Christians and the Old Testament, Part 3

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

When last we met, we were discussing the ramifications of arrogant anti-theists/atheists who, because of their supreme arrogance, are unable to see past their own limited perspective to truly understand things when it comes to the Bible. This is repeated so often with many (not all) atheists that it has become comical. In truth, these types of atheists are living embodiment of the Scriptural adage, “Professing themselves wise, they become fools,” (Romans 1:33).

Most specifically, last time, in Part 2 of this current series related to Christians and the Old Testament, we referred to an individual who had taken the time out of his thoroughly busy schedule in an attempt to reduce me to stark and abject silence. He obviously thought too highly of himself. As a reminder, here is what he wrote in a comment that I chose to not publish, but instead make it the centerpiece of several articles in which I could take the time to point out his inadequacies repeatedly. As you’ll note, there is quite a bit to deal with in just a few sentences from this individual.

hahaha! What makes you think that your make believe god is real and theirs isnt? Have a good read of the old testament, much of the killings they carry out are also stated as your gods will. atleast they ACTUALLY follow the teachings of their religion (wrong or not) unlike Christians… F**king Christians always so quick to judge! You do realize if you were born in syria/iraq you would be muslim as well, right? And believe all the same bullsh*t they believe. Youre all as bad as each other, literally. ALL religion in general has done nothing but stall evolution. We should be already able to visit other life in the galaxy (which ACTUALLY does exist, youre borderline retarded for using a 2000 year old book as reason to ignore it) if it wasnt for stone age minded people like YOU and them. Wake up…

In truth, the crux of the problem is not with Christianity at all. The true crux of the issue lies with him (and other who think as he does) and his exceedingly difficult time in wending his way through the “jungle” we call the Holy Bible. Ultimately, it is not that difficult to learn what the Bible says because, as with any book, context means a great deal. Yet, our friend and many others like him utterly fail to grasp this simply truth and because of that, makes no effort at all to understand the narrative of Scripture within its context. I pointed this out last time using the example of boiling a young goat (kid) in its mother’s milk.

But let’s move along the path of his somewhat readable comments to discern what he is trying to say. He states, “atleast they ACTUALLY follow the teachings of their religion (wrong or not) unlike Christians…” and that simply isn’t 100% true. In fact, the media as well as leftists and the Obama administration tell us that the “extremist” Muslim is the exception to the rule. President Obama, as well as other world leaders, have in fact told us that these “extremists” do not represent true Islam. In essence then, who is the “true” Muslim when both groups argue that they are? How would our friend know anyway, unless of course, he’s read the Qur’an and the Hadith?

When our atheist friend makes his sweeping generalization about Muslims “ACTUALLY” following the teachings of their religion, he simply proves that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, or is zeroing in on the “extremists” within Islam (since not all Muslims do what the “extremists” do). I wonder then if he is willing to call the “moderate” Muslims hypocrites for not doing what their extremist counterparts do routinely? I doubt it.

His next statement is also ridiculous, but we need to try to remember that this individual seems to have little capacity to think clearly and that is so because of the emotions (including arrogance) that guide him. “F**king Christians always so quick to judge!” This particular statement stems from a complete misunderstanding of Jesus’ own words when He said, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” (Matthew 7:1-3).

This is a very common go-to passage of Scripture that people toss around willy-nilly because it appears to be so obvious. Was Jesus really telling people never to judge anything or anyone?

In John 7:24 this very same Jesus said these words, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” Of course, the same atheist who accuses Christians of being so “judgmental” would likely say that this passage in John represents a “contradiction” in Scripture. In reality of course, it doesn’t.

Here, Jesus is saying that people often judge based on their perceptions of what is going on. We may see a person do something and jump on that, but we then are guilty of judging the situation without understanding the full context. Everyone does this – and I’ve already proven that our atheist friend does as well – and we need to stop. In order to make a “right” judgment, it helps to have all the facts, doesn’t it?

However, when Jesus says that we should not judge, or we will be judged, He’s speaking of something that goes much deeper. He’s telling us to avoid judging a person’s motives for doing something because we cannot see that motivation. It’s not part of the picture. We simply see actions or hear words, but we cannot see the reason why a person does something.

At the same time, there are many principles/tenets within Scripture that show us what is right and what is wrong. They are very clear and because of that, to make the point that something is wrong in society does not have to go to the point of judging someone’s motivation for doing something.

For instance, murder is wrong. “Thou shalt not kill” was given first to Noah in Genesis 9 (long before the Mosaic Law was given) and was given because God said that people who murder (we’re not talking about defending yourself against a criminal who is attempting to kill you), are actually attempting to strike out at God Himself. Why? Because God made man in His own image, with personality, the ability to think critically, etc. Murder is never okay or acceptable. God told Noah that murder should not be done but when it was done, the murderer should also be put to death to rid society of him.

Because we know that murder is wrong, most Christians also agree that abortion is wrong as well, since it is simply a form of premeditated murder. In the case of homosexuality, the Bible is very clear about the fact that it is wrong. In fact, Paul in Romans 1 spells it out so that there is no mistaking it. In spite of this, gay activists and others still question this clarity.

But if Paul states that homosexuality is wrong, then Christians who do are merely repeating what he teaches. However, look at the image containing a quote from Ricky Gervais. In it, he states that he hates religion but that does not mean that he hates people “with” religion and it is unfair to characterize him in such a way.

Yet, for the atheist and leftist, they make the same charge against Christians all the time. We are constantly told that if we do not agree with homosexuality (as a societal issue), then we are obviously “hating” homosexuals. This is patently not true. For the record, I doubt seriously that Ricky Gervais “hates” Christians or other people who “have” religion. Of course, our atheist friend whom I’ve quoted above is not cut from the same cloth as Gervais and from his comments, it seems reasonable to infer that he probably does hate religious people. I could be wrong, but he hasn’t given me much to go on.

My point though is that I can clearly state that certain things are wrong, according to Scripture, without “hating” the person who does those things. (Certainly, because Christians are not under the Mosaic Law, they are not instructed to kill homosexuals today.) That is a distinction that the Bible itself makes, yet one that atheists don’t like to recognize…unless of course, it’s with reference to themselves.

I have a few more things to respond to regarding our atheist friend’s comments, so join me next time.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective