I love it when debates like these have such a friendly atmosphere to them.
Let's just all hug it out and be friendly about this...
Anywho, I don't particularly feel like getting involved in this, because neither side has any chance at all of convincing the other...at least, like this. There was one thing I felt was worth pointing out, though.
| BMaker11 said: Well, I'm sorry that you feel sad that I and others won't do mental gymnastics in order to make the Bible seem nice, logical, trustworthy, or otherwise something to live our lives by. I'm of the kind that calls a spade a spade. When Jesus says "sell all your possessions and give them to the poor", that means sell all your possessions and give them to the poor, not some "metaphor" theologians came up with to mean "be nice to poor people". |
And I agree...except that Jesus says that to one specific person, and it's not given as a commandment to everyone...specifically given to one person who was far too attached to his possessions. If anyone, regardless of status, tries to twist that into meaning something such as "everyone should give their possessions to the poor," or "we should all be nice to the poor," then they're just flat out misinterpreting what's there. Both of those may be nice concepts, and perhaps virtuous...but it's pretty obvious that that's not what the passage implies.
Anyways, that's all. Have fun being nice to each other n' such.
