| Title: | Discussions from a Christian Perspective | 
| Notice: | Prostitutes and tax collectors welcome! | 
| Moderator: | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | 
| Created: | Mon Sep 17 1990 | 
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 | 
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 | 
| Number of topics: | 1362 | 
| Total number of notes: | 61362 | 
    Consider...
    
    Matt 12:30 and Luke 11:23
    "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with
    me scatters.
    
    ...vs...
    
    Mark 9:40
    "for whoever is not against us is for us."
    
    ..and..
    
    Luke 9:50
    "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for
    you."
    
    
    Is there contradiction between Matt 12:30/Luke 11:233 and Mark
    9:40/Luke 9:50?  Perhaps not, but only in a world where there is no
    neutrality.  In such a world, are those who are not against Jesus by
    default, with Jesus?
    
    
    
    
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1359.1 | PHXSS1::HEISER | Maranatha! | Wed May 28 1997 15:09 | 1 | |
| What do these verses mean in context? | |||||
| 1359.2 | SMARTT::DGAUTHIER | Thu May 29 1997 08:52 | 1 | ||
| I dunno Mike, what do you think? | |||||
| 1359.3 | PHXSS1::HEISER | Maranatha! | Thu May 29 1997 10:55 | 1 | |
| I think you took them all out of context to try and make a point. | |||||
| 1359.4 | SMARTT::DGAUTHIER | Thu May 29 1997 11:26 | 19 | ||
|     Not true Mike.  I'm posing a question and not trying to make a point.
    I thought it would be an interesting topic.
    Actually, I got the idea from a book called "The Hard Sayings of Jesus"
    written by a biblical scholar named F.F. Bruce.  If the darn text
    scanner on our cluster was working right, I'd be happy to include what
    his thoughts on this are.  It's too much to type in by hand.
    Anyway, he suggests that these are statements about the conflict
    between good and evil.  He suggests that in this conflict you're either
    on the side of right or wrong, there is no neutral position.  The
    non-disciple mentioned in Mark 9 and Luke 9 recognized Jesus' authority
    and was therefor on Jesus' side, so... "Do not stop him".  And yes Mike,
    I wonder what Jesus would say about someone who did not recognize his
    authority but who opposed evil.
    Would you agree with his assessment?
    -dave
 | |||||
| 1359.5 | PHXSS1::HEISER | Maranatha! | Thu May 29 1997 12:49 | 6 | |
|     I agree with F.F. Bruce in that there is no neutral.  Even Bob Dylan
    recognized that when he sang, "You gotta serve somebody!"  There is no
    gray area with Jesus Christ. 
    
    I still don't think anyone has to take verses out of context to make
    this point though.
 | |||||