Brakelite
Well-Known Member
All the musings and questions aside from the rest of your post, I will take this...
In Hebrews, Paul says
KJV Hebrews 1:1-3
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
You mentioned that the NT appeared to you to contradict the old. Like for example regarding eye for an eye, and turning the other cheek. You also suggested a contradiction re marriage and family, from the old to the new.
I would like to suggest that every teaching in scripture is in some way, a reflection of the character of God. As the above scripture says, God spoke through his prophets... And then through His Son. It is the same God who is speaking. He is not a fickle changeable God who can't make up His mind. I don't believe there are contradictions between how He reveals His character from old to new testaments... Nor was He confused as to when His Son would return, in fact Jesus said, His Father knew, but hadn't informed His Son... Yet.
But Jesus wasn't guessing about His return. I think any apparent contradiction is in our understanding... Not in God's revelation. For example, I can't entirely agree with you that there was nothing in the NT about family and marriage, and I certainly disagree with you that Paul was recommending none should marry. I think in a Hebrew society which took marriage as a sacred event, Paul, because of the horrendous times in which they lived, persecution from Jews and Romans, as well as from other cultures in the Gentile Nations such as in Asia and the worshippers of Diana etc, he was simply encouraging those who didn't feel that marriage was for them, not to feel guilty or wrong.
There are numerous scriptures throughout the NT that exalted marriage and family. 1 Peter 3:1-7; Ephesians 5:27-33; Col. 3:18-25; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 2:1-8.
I remind you also of this...
KJV Matthew 24:36-39
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Jesus fully expected that marriage and family would still be an integral part of human society when He came. This aside from the several parables where marriage was depicted as sacred and holy.
... On face value, and go from there. My question, why did Jesus teach pacifism, turning the other cheek etc?my beliefs are rooted in the Bible,
In Hebrews, Paul says
KJV Hebrews 1:1-3
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
You mentioned that the NT appeared to you to contradict the old. Like for example regarding eye for an eye, and turning the other cheek. You also suggested a contradiction re marriage and family, from the old to the new.
I would like to suggest that every teaching in scripture is in some way, a reflection of the character of God. As the above scripture says, God spoke through his prophets... And then through His Son. It is the same God who is speaking. He is not a fickle changeable God who can't make up His mind. I don't believe there are contradictions between how He reveals His character from old to new testaments... Nor was He confused as to when His Son would return, in fact Jesus said, His Father knew, but hadn't informed His Son... Yet.
But Jesus wasn't guessing about His return. I think any apparent contradiction is in our understanding... Not in God's revelation. For example, I can't entirely agree with you that there was nothing in the NT about family and marriage, and I certainly disagree with you that Paul was recommending none should marry. I think in a Hebrew society which took marriage as a sacred event, Paul, because of the horrendous times in which they lived, persecution from Jews and Romans, as well as from other cultures in the Gentile Nations such as in Asia and the worshippers of Diana etc, he was simply encouraging those who didn't feel that marriage was for them, not to feel guilty or wrong.
There are numerous scriptures throughout the NT that exalted marriage and family. 1 Peter 3:1-7; Ephesians 5:27-33; Col. 3:18-25; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 2:1-8.
I remind you also of this...
KJV Matthew 24:36-39
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Jesus fully expected that marriage and family would still be an integral part of human society when He came. This aside from the several parables where marriage was depicted as sacred and holy.