tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53115399147701869272024-02-20T02:33:59.113-08:00Discovering Biblical Truth Critical Musings and Rants of Christianity, The Bible, Faith and Christian LivingCurious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-16535955426195030002016-02-27T13:39:00.000-08:002016-02-27T13:49:20.557-08:00Women In the Church<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04;">1Timothy 2:11-12 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet”</i></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;">I have long wanted to discuss the roles in women in the church since this has been quite a controversial and taboo subject in Christianity. There has been many debates regarding women’s role in the church. These debates have gone way back and include whether women should be ordained clergy, deacons, elders, leaders etc. This has divided Christianity into two branches, complementarianism and egalitarianism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The complementarians who normally believe in different gender roles in the home and church believe the bible forbids women from being ordained clergies and elders and some more hardcore groups believe the bible also forbids women from being deacons as well although the more softcore groups of this branch believes the bible permits this. While the egalitarian side holds the opposite position believing that bible doesn’t restrict women’s roles at all in fact, they support the idea that both men and women are gifted to pursue any calling in the church. I read some reasoning from male pastors that preaching the gospel is manly trait and manly men are only fit to be ministers. I read others reason that leadership ability is more suited for men and that includes church leaders. </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;">Others gave grown up in society where they taught that men are only preachers and therefore are uncomfortable with anything that goes against what they grow up with like women being ordained pastors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chauvinism in the Christian community plays a role in these attitudes and misconceptions of women’s abilities sometimes as a disguise of biblical doctrine but is this really the Godly way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would God want to restrict women’s abilities in the clergy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For what purpose would God have for placing such limitations on women?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many would reason is that God just calls for man only to be in the clergy as it’s states in the bible and it’s not for us to question the bible but part of my journey as a Christian is to question something that is traditional if I find it questionable and try to find any reasoning behind by exploring and researching the theory any further and come up with new conclusions that are genuine and true to the real biblical doctrines I’m learning about. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>As I mentioned a couples times in my blog, I don’t completely place myself in either of complementarian nor the egalitarian branch, as I’m more focused on going beyond either branch in order to embrace the true biblical doctrines and true ways to live like Christ and to honor and be a glory to Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also mentioned before, I have always accepted and embraced some of the gender differences between the sexes and that God created these differences in order for men and women to complement each other, however I don’t think these differences restrict women in any way within the church. Maybe to really understand women’s roles within the church, is to discuss earliest history of women’s roles and how important these roles really were throughout church history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Since the Ancient times, women have been prophets or prophetesses throughout history. Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron was a prophetess who plays an important role throughout Moses’ life in the book of Exodus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another prophetess was the popular Deborah from the Book of Judges who was judge that predicted Sisera’s army being defeated and Sisera himself being defeated by a woman. Then there was Huldah who was mentioned in both chapters 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. King Josiah had sent his officials to her regarding book of law and she prophesied that destruction of Jerusalem because the citizens strayed from God by worshiping idols and other Gods and King Josiah responded by having all temples that worshiped false Gods and idols burned and executed the false priests and then the people made a new covenant with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Another prophetess was Anna, an elderly widow who prophesied the newborn baby Jesus as the new Messiah, a savior for the people when Joseph and Mary brought him to the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Temple</st1:place></st1:city> for purification. This is mentioned in Luke 2:36-38 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There was also a prophet Anna, the daughter of Penuel of the tribe Asher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was very old, she lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then she was a widow until eighty-four years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>There was also the prophet Isaiah’s wife in Isaiah 8:3 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Then I made love to a prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, “Call him Maher-shalel-hash-baz” </i>and the evangelist Phillip’s four daughters in Acts 21:9 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He had four unmarried daughters who prophesized”.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the early church, church meetings were held in private homes and some women were even the head of these church homes. </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;">One such woman mentioned is Chloe in 1 Corinthians 1:11 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me there are some quarrels among you”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some scholars consider Chloe a leader in a church house, especially since Apostle Paul mentions Chloe’s household when usually he would have mention the man’s household.