“Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma.”

--The Wizard of Oz to the Scarecrow
"I know I chatter on far too much...but if you only knew how many things I want to say and don't. Give me SOME credit." --Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables, PBS, 1985

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Continuing Discussion...

Yesterday Emily posted a question under "comments." To get the full story, go back and read all the comments on the first page. We will continue the discussion on that topic here for organizational purposes.

New topics will be posted on new pages.

Here are my most recent comments (not answers!) on the discussion:

Emily’s question IS interesting, and I don’t feel qualified to answer in a comment, if at all. I did not design or start this blog to research such theological questions, because I have a Bible study blog already. And as I am working on the post for THAT for this week…and a current post for THIS blog, now I’m sidetracked because this question is so interesting that it does bring up some questions in my mind. So…I did do a little research that brought up some more questions, all of which are valid.

In my study of the Book of Ruth over a year ago, I delved a little into Moabites, and into why Jews should not intermarry into cultures around them. I found a recurring theme from Scripture…idolatry. Race was not mentioned at all…it was the warning not to pick up their religions and their practices of worship. Child sacrifice was mentioned quite often. I don’t recall, and correct me (anyone) if I’m wrong, any passages that warn or forbid adult sacrifices, because I don’t believe that was the practice. So I believe the OT laws and warnings continue the theme of idolatry and practices common in the worship of other gods that YHWH abhorred and forbade rather than calling it human sacrifice. Again, correct me if I’m wrong.

Now, regarding human sacrifices. What would “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends” mean? Is this literal or figurative? Is this not human sacrifice? Did not Moses offer for his name to be blotted out of God’s book instead of Israel’s after they made the calf? What type of offer was this? Is the OT prophecy in Isaiah 53 about a human? I think we can never be too dogmatic about God and what we think we are reading into His Word. I like to go back over it a few times or more if I think I’m placing an interpretation on it that isn’t there. That being said, sometimes it is fun to imagine how much more David actually might have said to the “uncircumcised Philistine!”

And do all these questions just beget more questions that have been asked for over two millennia…?

Posted by MarySue at 9:54 PM

1 comment:

  1. Mary EllenJuly 16, 2010 at 1:58 PM

    I like what you said about what other things David might have said to Goliath. Sometimes we look at Scripture to flatly and don't see some really cool relevant stuff. Mary Ellen

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)