. I have known many who frantically add more and
more religion in order to try and fill a growing void. We cannot know what
others have in their hearts.

What confuses me most is that the Dalai Lama seems to have great peace and
wisdom. I believe we are to prove what we believe to be communication from
God by peace. When I see others, seeming to do that with messages that
conflict with what I am proving - then I do have confusion.

So, I cannot dwell on it to much, because confusion robs one of peace.

However, If I have Love and Peace - what else do I need?
Received on Sun May 28 10:57:38 2006