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This also indicates that Chloe was either a widow or never married but either way<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she was an important figure for Paul to mention and clearly the head of her own household where church meetings were held and likely the leader of her church house. Nympha is also mentioned in Colossians 4:15 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicia, and to Nympha and the church in her house”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apphia is mentioned as possible a co-leader of her church house in Philemon 1:1-2 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Some speculate that Apphia was possibly the wife Philemon and both were leaders in their church house together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although it is known that Jesus had several disciples who accompanied him on his missions, Paul has also mentioned several women with praise some were also fellow missionary workers including Euodia, Syntychia, Trypheno, Tryphosa, Persis, Thecla and Julia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standouts include Priscilla who along with her husband <st1:place w:st="on">Aquila</st1:place> traveled with Paul as a missionary worker both held church meetings in their homes and Priscilla along with her husband taught the Apollos as mentioned in Acts 18:24-26.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Apollos was a Jew who was had a lot of knowledge in scriptures but taught about Jesus but he only knew about the baptism of John so both Priscilla and <st1:place w:st="on">Aquila</st1:place> invited back to their home to explain to him more accurately about God. Paul also praises Phoebe as a deacon in Romans 16:1-2 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I commend you to our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor for many people including me”.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>There has been many debates to whether Phoebe was a deacon or not as some translations uses the word servant instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who are against Phoebe being a deacon use the verses 1Timothy 3:8-12 since verses 8-10 and then 12 list instructions on how a deacon of the church must be with 12 even mentioning them to be faithful to their wives and manage their homes. While verse 11 mentions who the women in the church with some translation uses the word wives instead leading some to believe this verse was referring to deacon’s wives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the Greek word used here is “gune” which can be translated to woman or wife depending on how it is used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Greek word for deacon used in Romans 16:1 and 1Timothy 3:8-12 is “diakonos” which is translated as deacon, servant, minister, waiter, administrator, attendant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In the New Testament diakonos refers to service to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back to the verse 1Timothy 3:11, Paul didn’t use the words female deacons because there wasn’t feminine form of the word diakonos besides if the word gune referred to wife it wouldn’t be clear if Paul meant deacon’s wives or the wives of an overseer as mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:1-2 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of an overseer, he desires a noble task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Paul didn’t need to say female deacons because it was already clear within the context of the scriptures, he was referring to deacons beginning with 1Timothy 3:8-10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In verse eleven, he describes the female deacons and verse twelve describes the male deacons. Some scholars who have argued against women in the clergy have used other scriptures one being 1Corinthians 14:34-35 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Women should remain silent in churches. They are not allowed to speak, but they must be in submission, as the law says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they want to inquire about something, they must as their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some churches have taking to mean women can’t say a word in church or ask any questions without her husband’s permission. Of course this is a ridiculous notion there no reason why the Lord would want women to be particularly silent in the church as women sing in choirs, our readers, give prayers or confessions in the church plenty of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>There is actually nothing sinful of about a woman speaking in the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many on both sides of the debate agree that this verse has little to do with whether women should be in the clergy about is referring to an incident taking place in the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Corinth</st1:place></st1:city> city church. The most famous argument was the fact that during first century, women were more uneducated and during church assembly where they men and women sat in separate pews, certain women were disrupting services by shouting out questions to their husbands and Paul was simply telling them to not disrupt services but to ask their husbands at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Another theory is that Paul is actually refuting an old oral Jewish law which forbade women from speaking in synagogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul was quoting these laws in verses 34-35 since he uses the Greek letter eta in 1 Corinthians 14-36 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>This letter eta can be used to reject a notion and this was what Paul was actually doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul clearly allowed women to pray and prophesy in the church as pointed out in verse 1Corinthians 11:5 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But wife who prays and prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head was shaven”.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The most popular scripture that has been used to argue against women in the clergy is the verse I used above 1Timohty 2:11-12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some even use this verse to argue against women teaching men in bible classes in biblical courses at colleges or even women evangelists preaching or lecturing to crowd with men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More conservative Christians even use this to condone women have any position of authority over men including being their supervisors or bosses and becoming political leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, if women weren’t ever allowed to teach men over biblical and Christian matters, then this contradicts Priscilla who along with her husband taught the Apollos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Regarding Paul’s teaching, if he really meant the regular word authority he would have used the Greek word “exousia” but instead, he used the Greek word “authentein”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This word has a stronger meaning and can mean have a violent, sexual or domineering meaning and it can also mean to murder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During that time period the <st1:city w:st="on">Ephesus</st1:city> city was the home to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Temple</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Artemis</st1:placename></st1:place>, one of the seven wonders, in which a cult had many worshippers who believed the city was founded by the mythical amazons and that women were descendants of these legendary women. This cult also taught female superiority and the women used