Theology
Various theological bits as I prep my weekly sermon and read
Theology
Matt 7:2 and Lex Tallionis
If we [condemn] others . . . we must expect God to respond in the coinage of strict justice. Mercy and generosity [of spirit] to others is a declaration to God that such is the coinage we wish to have used in his dealings with us as well.
The Golden Rule—the principle of treating others as one would like to be treated—is found in many different faith traditions and philosophies outside of Christianity. This widespread occurrence suggests that it may have originated independently among various cultures or evolved naturally from basic human empathy and ethics. Here are some examples:
1
... See more2 Chronicles 7:14 in Rabbinic Literature
Jerusalem Talmud Taʿanit 2.65B.3: R. Eleazar (ca. 270) said, “Three things cancel a hard (divine) decree, namely, prayer, almsgiving, and repentance, and all three are contained in one scriptural verse; see 2 Chr 7:13: ‘Then when my people bow down, over whom my name is named, and when they pray,’ this refers
... See moreIsaiah 11:3b-5
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and
... See moreIsaiah 11:1-2
Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,
who write oppressive statutes,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be your spoil,
and that you may make the orphans your prey!
is that we must refrain from judging others; we must humbly acknowledge that we have no access to other people’s hearts and that judging people is the sole prerogative of God.21
Nehemia Polen • Stop, Look, Listen: Celebrating Shabbos through a Spiritual Lens
Jesus on Matt 7:5
Jesus is drawing attention to a curious feature of the human race in which a profound ignorance of oneself is so often combined with an arrogant presumption of knowledge about others, especially about their faults. First gets the priorities right; that which matters most is to deal with the plank. The would-be helper’s first
... See moreAnd since, in imitation of a rhetorician training a pupil, he introduces a Jew, who enters into a personal discussion with Jesus, and speaks in a very childish manner, altogether unworthy of the grey hairs of a philosopher, let me endeavour, to the best of my ability, to examine his statements, and show that he does not maintain, throughout the... See more
Origen: Contra Celsus, Book 1 (Roberts-Donaldson)
Origen, Against Clesus, 1:28 Panthera
The Problem with Judging
Chrysostom, “thou art making the judgment-seat dreadful to thyself, and the account strict,” p. 158)