Old Laws Still Valid?

Laws like not wearing clothing made with two types of fabric, not eating pork or shellfish, and laws stating that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations is HOLINESS from a bronze age perspective. How can anyone believe this and then also believe that godly commanded genocide and rape was somehow inside the law and in step with compassion, love and mercy, etc and is sacred is truly unimaginable.

Can you explain why the enemies the Syrians refered to the kings of Israel as merciful kings?"And his servants said to him, Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. We beg you, let us put on sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the kings of Israel. Perhaps he will preserve your life." (1 Kings 20:31)Why did the Syrians refer to the reputation of the kings of Israel as being "merciful" if the Israelites were only known for rapes and genocide?Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

Maybe because the Syrians didn't write Kings? LOLHe who writes the history gets to spin the story.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Maybe because they knew that the kings of Israel could be merciful kings.Maybe you have too many conspiracy theories in your imagination. LOL.

iceage,What's your answer? If all the Israelites were known for and their God was genocide and rape why did the Syrians hear that they were merciful kings?I'm interested in your answer iceage. I heard from jar already.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

jar, So to "spin" thier history the Jews told us of their national leader David's murder and adultery and how much God was angry with them.With spin like that who needs bad press, eh?I mean look at all the positive "spin" for Israel in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. What a continuous rosy picture the Jewish prophets "spun" about their nation, eh?

The obvious answer would be that flattery often works better that insults when one is trying to save one's neck.

Did the Syrians write Kings?Remember, there is no one author of the Bible. It is an anthology of anthologies where oral traditions of many peoples were later merged together and redacted.There are places where Judah knocks Israel, Israel knocks Judah, one faction mocks and slanders another.The TOPIC though is "Old Laws Still Valid?"Look at Message 96.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

You brought up garments and clothing in regard to the Divine and Holy Law?Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.Matthew 22:8 "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. 13 "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.Matthew 17:2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.Mathew 28:3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

That may work on the Internet when exchanging posts. But we're talking about real sharp swords here.I don't think going out in sackcloth and ropes was done to flatter their Israelite captures.

Ringo writes:What Bible do you read?Ringo, did you know the word Holy appears 525 times in the New International Version of the Bible, and 544 times in the King james?Romans 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.Righteousness and goodness are synonymous with perfection. We are to be perfect and Holy.Do you wnat to know how perfect, perfect is? Jesus talked about it and revealed for us the Spirit of the law.Mt 5:48 Jeus said, 'Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.'Mt 19:21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."Ringo writes:You don't think those things are Holy?Edited by scottness, : No reason given.

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If we will not learn to eat the only food that the universe grows ” the only food that any possible universe ever can grow ” then we must starve eternally. (Lewis- The Problem of Pain)

Ah, forget the Absolutes. I suppose what I am after is a moral ranking system of some kind. Maybe just a Superior Moral. And then its back to Love thy God, and Love thy neighbor, and of the two, Love thy God is maybe MORE relative. Like for example, we are told not to swear or make an oath, but that might just be ok if a child's life depended on the taking of an oath (for whatever silly reason). On the other hand, if our life depended on it, and we refused, would we be 'martyrs'?Edited by anastasia, : No reason given.

Holy? Let's take it slowly.Here's what Jesus said about the law:

quote:

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Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

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Notice the word "as". Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."As" is a comparison. Jesus told us to love our neighbours relative to the way we love ourselves. According to Jesus, the law is relative.If you buy yourself a new plasma TV, you should think about buying one for your neighbour too. (Or at the very least, invite him to watch the Super Bowl on yours.) On the other hand, if you haven't eaten in three days, you don't need to feel obligated to feed the poor.It's all relative. It's all in comparison to what you do for yourself.So "perfection" is irrelevant. You don't treat yourself perfectly, so you aren't expected to treat your neighbours perfectly either. When the Bible speaks about perfection, it's as an ideal to be aimed for. It is not a minimum standard to be punished if you don't attain it.Now, remember how Jesus told us to obey the law:

quote:

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Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

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We love God by loving our neighbour, by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner. We love God by doing. We obey the law by doing.It is the doing of the law that is holy, not the letter of the law itself.

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We have a ranking system. We look at what was considered moral or illegal at the time of Moshe or Jesus and compare it to what is considered moral or illegal today. We rank morality based on history.That is why morality changes over time, it evolves based on what we as a culture learn.Pretending that there are Absolute Morals or Absolute Law or even Superior Moral really is little more than an easy out, a way to stop having to think and make up our own minds constantly.Laws, Morality, our understanding of Justice fortunately are relative. They constantly change and evolve. As we gain greater understanding we can look at the Laws of the past, and we have the God Given Charge to look at those relative to what we have learned and to abridge, revise, expunge and invalidate those laws which no longer serve a valid purpose.We are no longer living in the year 2000BCE or 1000BCE or 1AD or 200AD or 1500CE. This is the year 2007CE and Law, Morality and Justice must reflect that.What may have been good law in 400BCE simply are no longer valid. Just because it was Good Enough for Moses is insufficient reason to suppose that it is Good Enough for today.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

You still need a way to judge which is better. It can't be the age of the law which makes it better.Besides, if morality evolves, why desn't immorality? Seems like we are stuck with the same old things...lying, stealing, adultery, rape, etc. As long as those are considered immoral, honesty and fidelity will be moral.