this advantage by engaging in a domineering fashion towards men including sexually as male worshippers engaged in sexual acts with temple prostitutes for enlightenment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>When Paul who was had wrote a letter to Timothy who was forming a church in this city, he used the word authentein to state that women shouldn’t teach to be domineering over men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In later times, the King James version of this text used English translation of the word “authority”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This cult also taught that Eve was created first and that she received her knowledge when she ate from the tree of knowledge and many worshippers also praised the fertility goddess Artemis for ensuring fertility to women and protecting them during childbearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Paul also refuted this in the verses 1Timothy 2:13-15 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; It was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But women will be saved through childbearing-if they continue in love, faith and holiness with propriety”.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul was simply rebuking false teachings of this cult declaring with the new Christian doctrine, the people are members of Christ body and how they should function under Christ, submitting to each other out of reverence(Ephesians 5:21) and how husband and wives should relate to each other contrast the teachings of the cult(Ephesians 5:22-30). </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;">Paul was never banning women from teaching or preaching to men the gospel nor banning women from becoming ministers, deacons or elders as many have claimed. Despite the debate among women in the clergy there has been plenty of women preachers existing over the centuries. The first well known female preacher is Elizabeth Hooton, a 17<sup>th</sup> century Quaker preacher the first of her kind who was converted by George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She left her family and traveled preaching the gospel and suffered many abuses because of this, from being sent to jail and prison, beatings, abandoned and left to starve in the words. </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;">Despite these abuses, she carried with her desire to preach until her death and was a strong and courageous woman. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1853, Antoinette Brown Blackwell became the first woman to be ordained in a mainstream protestant church at the Cogregationalist church(later merged to became the United Church of Christ), however she left the church a year later do to discrimination and became a Unitarian. </span></strong></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;">In 1863, a woman’s rights suffrage Olympia Brown became ordained minister by the Universalist church and worked as full time minister. She too would later became a Unitarian and worked part time in ministry in order to focus more on women’s suffrage. </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;">Louisa Woosley who in 1888 become the first woman to be ordained in any Presbyterian denomination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edith Livingston Peake became ordained minister by the first United Presbyterian Church in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:city> in 1893. Others include Helenor Alter Davisson who would become the first women to be ordained in the Methodist church although the church would later challenge the idea of ordaining women and Anna Howard Shaw who would become the first woman ordained in the Methodist protestant church that would later merged to become the United Methodist Church. Throughout the 19<sup>th</sup> and early 20<sup>th</sup> century there have been a number of women becoming ordained ministers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Today, there have been several Christian denominations that have officially allowed the ordination of women, the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">United</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Methodist</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Church</st1:placetype></st1:place> in 1956.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Episcopal Church in 1976, the Presbyterian Church <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> allowed women to be elders in 1930 and ordination in 1956. There is also the <st1:placename w:st="on">Evangelical</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Lutheran</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Church</st1:placetype>, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Evangelical</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Covenant</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Church</st1:placetype></st1:place>, United Church of Christ, Assemblies of God(USA), The Religious Society of Friends and numerous denominations in other countries have allowed ordination of women. Despite this, there is still plenty of Christians and churches alike who are still hesitant of allowing women in the clergy. </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;">Many justify this for various reasons from misinterpreted views of biblical scriptures, the fact Jesus Christ himself was man and was the head of the church therefore, the many believe that man should be the spiritual leader of the church that mirrors that of Christ. However, over the past decades more Christians and churches are gradually supporting the allowance of women as clergy, elder and deacons without prejudice believing that the bible never forbade women to be involved in the clergy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>God indeed didn’t view women as second-class citizens but fellow image bearers of God with God-giving gifts, talents and skills to any calling and path God calls them and that includes the ministry and equal standing on in His Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no reason at all to not welcome women to serve in any calling in the church be it any ministry, missionary, charity or clergy where they can preach the gospel along with men and let go of these misguided misconceptions sometimes in the disguise of chauvinism</span></strong></span></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-38090969144384292182015-12-22T12:30:00.000-08:002015-12-22T12:31:15.686-08:00History of Christmas <br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matthew 1:18 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit”</i></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;"><strong>As Christmas is nearing, I would like to discuss the history behind the Christmas holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When people think of Christmas, they think of winter, snow, a Christmas tree sprung out with decorations and lights glowing with presents underneath, people singing Christmas carols, exchanging gifts, good cheer and good will to our fellow man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children think of Santa Claus riding in his sleigh of reindeer coming down the chimney with bag full of gifts. However, most people think of December 25 being the birth of Jesus Christ in a barn in a town of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bethlehem</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I wonder how many people know how the holiday of Christmas really got started, and about the truth surrounding Jesus birth, that he wasn’t really born December 25 as perceived. