Wrangler said:
I look forward to my prayers being answered in reading your honest answers to these questions tomorrow:
Let’s take them one at a time......
- What are the reasons FOR the Crusades?
Regardless of the reasons, no genuine Christian would have participated in that disgraceful violence. It shows the poor state of the Christian Faith in the hands of the Roman Catholic church, who ignored all the teachings of the Christ and his apostles....becoming exactly what their enemies were.
- What is your primary objection to the Crusades?
Christians are told not to “return evil for evil to anyone”.....who were the perpetrators of the evil and who responded with an equal level of evil. (Romans 12:17-21) How does that make the crusaders any better than their enemies?
- If attending to soulful, worldly and fleshy needs is inherently sinful, why is the Sabbath only 1 day/week?
Christians are not commanded to observe a Sabbath...that was exclusively for Jews. The majority of Christians are Gentiles.
- What are we supposed to do the other 6 days of the week if only one day is reserved exclusively for spiritual matters?
Are you serious? You mean that the Sabbath alone was the only day for spiritual matters? We are to serve our God every day of the week and because there is no longer a Sabbath....every day is an appropriate day to worship the true God...how many days of the week did Jesus and his apostles serve their God, even as Jews?
- Why do you not accuse Christ of having in his heart to kill people but do accuse me?
Jesus is authorized to take life at his Father’s command, as are his angelic forces. Just as the executioners in Israel were not guilty of murder because God’s law demanded the death penalty for certain crimes....what you are missing, as I have already mentioned, is “authorisation”. You have no sanction from God to take a life, regardless of the reason.
- Is following Jesus commands to buy a sword (with the intent to use it for its intended purpose) and give to government what is the government sinful?
You still harp on about the swords as if that justifies you using one (or whatever you may substitute) ....Jesus never intended for them to be used....as the account shows us. Peter was reprimanded for doing so. Two swords against an armed mob would have been suicide! Jesus said it was to fulfill prophesy about him being among lawless ones. To the Jews, they were.
- If killing people is inherently sinful, why did God command us to do justice, which always included killing people? See God’s judgement throughout the OT and Christ at Rev 19.
Again you fail to separate “Christians” from “the world”. God allows the authorities that govern the nations to do as they wish, and implement laws that have the death penalty...you fail to see that we are NOT to be part of what they do. We are separated from the world by the principles that Jesus gave us, and telling us in no uncertain terms to be “NO PART OF THE WORLD”.....if you are part of the world, you have no place with the true God...you are following the god of this world, who has the power to “blind” people. (2 Cor 4:3-4)
- If killing people is inherently sinful, why is murder prohibited in the 10C while killing is not prohibited?
For the simple reason that the death penalty administered under law is not murder. God gave permission to “the world” to carry out its own laws, and as we see, all nations don’t have the same penalties for crimes.
Some nations have the death penalty for crimes considered petty in others.
- If killing people is inherently sinful, why is it the first order of business upon Christ’s return?
Again it is his “authorisation” and the fact that no humans are involved in his military actions.
He is carrying out the will of his Father, under his instructions. God alone has the sole authority over life and death. He is the one who authorizes the death penalty in the nations whose political activities, we are to be no part of.
- If killing people is inherently sinful, why will Christ ultimately condemn many to death in The Lake of Fire on Judgment Day, aka The Second Death?
Because the “lake of fire” is the death penalty.....the “second death” is a permanent one, as opposed to Adamic death which we all inherited from the sin of Adam. Jesus came to rescue us from the death that we don’t have any choice about....the “second death” is merited from one’s own behaviour in disobedience to God and his Christ. This is what you are not seeing. The Crusades were nothing to do with God, but were fought among those who were disobeying him.....shedding blood without his sanction. Both sides equally guilty for committing the same atrocities. (Isa 1:15)
You really have a very skewed view of things Wrangler.....I hope you can take off the glasses that are giving you a completely wrong impression of what we as Christians must demonstrate in our lives.....we are to “conquer the evil with good”. It appears that you have no concept of the victory that lies in that stance. We are then not conquered by the evil unless we become evil ourselves. The real challenge is no retaliation....allowing God to do what he said he will...vengeance belongs to him...not us.
It’s simply not our job. And we can trust that God himself will repay all the injustice. Can you do that?
