How do Christians reconcile this passage?
Upvote:0
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says he came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets (Matt.5:17) but does He endorse them? Well if you only read to verse 20 it would seem so. However Jesus now explains what the Law is. God has not changed his mind. I know many Christians will say Jesus is merely adding to the existing Laws or something to that effect. But he repeals completely the ‘God given’ law on oaths, retaliation and divorce and finally emphasises the love behind the Law in Matt.7:12 (KJV) Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. The greek is even more emphatic – this(οὗτος) indeed(γάρ) is(ἐστιν) the law . . . I believe it was no accident that Jesus took the people up the mountain to give them the correct law, symbolising Moses going up the mountain. The law had become corrupted by additions and or errors and this Sermon from God Himself should supersede any notion we have of Old Testament law.
Upvote:1
The law was created before Eve sinned, or she could not have broken Gods Law,
God wrote this same law on stone to people that had come out of slavery in Egypt and starts it with l am the Lord your God
Noah was not a Jew,
The prescription for eating meat was given after the flood
The Sabbbath was created and blessed on the 7th day of creation, scripture no where says it was created for the Jews
Upvote:2
Christians have addressed this in various ways:
Some (a very small minority), such as Marcion challenged premise 1. - they didn't believe in the Old Testament. Most Christians have rejected this approach to the extent of labelling those who adopt it as being heretical.
A slightly bigger group (comprising the likes of Seventh Day Adventists and Messianic Jews) would take serious issue with your premise 2. - they take the Old Testament law seriously and do seek to follow whatever part of it that can still be followed (considering that the destruction of the temple has practically put paid to all the laws related to temple worship, Orthodox Jews are in the much the same boat here).
The vast majority of Christians would challenge your premise 3. as being a completely false characterization of what Jesus did and taught:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:17-20 NIV
Additionally, many would make the point that although God is Lord over all, the Mosaic law wasn't given to humanity in general, but to the children of Israel in particular, and the vast majority of Christians are not descendants of Israel, but gentiles - they are, by default, excluded from the Mosaic Covenant therefore they are not bound by it's provisions. Of more relevance are the commands given to Noah from whom all are believed to be descended and these provisions were actually reiterated by the early Christian Church at her first general council.
Your point 4. is completely moot - the Old Testament has not (except by Marcion and his ilk) been disavowed and there is therefore no direction to follow "other Gods".
More post
- 📝 Why did John Newton oppose Handel's Messiah?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, can a tattoo be considered a sacramental?
- 📝 Why does the Son have a source of existence?
- 📝 If jealousy is sin, how can God be jealous?
- 📝 Do you think Satan needs Jesus’ love and forgiveness as much we do?
- 📝 Which Catholic doctrines are infallible?
- 📝 Have any noteworthy church councils denounced Full Preterism as heresy?
- 📝 Why is the feast of the Visitation not transferred when impeded by Corpus Christi?
- 📝 Early church fathers on Mary as mediatrix
- 📝 What is the earliest manuscript of the Gloria in excelsis Deo (Greater Doxology) hymn?
- 📝 Ten commandments contradiction
- 📝 What is God's name?
- 📝 Has anyone published a testimony about their deliverance from a spirit of divination or similar, as in Acts 16:16-18?
- 📝 What is the origin of the term Prima Scriptura and the background against which it was defined?
- 📝 In John 1:45–51, did Jesus prophesy that Nathanael was one of the 144,000 Jews in Revelation 7 and 14?
- 📝 What is the best interpretation of Matthew 24:29, from the perspective of an evangelical Christian?
- 📝 How do Anglicans, who recognize apostolic succession, trace theirs?
- 📝 What is the general interpretation of God creating the humans "in his image"?
- 📝 Is moonlighting an offense against Ten Commandments?
- 📝 What exactly did Yahshua/Jesus do during his 40 day fast after being baptized?
- 📝 Does any church follow the Apostolic Tradition of Baptism ‘in the nude’, or was that never the tradition?
- 📝 Where does this definition of humility come from, if not the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
- 📝 Is one who is "least in the kingdom of heaven" still in heaven?
- 📝 Sex and Pleasure?
- 📝 What is the doctrine of the Trinity?
- 📝 How do sedevacantists who claim the See has been empty since Vatican II understand the legitimacy of the bishops and priests?
- 📝 What is the Catholic view of the biological transmission of original sin?
- 📝 Paying respects during grace, benediction, etc. as a non-Christian?
- 📝 Is there a good Swedish Bible Translation that's not the equivalent of the NIV?
- 📝 How does the Filioque affect Reformed Protestant theology?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How do Christians reconcile this passage?
- 📝 How do Christians reconcile God's omnipotence with his omniscience?
- 📝 How do Christians reconcile archeology with the Bible in the account of the Battle of Jericho?
- 📝 How do Christians who reject pre-fall death reconcile their views with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (66 million years ago)?
- 📝 How can Christians reconcile the request to prohibit same-sex marriage and the lawfulness of h*m*sexuality itself?
- 📝 How do Theistic Evolutionists who are Christians reconcile these Scriptures with the adoption of evolutionary theory?
- 📝 The Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus Christ existed eternally or everlastingly, how do they reconcile this with Micah 5:2?
- 📝 John 1:18 - "No one has ever seen God" - How do Trinitarians reconcile this scripture with the belief that the Lord Jesus Christ is God?
- 📝 The Mormon Church teaches that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son. How do you reconcile this when the Bible says the Father cannot be seen?
- 📝 How do Christians reconcile Deuteronomy 13:1-4 with their belief in the abrogation of the Mosaic law?
- 📝 Jesus rejects equality with God - How does this statement reconcile with traditional teachings?
- 📝 According to LDS, do all non-LDS Christians lack the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and if so, how does this lack manifest itself in the lives of non-LDS?
- 📝 If Orthodox Christians must repent of any act of violence, how does this not entail pacifism?
- 📝 Do Lutherans believe that the sacraments are necessary for salvation (similar to Catholics), and if so, how do they reconcile this with Sola Fide?
- 📝 How do Christians reconcile Isaiah 42:4 with the death of Jesus?
- 📝 How do those who deny baptism as a means of grace reconcile this bible verses apparently saing otherwise?
- 📝 How do Christians who think animals have only existed for <7,000 years on Earth reconcile their views with Pleistocene saber-toothed tigers?
- 📝 How do Christians reconcile the following reasoning?
- 📝 Mormons believe in more than one god so how do they reconcile this belief with 1 Timothy 1:17?
- 📝 How do Christians respond to this claim in the Qur'an?
- 📝 How do young earth creationists reconcile the age of the universe with the speed of light, and visible distant objects?
- 📝 How do Christians understand the omniscience of God in relation to the Uncertainty Principle?
- 📝 How do traditional Christians defend the teaching that Paul is an authentic apostle?
- 📝 How do Christians in support of gay marriage interpret anti-gay Bible verses?
- 📝 How does Matthew 25:31-46 ("The Sheep and the Goats") reconcile with salvation by faith?
- 📝 How would Reformed Christians deal with h*m*sexual marriage of individuals prior to their conversion to Christianity?
- 📝 How should one reconcile a wrong against another person?
- 📝 How does LDS doctrine reconcile monotheism with men becoming gods?
- 📝 According to the Bible, how should Christians meditate?
- 📝 For how long did the early Christians share all their possessions?