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These things will be answered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>It what surprise many Christians that some Christians don’t celebrate Christmas at all because of its supposed Pagan roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t imagine at all the holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ to have pagan origins but there is some truth to it. During the Ancient times, centuries before Christ was born, European pagans celebrated during the winter solstice when the shortest days and longest night of the year when the sunlight is extended. A festival is held to worship the birth of the sun between December 21-25.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Scandinavian norses celebrated Yule in which a festival was held in honor of the return of the sun, and fathers and sons would bring in logs and set them on fire feasting until the logs burned out. This celebration lasted from December 21 until January.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city></st1:place>, pagans celebrated a holiday known as Saturnalia in honor of the God Saturn between December 17-25.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Some Roman soldiers also celebrated December 25<sup>th</sup> as the birth of Mithra, a Persian sun god.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this time, courts, schools and businesses were closed, slaves would become masters and peasants would rule the city. People could run around and damage property or inflict injury without the fears of being punished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A festival was held that included drinking, gambling, gift-giving, role-playing etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human sacrifices also took place on the 25<sup>th</sup>, when a victim was selected to represent the Lord of Misrule as the Romans believed murdering the victim, they were destroying the forces of darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the early days of Christianity, Easter was only celebrated as a main holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t until the 4<sup>th</sup> century that the birth of Jesus Christ was celebrated as a holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;"><strong>The problem was the bible never mentions the month or day of Jesus birth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, new scholars now conclude that Jesus birthday was not in December at all but likely in September because due to certain facts. That the shepherds were outside in the fields with their flock when Jesus was born yet shepherds wouldn’t be out during the winter season because it would have been too cold. Also the fact that Joseph and Mary arrived in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bethlehem</st1:place></st1:city> to register in the census, but that wouldn’t take place in the winter season either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, in the bible it states that the Virgin Mary’s cousin Elizabeth whom Mary was visiting was already in her sixth month of pregnancy of John the Baptist when Mary conceived which was likely in December making September likely the time she gave birth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pope Julius I declared December 25<sup>th</sup>, the birthday of Jesus Christ around 350 AD as a way to absorb it with the pagan holidays, rituals and customs. It was originally called the Feast of Nativity and spread out all over throughout the continents over the centuries. In 529 AD, Emperor Justianian declared the holiday a civic one. </strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;"><strong>The word Christmas came from the old English word Cristesmaesse coined in 1038 and later Cristes Messe in 1131 meaning the Mass of Christ. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the medieval era, Christmas contained some of its pagan customs too an extant. People would go to church then celebrate afterwards by engaging in drunken raucous. Also a beggar would be crowned as the Lord of Misrule with the others as his subjects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The poor would go the home of the rich demanding food and drink and if the owners refused, they would cause mischief upon the owners. The wealthy folks would pay their dept to society by entertaining the poor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the 17<sup>th</sup> century, Oliver Cromwell and his puritan followers decided to ban Christmas altogether until Charles II took the throne and restored it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the pilgrims arrived in <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region> colonies, Christmas wasn’t celebrated and even outlawed in some parts of the country including <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city> during the later part of the 17<sup>th</sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Even after the revolutionary war, Christmas still wasn't widely celebrated as a holiday in fact, Congress held its first session on Christmas Day in 1789.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christmas would become a federal holiday in 1870.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this time Americans even adapted the current traditions of Christmas such as the custom of the Christmas tree that was started in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region> during the 16<sup>th</sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other customs included giving gifts or putting presents under the Christmas tree, stockings, mistletoes, etc. For children, the legend of Santa Claus also known as Father Christmas in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United Kingdom</st1:place></st1:country-region> riding on his sleigh of reindeer climbing down the chimney to bring toys for them emerged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Today Christmas is holiday celebrated all in many countries around world as secular holiday where people decorate their Christmas tree, go shopping for presents, host fancy dinners and exchange presents, sing Christmas carols etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, real meaning of Christmas is so much more as it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Another important factor is love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ love for all God’s children and we as children of God should follow Christ example by extending love, kindness and goodwill to all our fellow men and women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t matter if what kind of gift you buy how expensive or not it matters is in the heart, and mostly remembering Jesus Christ came into this world where he gave<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to many people the biggest gift was Him dying for all our sins on the cross.</strong></span></div>
