Hi yakker!!
First of all I need to tell you that the entire Bible is subject of
personal interpretation. Christianism accepts as a Holy Bible both Old
and New Testaments but the big source of dogma and doctrine is the New
Testament, and the Old Testament is generally considered as the Godīs
words for prepare Israel to arrival of the Mesaiah. As Godīs words,
the Old Testament is also a holy book.
With this introduction I want to tell you that for take a conclusion
about the Christianīs doctrine you must be based on the New Testament,
preferentially the Gospels.
Here the point is if the Bible teaches that any different religion is
wicked or as you heard one person say: "the bible makes it very clear
that if you're not for him, you're against him."
This passage appears in
Matthew 12,30 and Luke 11,23:
"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with
me, scatters".
This passage can be interpreted as a declaration of every
non-christian as an enemy, but take a look to the following passage:
Mark 9,38-41:
(38)"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your
name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."
(39)"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my
name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, (40)for whoever
is not against us is for us. (41)I tell you the truth, anyone who
gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will
certainly not lose his reward.
This little chapter has by title "Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for
Us", this passage suggests a 180 degrees turn on the statement that we
are analyzing, here Jesus says that the only way to be an enemy is to
be deliberately AGAINST him. More than this, if you interpret the "in
my name" phrase as "in the name of God" he is telling us that people
of other religions who make good things will be saved. But this is a
part of the answer of other of your questions.
Based on this, my interpretation is that only the people who do the
bad are enemy of the christianism, but another passage come to me at
this time:
Matthews 5,43-48: Love for Enemies
(43)"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate
your enemy.' (44)But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you, (45)that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on
the righteous and the unrighteous. (46)If you love those who love you,
what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
(47)And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than
others? Do not even pagans do that? (48)Be perfect, therefore, as
your heavenly Father is perfect.
So taken in the entire context, the New Testament (the basis holy book
for Christians) is a legacy of love; but this is my personal
interpretation and fortunately is the present-day interpretation for
almost christians in the world.
I hope this helps you in this subject, but if you need a
clarification, please post a request of it.
Best Regards.
livioflores-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
livioflores-ga
on
30 Mar 2003 18:28 PST
Please excuse me, when I said "...people of other religions who make
good things will be saved. But this is a part of the answer of other
of your questions." I did a mistake, this is the point of this
question, so I will continue with this here.
To follow the discussion I will repost the paragraph:
Mark 9,38-41:
(38)"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your
name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."
(39)"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my
name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, (40)for whoever
is not against us is for us. (41)I tell you the truth, anyone who
gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will
certainly not lose his reward.
This little chapter has by title "Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for
Us", this passage suggests a 180 degrees turn on the statement that we
are analyzing, here Jesus says that the only way to be an enemy is to
be deliberately AGAINST him. More than this, if you interpret the "in
my name" phrase as "in the name of God" he is telling us that people
of other religions who make good things will be saved. More than this,
following the same interpretation for Holy Spirit as God (as people of
any religion names Him) we have (following the first statement -Mt
12,30- , may be as a clarification to avoid confusions):
Matthews 12,31-32:
(31)And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men,
but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. (32)Anyone
who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone
who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in
this age or in the age to come.
For me, this passage tell us clearly that the people who believe in
God and do good things in His name, whatever religion they profess,
will be saved.
This joined with Mark 9,38-41 (Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us)
passage, tell us what is the christian doctrine about this topic.
Please excuse my confusion. And again remember that if you need a
clarification, please post a request for it.
Regards.
livioflores-ga
|
