Former location of "The Kingdom of the Heavens" blog, written by an incurable fool who is trying to become a holy fool!
Judas demonstrates the difference between worldly remorse and true repentance. Judas was truly remorseful after he saw Jesus would die because of his betrayal, and he tried to fix things himself. When that failed, he hanged himself. He was remorseful, but never repented of doing things his own way.
When Jesus unfavorably compared the unrepentance of the Galilean towns where he had preached to the repentance Tyre, Sidon and Sodom would have shown to the same preaching. the repentance of which he spoke clearly included behavioral change.
God did not curse Adam and Eve when they sinned. He told them what the mostly natural evil consequences of their decision to live apart from him would be. In doing this, he did NOT decree any of these evil consequences as things as a part of his perfect will. Sexual and class inequalities are evil consequences of sin, not God’s will.
When the first humans, who already knew all good, chose to disobey God and experience evil, they initiated every kind of idolatry known to later generations. This included worship of created things, of themselves, their own wisdom and their own desires, of their bodies, and, most importantly, of a false picture of the true God as miserly and hostile toward us.
A God who Speaks, An abuse of God's image, Conversation with God, Desire to have our own way, Free will, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, God's Voice, His Friends, idolatry, Knowing good and evil, Restoration of God's Image, To fill and govern the Earth, Trusting sight over God's words, Truth and Falsehood, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word
Idols are gods we think we can manipulate to give us our own way, individually, corporately or nationally, through service, sacrifices and offerings. The true God cannot be so manipulated, but we can convert even the true God into an idol in our own minds by supposing that he can be.
Jesus contrasted the Jewish leaders, who refused to hear his words, with the Ninevites who repented at the preaching of Jonah and put away their bloodshed and violence.
Only beggars qualify to enter the Kingdom of the heavens around us, where God is king and his power supplies. The self-sufficient are disqualified by their own inability to fully trust in God while trusting in themselves.
Salvation cannot happen without repentance. But this repentance isn’t remorse, it is changing my mind, turning from my own works and my other idols and turning to the true God. It is never really present without a change in the way I live. But my new way of life does not come from me, but from God who has prepared it for me and lives it through me.
The problem with Sodom was its arrogant indifference to the poor and vulnerable, as shown by the violent hate crime it attempted to commit against two visiting angels. This arose, in turn, from its affluence and its sensual focus. All of these problems characterize the modern world, including the Church (where they lead to often-violent divisions). The traditional Christian interpretation of the Sodom story prevents us from seeing this.
An abuse of God's image, Christianity and Social Evils, Church purpose versus church growth, Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, God's sovereignty, Greed, Historical Background, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Racism, Rejecting God, Sin, To be in his image, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?
Introductory installment in a brief summary of a “big picture” overview of Western religious and political history, starting with Jesus and moving to the present. Overall thesis: Much of world history has been caused by the illegitimate politicization of Christianity.
Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Compulsory Christianity, Historical Background, Index, Islam and Christianity, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Sins versus sin, Social control and statecraft, Topic Index, What Christianity borrowed from Islam, What Islam borrowed from Christianity