</o:p>Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-59585307131576415522015-12-06T09:36:00.002-08:002015-12-06T09:36:50.378-08:00The Truth About The Visits Mary Magdalene Made To The Tomb<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John 20:1 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance”</i></span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my last post, I discussed the four gospels detailing the life and death of Jesus Christ. I now want to discuss the truth about Mary Magdalene’s visits to His Tomb and just how many visits she made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In each of the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, is a different account on Mary Magdalene’s visit to the tomb, where it was daylight or dark, how many other women were with her, if she saw one or two men at the tomb, whether she was alone when first saw that the stone had been removed in the tomb or was she with the other women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All these details I will analyze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In Matthew 28: 1-10, mentions only Mary Magdalene and the other Mary(possibly Mary the mother of James) heading to the tomb where it mentions an earthquake and an angel comes down and rolls back the stone sitting on it and greets the two women has they arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The angel then informs them that Jesus has risen telling them go inside the tomb to see that he isn’t there anymore and to tell the other disciples that Jesus is headed to Gallilee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they prepare they flee from the tomb, the women are greeted by Jesus and they soon ran to him and clasped his feet in worship as he instructs them to his disciples to go Gallilee where he will be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Mark 16: 1-8, mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome purchased some burial spices to anoint Jesus’ body Saturday evening after the Sabbath and on Sunday morning just at sunrise they headed to the tomb discussing who will roll away the stone at the entrance of the tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However when they arrived, the stone was rolled away and as they entered the tomb, the saw a man clothed in white sitting on the right side telling them that Jesus had risen and showing where he used to lay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He instructs the women to tell the disciples, including Peter that Jesus will be ahead of them at Gallilee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The women leave the tomb and don’t say anything to anyone out of fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is an added text of the gospel Mark 16: 9-20 where it mentions that the first person Jesus appears to is Mary Magdalene who tells the other disciples who don’t believe her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus also appears in different form to two disciples headed from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:place></st1:city> to the country who also tell the others but they are not believed either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Jesus finally appears to the eleven remaining apostles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Luke 24:1-12 mentions a group of nameless women headed to the tomb on Sunday early dawn to carrying the burial spices they prepared only to find the stone rolled away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside the tomb, they see Jesus corpse is gone and instead there are two men who tell them that Jesus is not there anymore as he has risen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The women flee the tomb and return to tell the eleven remaining apostles and the other disciples what they witnessed. The names Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joanna are mentioned among those who tell the disciples as well as other nameless women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter headed to the tomb and found the linen clothes by themselves and returned home amazed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally in John 20:1-18, details only Mary Magdalene arriving at the Tomb early while it was still dark to find the stone rolled away at the entrance and later told the what she saw to Peter and John( referred as the disciple that Jesus loved) claiming that they had taken Jesus’ body out of the tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then both Peter and John head to the tomb and once inside see that his body is gone find just linen clothes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After they leave, Mary Magdalene stands outside the tomb crying and looks inside to see two angels clothed in white sitting where Jesus was lain one at the head and the other at the foot who ask her why she is crying to which she tells them that Jesus body has been taking away and she doesn’t know where he is placed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she turns around and sees Jesus standing there but doesn’t recognize him thinking he’s the gardener even when He asks her why she’s crying and asks him where Jesus’ body is. It’s only after he calls her name that she recognizes him and cries out rabboni(meaning teacher).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus tell her not to touch him since he’s not ascended to the Father yet and instructs her to go tell the other disciples that He’s ascending to the Father, God to which she flees and finds the other disciples and repeats what he said to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>These accounts somewhat similar and slightly different leaves it very confusing to the real truth what happened at Jesus’ Tomb. Mary Magdalene is mentioned in each of the gospels of being present when the Tomb is discovered empty but did she visit the tomb more than twice, like three or four times and what about her witnessing Jesus resurrection?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gospel John puts where alone standing outside the tomb when she saw Jesus who wouldn’t allow her to touch him yet the gospel of Matthew has her with another Mary(possibly Mary the mother of James) when seeing resurrected Jesus after an angel removed the stone from entrance of the tomb and sat on it telling the women about Jesus haven risen from the tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gospel of Mark mentions Mary the Mother of James and Salome with Mary Magdalene finding the tomb empty and one man inside the tomb to tell them about Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gospel of Luke only mentions a group of women at the tomb and two men greeting them to tell them about Jesus and later mentions the name other than Mary Magdalene, Joanna and another some other women telling the disciples about what they saw in the tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gospel on John only mentions Mary Magdalene going to the tomb implying she went alone and only mentions the names Peter and John as the disciples she told also implying the other disciples weren’t there besides she was alone when she first saw Jesus unlike in the gospel of Matthew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>With some different details regarding Jesus tomb and his resurrection how can anyone know for sure what truly happened, what is true and what is false?