Expert: Marco - 4/18/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello again, Marco.  

I have a question regarding "Christian values."  Often we hear about Judeo-Christian values upon which our country is based.  I would like to know what are the quintessential values of Christianity?



ANSWER: Dear Bruce,

I think that the first value of the christian faith is that God is the source of all good and all love. God is One in three loving persons.
The Son made Himself man and accepted to die on the Cross to save us from our sinful existence and lead us to the eternal happiness.
We all are sinners and we must then be humble; we must blindly trust God (we must trust Him more then ourselves) since only God can teach us the Truth and teach how to live a holy life; we must then obey His commandments because they are given us to teach us what is good and just.

Your brother in Christ,

Marco


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, Marco.  

Thank you for your answer.  How does God teach us how to live a holy life, and which commandments are you referring to?

Bruce

ANSWER: Dear Bruce,

you can find the Lord's commandments in the Gospels.
I report below some verses, even if you can find  many other verses.


Matthew chap. 5

21 'You have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You shall not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court.  
22 But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother "Fool" will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire.  
23 So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,  
24 leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering.  
25 Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.  
26 In truth I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.  
27 'You have heard how it was said, You shall not commit adultery.  
28 But I say this to you, if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  
29 If your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell.  
30 And if your right hand should be your downfall, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body go to hell.  
31 'It has also been said, Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal.  
32 But I say this to you, everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of an illicit marriage, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.  
33 'Again, you have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.  
34 But I say this to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God's throne;  
35 or by earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great King.  
36 Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black.  
37 All you need say is "Yes" if you mean yes, "No" if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the Evil One.  
38 'You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.  
39 But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well;  
40 if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.  
41 And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him.  
42 Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.  
43 'You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour and hate your enemy.  
44 But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;  
45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike.  
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much?  
47 And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional?  
48 Do not even the gentiles do as much? You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.'  

Marc chap. 10

1 After leaving there, he came into the territory of Judaea and Transjordan. And again crowds gathered round him, and again he taught them, as his custom was.  
2 Some Pharisees approached him and asked, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?' They were putting him to the test.  
3 He answered them, 'What did Moses command you?'  
4 They replied, 'Moses allowed us to draw up a writ of dismissal in cases of divorce.'  
5 Then Jesus said to them, 'It was because you were so hard hearted that he wrote this commandment for you.  
6 But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female.  
7 This is why a man leaves his father and mother,  
8 and the two become one flesh. They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh.  
9 So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide.'  
10 Back in the house the disciples questioned him again about this,  
11 and he said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery against her.  
12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she is guilty of adultery too.'  


Luke chap 6

27 'But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.  
29 To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well; to anyone who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic.  
30 Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from someone who takes it.  
31 Treat others as you would like people to treat you.  
32 If you love those who love you, what credit can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them.  
33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit can you expect? For even sinners do that much.  
34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to get money back, what credit can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount.  
35 Instead, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  
36 'Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.  
37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.  
38 Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.'  
39 He also told them a parable, 'Can one blind person guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit?  
40 Disciple is not superior to teacher; but fully trained disciple will be like teacher.  
41 Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own?  
42 How can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me take out that splinter in your eye," when you cannot see the great log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter in your  
43 'There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit.  
44 Every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles.  
45 Good people draw what is good from the store of goodness in their hearts; bad people draw what is bad from the store of badness. For the words of the mouth flow out of what fills the heart.  
46 'Why do you call me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?  
47 'Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them -- I will show you what such a person is like.  
48 Such a person is like the man who, when he built a house, dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built.  
49 But someone who listens and does nothing is like the man who built a house on soil, with no foundations; as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!'  


Your brother in Christ,

Marco



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello, Marco.

Thank you for those answers.  Just a followup question below.

In your example, Jesus said in Matthew 5:22: "But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother "Fool" will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire."

But then in Luke 11:40, Jesus says: "You fools!  Did not he who make the outside made the inside also?"

And is Matthew 23:17-19, he says: "You blind fools!  For which is greater, the gold or the Temple that has made the gold sacred?"

In your example, Jesus says in Matthew 5:39: "But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well."  And in Luke 6:29, Jesus says: "To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well."

However, in John 18:22-23, it says: "And when Jesus had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, "Do you answer the high priest like that?"  Jesus answered him, 'If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike me?"

In other words, instead of setting an example of his own prescribed behavior, Jesus argues with the soldier.

In Luke 6:27, Jesus says: 'But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you."

However, in Luke 19:27, Jesus says: "But bring those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me."

And in Matthew 26:24, Jesus says: "But woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born!"

In other words, instead of showing forgiveness and love, Jesus curses and threatens his enemies.  

Aren't these examples proof that Jesus was hypocritical, and did not follow his own advice?  

Thank you very much.

Bruce

*****  

Answer
Dear Bruce,

we are only human while Jesus is God; only God can judge us because He knows perfectly the Truth. Therefore, Jesus has the right to get angry against us because we are sinners; on the contrary, since all of us are sinners, we cannot judge other men or get angry against them.

For the rest, I hink that in Luke 6:27 Jesus gave a clear example of a peaceful answer to the soldier who beated Him. So I see a perfect coherence.

In Matthew 26:24  Jesus simply declare the truth about the eternal damnation of unrepented sinners.
God in fact loves us infinitely and He desires to lead each of us to the eternal life  and to the true happiness. But God is perfectly Holy and Good; God cannot tolerate evil because evil is uncompatible with His good and holy nature.
So, we cannot go to heaven as long as we are not completely purified from our sins and sanctified.
Our sanctifcation is necessary for us to go to heaven.
God desires to sanctify us, but He has given us a free-will, so God needs our consent in order to purify and sanctify us. God respects our choices and therefore God cannot santify those who do not want to be sanctified and purified, those who do not want to stop sinning, those who do not want to live a holy life.
These are those who go to hell.

In conclusion I see hypocrital behavior in your examples.
As I told you, I am not here to debate.
It seems to me that you are deliberately trying to twist the meaning of the biblical verses with the purpose to find contradictions which do not exist.
Please avoid to ask this kind of questions.

Your brother in Christ,

Marco