Comments of the Week May 19-25
Comments of the Week May 19-25
“Whenever I encounter something that makes God look cruel, I refer back to Jesus, who came to show us what God is like.” –Steve Tatum on Editing Out the Bible’s Horror Stories
Comments on Why Don’t Liberals Write the Big Checks?, New Rules to Oversee Adventist Governance Meetings: Will They Be Helpful?, Editing Out the Bible’s Horror Stories, 4 Myths About Answered Prayer, and Aunt Sevvy
“A good and thorough analysis. If church leaders would rethink their positions/policies on equality and social justice issues, and enlarge the church tent to accommodate differing theological views (e.g., the 28 Fundamental Beliefs), then those ‘left-of-center monied folks’ would be happy, I believe, to write larger checks.”
New Rules to Oversee Adventist Governance Meetings: Are They Helpful?
“‘There is no “government” to answer questions. There is a group of officers and lots of administrators, but they all seem to do what is ordered from the top down without having to answer questions from the membership, as represented by the delegates.’
–Steve Ferguson
The Canon Within a Canon: Editing Out the Bible’s Horror Stories
“Whenever I encounter something that makes God look cruel, I refer back to Jesus, who came to show us what God is like.”
–Steve Tatum
Four Myths About Answered Prayer
“Perhaps this is unrelated…. Last evening I watched a YouTube video about an individual who had ‘transitioned’ from a young boy, outstanding singer, to a non-believing bi/transgender individual. A pastor was at the tail end of that video, encouraging others to pray for that person…. fine…. but insisted that praying for HIM to change WOULD change him/her…. Sorry, I don’t believe that. First, it’s none of our business to change others but most of all, individuals have CHOICE on what they believe (not to mention what people claim they are… we don’t know). Me praying for God to cause hardship to you so YOU change to what I think you should be is just an abuse of prayer. Me praying for YOU will not overrule your own freedom to choose over what you have power to choose. Hope what I am saying is understood. We too often use prayer as a weapon over others with manipulation…. God doesn’t even manipulate, so why should we? When some speak of intercessory prayer, this is often what they mean — I always ask what they mean when they push that idea/phrase.”
“I’ve heard a ‘tsk, tsk, tsk’ to those who say the Bible has contradictions. I think those people just haven’t read it who shame others for mentioning that. I’ve noticed it too — most egregiously in describing WHO God IS and what He is about. There are serious contradictions as to what God ‘leads’ men to do. The only way I can reconcile it (without believing in a bi-polar God) is to recognize that, indeed, MAN has written much of this from their own perspective which was often flawed, lacking understanding. Some is lost in translation, I suppose, but how many times, even in modern times, does man tend to use ‘God’ as justification to act selfishly, aggressive, and hostile? The only chance I perceive to have a better understanding of who God is is to focus on the ‘red letters.’ There simply cannot be a contradiction between what He said and did while on earth. Some of the Old Testament (OT) stories I STILL can’t make sense out of even then, looking at them from a different perspective, other than to think ‘man was wrong,’ but God made the best even out of bad decisions. Perhaps a part of that misunderstanding is how we’ve been taught, conditioned, and a victim of sinful human tendencies. Jesus Christ seems fairly passive and teaches us to love our enemies, turning the other cheek and giving selflessly. While the OT…. well….. SMITE THEM! I don’t care if the war is justified on the basis of a ‘holy war’…. If we go down that route, we are no better than those jihadists we seem to fear and claim as ‘anti-Christ.’ Is acting outside of the character of God EVER justified? Vengeance IS the Lord’s…. and we should not delight in vengeance but in reconciliation — even for those who have done us wrong.”
