Some diluted versions of the Christian faith are totally acceptable to the world at large. If you just stick to the second half of the Ten Commandments, rename it the Six Commandments, you are good to go. Much of what Jesus taught is not offensive to people of good will. Most of what Jesus taught was simply a repeat of the Old Testament and healthy rules of living that would have been approved by Dr. Phil as well as your local porn star.
What stops them cold are what the Bible teaches about His death and resurrection. That they cannot abide because that goes along with the first four commandments and the full teaching of the Old Testament. God is supreme. Man is created. We are to live in obedience according to His rules.
With Jesus we add the resurrection. I wrote about this before, but some things cannot be repeated often enough. You can see a fuller discussion at Opus 211-325.
It is the key difference between moral teaching and hope for eternity. Living well is a benefit but it will not drive away the specter of death. The resurrection is the center. It is the center of the problem and the center of the solution. It is not turning the other cheek, justice or anything else. The problem of the world is with the resurrection of Jesus. That is offered by the Bible as the key. It is offered by the true church.
And it is offered to you.
The cross and the shed blood offer forgiveness of sins. The empty tomb offers the hope of eternal life.
homo unius libri
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.