[quote]\"Neither verse commands physical action. You can vouch for the oppressed, like MLK, without hurting people.\" The verses merely says to defend. It doesn\'t specify whether it is spoken or physical.[/quote] That is exactly what I was saying. [quote]So... from your source, it means lethal resistance. Does that mean it\'s OK as long as it is non-lethal?[/quote] Sure, by all means! You may have freedom marches, boycotts, fill prisons up to capacity, or even berate evil doers hoping to stop the evil. I think no problem with that can be found. [quote]With my statement \"So, with your interpretation of that verse, any resistance of someone who is evil is sin. So then you resisting the evil antichrists and their doctrines of war and hate is sin.\" I was attempting to show you the faultiness in the interpretation that any resistance of evil is sin...[/quote] Now you are already backtracking. You were clearly trying to state premises as if they were universals, in order to assert some reductio ad absurdum in order to prove your point, that there must be just uses for violence, valid. Not only did your original argument fail to make the non-interventionist policies I support appear to be absurd, it failed to address scripture. It was a merely a muddled combination of faint biblical and philosophical notions, reflecting your lack of education in either area. Worse yet, it did absolutely nothing to support your position. It betrayed your lack of sophistication. This does not make you a bad person, and I wanted to avoid holding it over to you, warning you to avoid philosophy. First, philosophy will get no one anywhere and second, I have the years and education in which to defeat you in any philosophical argument, even if you were right and I were wrong. I do not seek to \"score points,\" as some here might as one post already had a pseudo score board. I do not wish to flaunt anything about myself. Let us avoid a discussion of philosophy or our personal backgrounds. Lets turn to scripture, let\'s focus on the will of God. [quote]So does Christ\'s blood cover all of our sins, or just the individual ones we repent for?[/quote] Christ\'s blood, as far as I can understand, was an atoning sacrifice. Our faith is our service. But how can we be faithful without actively trying to repent from our sins? Nothing can make us righteous, but we endanger our faith by willfully continuing sin. James 2:17-18 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, \"You have faith; I have deeds.\" Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. [quote]Yeah... but Jesus Himself told the disciples to get sword! (Luke 23:36-38) [at least I think that is what the passage says... ][/quote] True, but what happened after this? Luke 22:49When Jesus\' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, \"[b]Lord, should we strike with our swords[/b]?\" 50And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. 51But Jesus answered, \"[b]No more of this[/b]!\" And he touched the man\'s ear and healed him. It appears that Jesus wanted to make a point and let it be seen that Christians were not to defend themselves with the sword. Probably so, because Jesus afterward states that he is not \"leading a rebellion\" (Luke 22:52) and accepts his own arrest so that through his execution we may redeemed. Furthermore, there is a sword in revelations: the Lord\'s tongue. Just as in Genesis 1, God\'s active power is through His Word, and divine justice is not literally conducted with a sword--this is something that merely reflects the extent of man\'s power. God\'s power through the Word is beyond that of this. How much are God\'s ways beyond our ways? We get angry, we defend ourselves, we kill and maim our neighbor. Can I guarantee you that I will be so faithful that I will turn the other cheek in trial? No, I am a sinful depraved human! How much inferior are my and your ways from God\'s, whose son was delivered to the hands of human authorities and executed and whose power to allot justice puts shame to our weakness? [quote]Nothing is difficult to understand, thanks for asking! I was merely stating that the verse states a cause and effect. I don\'t think you get what I\'m trying to say... I never said Christians are exempt from rules. hoy vey.[/quote] Again, more back tracking. \"Cause and effect,\" \"if and then,\" forget philosophy! You clearly asserted that the verses did not offer commands or denounce particular actions. However, as I have shown, they specifically do. This is all too clear in Revelations 13:10 where we are told that [u]anyone[/u] who slays with the sword will and [u]must[/u] be slain by the sword in effect for the transgression of using a sword to kill. It is perfectly clear as is this: Revelations 22:11 \"Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.\" We are not to take up the sword and claim for it to be just. Our job is to be righteous and holy. Have faith that God will deal with the wrongful and vile as He sees fit.

Post edited by: JamesRaio, at: 2007/10/08 07:52