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This doesn’t mean that four gospels are not truthful, taking into account that they were written by four different people and told from different point of views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s possible that in each gospel, some details where left out that were added in the other gospels and not told in chronically order can make it quite confusion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, the gospel of John may only mention Mary Magdalene going to the tomb but that doesn’t mean she went alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gospel of Mark may only mention three women, but more women could have also been with the group heading to the tomb including the female disciple Joanna. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for Mary Magdalene, she is mentioned on all four gospels and appears to be an important presence as she found the tomb empty and witnessed Jesus resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, considering the different accounts in the gospels regarding her presence, leads a possibility that she made more than two visits to the tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, many scholars have theories that Mary Magdalene made at least three or four visits to the tomb each giving their own perspective of what happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will not dwell on their theories in this topic but come with theories on my own based on my understanding of all four gospels. One theory is that Mary Magdalene visited the tomb at least three times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>From what we do know from Mark and Luke is that Saturday evening after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and other women that included Mary the Mother of James, Salome and probably Joanna, purchased burial spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Sometime later an earthquake occurred and the tomb was pulled aside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I theorize that Mary Magdalene and the group of women, headed to the tomb early Sunday morning when it was still dark discussing among each other how they were going to move the tomb. By the time they arrived it was dawn and they discovered the tomb was empty went inside and saw two men dressed in white robes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Mark 16: 5-7 mentions only man in the tomb who speaks to them, this doesn’t mean there wasn’t a second man with him as mentioned in Luke 24: 1-7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The women leave and later tell the other disciples what they saw. What is interesting is the verse John 20:2 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”</i> This implies that Mary Magdalene believed that Jesus’ body was taken away despite the men in the tomb telling her and the other women that He had risen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the women were not aware that the men were angels and didn’t really believe their claims of Jesus rising from the dead despite it being predicted earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it took Jesus appearing to the apostle Thomas the second time he appeared to the apostles for Thomas to truly believe he had risen from the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, Peter and John were the only ones who went to the tomb and saw for themselves that it’s empty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Mary Magdalene makes her second visit to the tomb either following after Peter and John or arriving some time after they left which isn’t exactly clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, by the time Peter and John left to tell the others, Mary Magdalene stands outside the tomb crying and looked inside only to see the two men again each sitting at the head and foot of where Jesus lain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They asked why she was crying to which she told them that Jesus’ body was taken away and when she turned around, she saw Jesus standing there but she doesn’t recognize him at first and thinks he’s the gardener.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t until Jesus says her name that she releases who he is, however, when she is about to grasp his feet, he informs her not to touch him since he has not yet ascended to the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary Magdalene runs to tell the other disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only speculate that she didn’t find they disciples yet, or she told them and they wouldn’t believe her right away, as Thomas didn’t believe it until he saw Jesus for himself the second time He appeared before the apostles. Either way, it possible that sometime later, she returned to the tomb for the third time with the other Mary, possibly Mary the Mother of James to witness Jesus resurrection for herself. When they arrived, they found a man sitting on the stone telling them again about Jesus rising from the dead and when they turn away from the tomb to find the others, they both see Jesus which is the second time for Mary Magdalene and this time they are allowed to touch him as they clasped at his feet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Another theory is that Mary Magdalene visited the tomb four times with her first visit she went alone when it was still dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t say if she entered the tomb but only found the stone rolled away but she would have later entered the tomb with the other women since in John 20:2 she tells others “we do not know where they have laid him”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, her second visit would have happened when she and the group of women she was with headed to the tomb at dawn and the women discussed among each other who would roll away the tomb, implying Mary Magdalene didn’t say anything about what she witnessed maybe fear she wouldn’t be believed and wanted the women to see it for themselves. A third theory could possibly be that only Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome visited the tomb and were confronted only by one man as mentioned Mark gospels, and perhaps another group of women headed the tomb the Luke gospels that consisted of Joanna.