Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
... I'm also unsure why anyone would refer to the Exodus 34 passage as renewing a covenant, it's pretty clear that it's a new covenant altogether...."
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Perhaps you are unaware of the scholarly debate, which has raged for centuries regarding the reconciliation of the "ethical" nature of the decalogue in Exodus 20, and the "ritual" nature of Exodus 34.
Explanations abound, focusing on the various sources for Exodus, but one of the common views is that the shortened, ritual version in 34 is the result of a reduction process. See for instance, this:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Z7s...um=3&ct=result
Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
... For crying out loud, Sonist -- this is part of a parable! The better known version is accounted in Matthew 24:14-30 where it's called the The Parable of the Talents. This version in Luke 19:11-27 is called the Parable of the Minas. You're not even quoting Jesus' words, you're quoting Jesus quoting a figure in the story. |
Uhm, you seem to totally miss my point regarding "intolerance and militancy," which is illustrated by both the words and the moral of Luke 19:27.
To begin with, some find it ambiguous whether 27 relates to the noble from the parable, who in any event, is really Jesus, who is on his way to the throne of David as the King of Kings. For this reason, many commentators end the discussion of the parable with 26, and simply ignore 27.
Others, point to 27 as the retribution which will be meted out to those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Christ, after he returns to Earth as its rightful king in the Second Coming. Yet others claim that 27 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Second, the Parables of Minas and Talents, while similar, are generally seen by many of the faithful not as versions of each other, but as differently structured stories, teaching distinctly different virtues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
... I'm beginning to wonder if you're deliberately taking pieces out of context...."
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The "out of context" argument seems to be often employed by those who wish to avoid the glaring contradictions and problems within their holy book. Really, with enough logical twisting and placing words in the "context" of my choosing, I can find the Word of God in my dishwasher manual.
Finally, HarryT's point about placing the "morality" of biblical characters in their historical context, to which you refer for support, is valid. But it only serves to drive the point, that the mythology compilation we call The Bible, is nothing more than the relatively primitive world view of some Bronze Age tribesmen, with some edits and interpolations by subsequent generations of faithful.
So, while it may be of interest on many levels, The Bilble's place is next to the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Vedas, or any good compilation of Greek Myths. Where it resides on my bookshelf.
