[thechat] Mythology was comics

Ben Dyer ben_dyer at imaginuity.com
Wed May 23 15:00:36 CDT 2001


At 02:43 PM 5/23/2001, you wrote:
>On 23 May 2001, at 8:59, Ben Dyer posted a message which said:
>
> > But these commandments you mention here were laid out during the Old
> > Testament of the Bible.  Many of the things that were God-ordained during
> > the Old Testament (including the slaughter of a lamb to cleanse sins, not
> > trimming the corners of the face and binding the Word to your forehead -
> > the actual Scriptures for these escape me now) were effectively negated 
> (if
> > you believe in Christianity) by Christ's death on the cross.  These were
> > all signs of respect to God or as atonement for sins, which, as the New
> > Testament lays out, are no longer necessary because Christ's death now
> > atones these sins.
>
>That's not what Jesus said.
>
>"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:
>I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." - Matthew 5:17

True, but Jesus' point in saying this was that up to this point the 
Saducees and Pharisees had been interpreting the Old Testament (or the Law 
of Moses as they knew it) literally -- too literally (basically the way 
Hassidic Jews continue to).  Later in the same chapter it says (starting in 
verse 20)

"But I warn you – unless you obey God better than the teachers of religious 
law and the Pharisees do, you can't enter the Kingdom of Heaven at all!"

and he goes on to give examples (21-22):

"You have heard that the law of Moses says, 'Do not murder. If you commit 
murder, you are subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are angry with 
someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are 
in danger of being brought before the high council. And if you curse 
someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

One of the examples I gave above was about binding the Word to your 
forehead and meditate on it day and night (I found the reference: 
Deuteronomy 11:18):

"18 So commit yourselves completely to these words of mine. Tie them to 
your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead."

God didn't mean this literally (necessarily), the Spirit of the Word here 
is to always read the Scripture and meditate on it.

--Ben



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Ben Dyer
Senior Internet Developer
Imaginuity Interactive
http://www.imaginuity.com
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