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The possibility for this theory is that Mary Magdalene and the other two women left the tomb and told what they saw to another group of female disciples who decided to visit the tomb to see it for themselves that morning taking spices for anointing his body only this time they found two men inside the tomb. </span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nobody can know 100% for sure exactly what really happened and may never know as I mentioned before these are all just speculations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What really is important is the faith and belief that Jesus did rise from the tomb showed himself to Mary Magdalene and later the other disciples before meeting them in <st1:place w:st="on">Galilee</st1:place> in the mountains before finally ascending to heaven for them all to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is also important is Mary Magdalene played in important role in Jesus life as she was present during his crucifixion, was present at the tomb when his corpse was gone and was the first person witness His resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The four gospels each tell a story of Jesus life to his death, his rising from the dead and appearing to his followers that Christians hold valid today.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></strong></span>Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-12490618528181009682015-10-26T15:13:00.002-07:002015-10-26T15:13:15.670-07:00Should Christians Celebrate Halloween And The True History Behind This Holiday<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Psalm 101:3-4 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I will set no wicked before my eyes, I hate the work of them that turn aside; It shall not cleave to me”</i></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since Halloween is coming up this month I wanted to take the time analyze this holiday that is still quite controversial among the Christian community. There has been huge debate among Christians regarding the Halloween whether Christians should take part in its celebration or not. Whenever anyone normally thinks of Halloween, they think about people dressing up in scary costumes such as ghosts, witches, goblins etc., children going trick n’ treating in costumes at night and getting candy handed to them. Attending Halloween parties, or the haunted house to be scared, telling scary ghost stories or watching horror movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact remains, Halloween is just chance to do fun things like being scared, dressing in frightening costumes getting candy etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Still for many Christians, they question if they should being participating in Halloween at all, with many rejecting the holiday altogether writing it off was ungodly and a devil’s holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others refuse to wear any costumes that they consider unsuitable like ghosts, witches, goblins or anything frightening. While others attend alternatives such as harvest parties or fall festivals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For these Christians, Halloween such be avoided as it is dangerous and unholy and corrupts of Satan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pope Francis himself has spoken out against Halloween as evil and anti-Christian and should be replaced with Holyween where children dress up as saints and pray. My own experience of Halloween growing up was nothing more than dressing up in costumes scary or non-scary and going around the neighborhood at night trick n’ treating and getting lots of candy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve even attended a Halloween party at a local church with friends and went enjoyed the haunted house where we got spooked by people dressed up in scary outfits trying to frighten us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was all fun and memorable so I can’t really comprehend why so many Christians are hung up on Halloween?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Maybe it’s has with the fact many see it as a pagan holiday and therefore unbiblical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think maybe to get to the route of all of things I decided to research the origins and history behind Halloween.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Halloween’s roots goes way back in the ancient times 2,000 years ago in BC, as a Celtic holiday called Samhain celebrated that marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was believed that the spirits of the dead returned to earth on this night to be among the living. A festival was held at sunset on October 31 until sunset on November 1 by the Celtic pagans called druids in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The druids would light bonfires on these nights where they would sacrifice animals, bring harvest food, tell each other’s fortune and guide the souls of the dead to the underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They would dress up wearing animal skins and heads to keep the evil spirits away, while they also left their doors or windows open for their spirits of their departed kinsfolk. </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the eighth century when Christian missionaries converted many of the druids to Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church decided to Christianize the Celtic holiday. Pope Boniface IV established All Saints Day in honor of the Christian saints and martyrs on May 13 in 609 A.D. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then somewhere in 800s A.D., Pope Gregory III moved the holiday to November 1, the same day of the Samhain holiday also known as All Hallows Day or Hallowmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>October 31, the evening before All Saints day became All Hallows Eve, called Halloween by the 16<sup>th</sup> century. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pope Gregory IV put all All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day in the church calendar making it a universal celebration in the Catholic Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All Souls Day was later added on November 2 in 998 A.D. This holiday celebrated the remembrance of departed loved ones who have not been cleansed of their sins and in which people would pray for them to pass from Purgatory onto Heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>By the medieval times, Halloween, a Christian holiday preserved some of the Celtic traditions of the past, continuing holding bonfires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other customs came about including a practice called “souling” which consisted of poor people and children going out at night to the homes of the wealthier people praying dead relatives of the home owners in exchange for treats called soul cakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another custom was called mumming where people dressed up in scary costumes of ghosts, demons, witches etc. and performed antics such as singing, chanting, play-acting and mischief in exchange for food and drinks. This later evolved to singing a song, reciting a poem, telling a joke or playing a trick for fruits, nuts or coins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the colonial <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Halloween took form from customs of various Europeans and Native Americans which included celebrations of the harvest, play parties, telling ghost stories, telling each other’s fortune, dancing and singing and mischief making. </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the 19<sup>th</sup> century, more Irish, Scottish and British folks emigrated to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place> taking more of their traditions and customs with them. Halloween began to be celebrated where people dressed up in costumes going to homes asking for food or money. By the turn of the century, Halloween less about ghost, witches, goblins and other scary superstitions, and more about people getting to together to celebrate with costume parties, apple bobbing and other games. