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Jesus was very concerned about pretense and appearance but not in the
way you imagine.
The perversion of God's Law by the scribes and Pharisees, for example,
was of great concern to Jesus, both for their sakes and for the sakes
of all of Israel (and ultimately all of us who would hear him).
Jesus's words and actions were always explanations and elaborations on
the truths already in posession by the Jews via the written Law and the
Prophets.
The pretense that the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees were
protecting, practicing, and preaching the truths which God had revealed
to their forefathers was completely exposed as such by Jesus. The
appearance of success and piety was shattered by Christ's teaching.
The pretense so evident in our age by those that want to align
themselves, in part, with the Christ of their imagination instead of
the Christ of the Bible are as interested in appearance as any of their
scribe, Pharisee, or Saduccee counterparts.
jeff
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| If I may... it seems that Jesus disaligned himself from those who
thought themselves to be above or better than others. A "holier than
though" arrogant attitude seemed to be a favorite target of his.
Instead, humility was embraced. The nature of children was held as a
standard... humble, innocent, trusting, ignorant and accepting of
everyone at face value without judgment based on societal or religious
distinction.
I wonder what Jesus would have to say about the Christian church in
this light.
-dave
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| Z If I may... it seems that Jesus disaligned himself from those who
Z thought themselves to be above or better than others. A "holier
Z than though" arrogant attitude seemed to be a favorite target of his.
Dave, how much more can one show humility than to admit they are a
sinner and cannot merit eternal life in any other way than through a
redeeming power?
The pharisees could claim they were strict followers of the law, and
could display their efforts by outward manifestation. Since the law
does not justify in the New Testament age, a holier than thou attitude
would be the equivalent of dressing up in a clown outfit...so to speak.
Do you put the challenging of beliefs in the same light as claiming to
be holier than thou!?
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| Re .4 (Jack)
Admitting that one is a sinner is a humbling thing. Believing that
eternal life cannot be achieved by oneself is also humbling. But
what's next? An unequivocal faith in the Bible gives you the answer
quite handily. But the answer you come up with is rooted in this
one act of faith. Standing outside the inerrant position, the orthodox
answer seems to be one which has a low probability of being true. I'm
not asking for absolute proof here Jack, just something with a > 50%
chance of being true.
>Do you put the challenging of beliefs in the same light as claiming to
> be holier than thou!?
Not quite sure what you're asking here. If you're asking about my
position in relationship to Christianity, then I'd say no. I'm not
claiming that I have answers. I'm not playing "holier than thou". As
Jeff would be more than delighted to hear, I admit to being quite
ignorant when it comes to knowing the eternal truths of the universe.
But I am engaged in a sincere search for the truth. I may "test"
Christianity as a source of truth by posing what I see as biblical self
contradictions. Maybe I might learn something from your responses. I may
wonder who Jesus was and what he had to say. I may question whether or
not orthodox Christianity is indeed following the teachings of Jesus or
not. But all of this is part of the search. I'd be doing the very same
thing in they hypothetical "Hindu_Perspectives" or "Moslem_Perspectives"
conferences if they existed.
I don't expect that I'll ever get the answers. I don't think I'm well
enough equipped. I expect that this is the way it's supposed to be.
I envy the confidence and sense of security that orthodox Christians
appear to have. But I'm sure the ancient Greeks were confident in
their belief of Zeus. Didn't make them right. And the ends don't
justify the means.
-dave
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