tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6334744637968568106.post1722916427100584731..comments2023-07-01T06:30:18.108-07:00Comments on Uncommon Sense Commentary: My "favorite" misintepreted Scripture passagesBlueDeaconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05641178784714584337noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6334744637968568106.post-33196805194682761012011-04-21T10:40:40.984-07:002011-04-21T10:40:40.984-07:00~sas~ -- I did read a few pages in that book sever...~sas~ -- I did read a few pages in that book several years ago and dismissed it out of hand. Part of the problem is that the poor cannot simply be "saved" from poverty by mere correct moral behavior; more than anything else they need access to the same opportunities that everyone else does, and I've heard no one on the political right ever make any noise about doing so. (That's why, for example, the civil-rights movement not only came from the left but also opposed by the right.) See, people who subscribe to that ideology are willing to help the poor <i>as long as it doesn't cost anything to them.</i>BlueDeaconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05641178784714584337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6334744637968568106.post-24775305760624784632011-04-19T15:53:58.295-07:002011-04-19T15:53:58.295-07:00To your first point: It's not that "nothi...To your first point: It's not that "nothing should be done" for the poor. If you read George Grant's Bringing in the Sheaves, for example, you'll find that the statement is understood to reflect the reality that people are poor for many reasons, including immoral living, and that addressing the causes and effects of poverty is a perennial task and furthermore that the solution begins with knowing Jesus, not with re-distributing wealth.~sas~https://www.blogger.com/profile/02501651626405443048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6334744637968568106.post-47097277747578314922011-04-08T13:42:10.520-07:002011-04-08T13:42:10.520-07:00That's right, Robin. Paul is saying in Romans...That's right, Robin. Paul is saying in Romans 13, "Obey the law -- but here's how you get around it and glorify God. Don is also right in that the early church operated a strategy of subversion, to twist Roman law in a way it was never intended.<br /><br />One example: When Paul tells women to be subject to their husbands, they were legally required to do so; however, when he tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church ... now <i>that</i> was radical because women were literally the property of their husbands.BlueDeaconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05641178784714584337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6334744637968568106.post-37701908517478908292011-04-08T10:40:16.388-07:002011-04-08T10:40:16.388-07:00Absolutely, Robin. Mennonite theologian John Howar...Absolutely, Robin. Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder devotes a full chapter of his book <i>The Politics of Jesus</i> to a proper understanding of the first seven verses of Romans 13. He argued that the context (beginning with Romans 12:1) demands a subversive interpretation of the passage.<br /><br />More recently, as you know, Romans 13 has been invoked by some Christians to justify the mistreatment of undocumented immigrants--we have to obey the law, after all, and they are breaking it.Don Plummerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970765107980643386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6334744637968568106.post-51514448982276273402011-04-08T09:31:11.792-07:002011-04-08T09:31:11.792-07:00One of the biggies: Romans 13. Paul is telling the...One of the biggies: Romans 13. Paul is telling the people in Rome that, at this particular time, it is unnecessary and probably pointless to resist the imperial government openly. The implication that is often read into this - that Christians should at all times obey the governing authorities in all things - is completely unwarranted. It is the misreading of this passage that allowed Hitler to do what he did with only token resistance from the German church.Robin Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13833599423363541782noreply@blogger.com