Should This Be Respected As A Religion....

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household."





Yes many people in fact believe the term “sword” and “division” to be literal and quite simplistic in meaning and intent. Therefore people envision a metal sword that is a symbol of violence and that the “division” he spoke of was that of war and strife. Many cultural Christians claim it to be a sentiment of war but the meaning runs deeper then that.





But of course how could that be? jesus did not come to advocate the division of humanity but in actual fact the bringing together of humanity. To think he would advocate such a thing would in actual fact make him a very paradoxical mix indeed.







The statement is one of the most widely used in conjunction with sceptics and critics of the Christian following, placeing the quote along with some seemingly contradictory quotes as regards the bible and the divine origin of god and his everlasting love for all his creations.





Literate scholars and literate Christians say it is a metaphore for the word of truth. This idea can be backed by a quote from the book of revelations that was a vision john had. Conversely there are many references over 200 I believe, to the word sword in the bible and to chose one particular image is somewhat unsubstantiated. Its not a matter of one definition of a word but moreso its presence within a certain case.



the Son of Man... cometh with clouds.. clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle... head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire... feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters...in his right hand [had] seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword..."





The forked tongue is supposed to represent truth because it is the one virtue that indeed, though not an act of malice, can cause division amongst the greatest of people. Jesus was the being of truth. With his coming came Great War and strife and he knew it would. It was also believed to be his way of telling people the inevitable that was to come to pass. His words of truth would be a dividing force for some and an excuse for hate but that did not mean he advocated it or asked them to commit to it.





The word sword is more oft then not used to show how easily the bible can be misinterpreted and that like with all writings, certain statements bare symbolism.





If he had not come people would have gone on in sin and guilt undisturbed till the day of doom had come to be and pass. Now, Christ came to get rid of that sin and guilt but then there was subsequent turmoil because men clung to violence and perverted his truth and fought god and the gospel. Christ foresaw this and let it happen but became empathetic and cast a sword upon the earth. The logic behind this to some was that, why leave all perish when it would be better to have division and hostility but save as many people as possible?





Some people respond negatively to the word but it was not his intent but the effect his teachings would have on the people.







Most Christians do not advocate violence. They don’t agree with it but look harshly upon it especially when people do it and “use” religion as an excuse. But all christiansd shouldn’t be lumped into one category of agreeing with violence.





Not all are extremists…







We could talk about the crusades….but then again I am not a crusador in those terms nor am i familiar with it in any great detail.



We could talk about the Spanish inquisition but all i could add is that it had something to do with religion.





We could talk anti abortion nutcases I too disagree with. And then follow on with another extremist level of how they killed a human being for doing their job.



We could sit all day and discuss how much we both find detestable the acts of men. And I think after talking in circles we would both find we share the same level of disgust in people who loose a sense of humanity and in that loss take the most precious gist awarded us. Life.







We could talk about murder and violence in those aforementioned contexts but what relevance has that to Christianity as a whole? Unless you’re hinting that Christians as a unit strive to hurt and kill those of a different path?



In which case that’s just not completely true.


I believe it would make a difference when the words of the bible are perverted to take a role of hate and justification of hate …. But hey….maybe im just one of those inane people who thought the bible was supposed to be a symbol of goodness and love. There’s a couple of us cooks around these days.


i joke...


its just me.

 

I think he's just saying that it's not hard to squeeze antisemitism from the NT. This is an essay that shows all of the occasions of antisemitism, potential antisemitism or things with the potential to provoke antisemtism, book by book:

http://www.messiahtruth.com/anti.html

I'm not saying that modern Christianity is antisemitic. On the contrary, I've never met an antisemitic Christian in person. Most Christians are decent, honest people. But for those who would use them, the sources are there for such hate.