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the 1920s, Halloween had moved away from its religious roots becoming a more secular celebration that consisted of parades, parties and other featured entertainment. It also became more geared towards children as the trick or treating custom became known having evolved from the old rituals of mumming souling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the 1950s, Halloween became widely known as it is today, with children dressing in costumes and going trick or treating as the annual custom. Today, Halloween doesn’t have any relations to its Celtic Druid origins nor its later Christian roots it’s just a holiday for trick n treating for kids or attending Costume parties for adults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Other practices include carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, going to spooky haunted houses for fun, watching scary movies or telling scary stories etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some churches have also participated in celebrating Halloween hosting costume parties or haunted houses and even a trick or treat alternative called trunk or treat where people park their cars with their trunk full of candy to pass out to children. Some churches continue to celebrate All Saints Day, the day after Halloween where children dress up as Christian Saints who where martyred at a party. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <st1:place w:st="on">Eastern Europe</st1:place>, candles are lit and placed on the graves of loved ones in honor of them. Some churches like the Catholic and Anglican Church also celebrate All Souls Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My personal conclusions, is that Halloween has nothing to do with the devil, spirits or anything evil. It is simply a holiday but mostly a tradition of fun where for children they go out dressed up for tricking n-treating and getting lots of candies and sweets and for adults it’s for costume parties and celebration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ghost stories, Haunted houses and scary movies are also part of the fun and there is nothing wrong with that. Children amd youths especially enjoy dressing up and spooky costumes getting scared in fact the scarier the more fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Of course, there are downsides like those who use the holiday to justify destructive and criminal actions such as vandalism, harming others and any other destructive behavior. These are definitely reasonable concerns but for the most part Halloween can be an enjoyable experience for all people to enjoy. Christians can decide for themselves if they want to participate in the holiday but they shouldn’t be ashamed or condemned if they do as if it makes them less godly then ones who don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also doesn’t matter what type of costumes they wear whether they dress as witches, ghost, goblins or other scary costumes, whether they watch scary movies or not since they certainly don’t worship such things and children don’t take them seriously anyways and doesn’t necessarily interfere with their walk with Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Also, some can still choice to celebrate both Halloween and All Saints Day the following they day and teach their children about the martyred saints and honoring the departed loved ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Halloween comes only once a year and after it’s all over, people can get on with their lives with work, school, church, prayer and their devotion to Our Lord and then look forward to next year when they can enjoy Halloween again.</span></strong></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-46730993205366488582015-10-04T13:55:00.004-07:002015-10-04T13:55:47.480-07:00Who Really Wrote The Four Gospels of Jesus Christ?<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">John 1:17-18 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one has ever seen God, but the one and only son, who himself is God and is in closet relationship with the Father, has made him known.”</i></span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>This topic deals with the details and analysis of the four gospels of Jesus life, death, crucifixion and resurrection as the different visits to his tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These four gospels consists of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John with each giving slightly different accounts on certain details especially his resurrection and how many witnesses \who saw this miracle .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of this, there had been many speculations about the historical accuracy surrounding these events leaving some scholars confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some scholars question who actually wrote these gospels, was it the name of the titles mentioned or was these gospels written some time later by other sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The majority acknowledge that the gospels are not written in chronically order and because they’re written by different authors, that could play a role in why some of the accounts are different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The origins of the four gospels begin with 2<sup>nd</sup> century early church father and apologist Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul(now Lyon, France) who was a hearer of Polycarp, an actual disciple of the Apostle John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Irenaeus, Papias of Hierapolis, another early church father and author who was also a companion of Polycarp and hearer of two of Jesus disciples, John the Presbyter and Ariston wrote down five books called “Expositions of the Oracles of the Lord”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>These books contain reports on people he encountered who had known some of the members of the twelve apostles and of elders John the Presbyter and Ariston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The five books no longer exist but there are fragments preserved by Irenaneus and Eusebius, a Roman historian with citations taken by Eusebius on Papias’ report on what John the Presbyter recalled on both Matthew and Mark’s works. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, Matthew, one of the twelve apostles had written a logia on Jesus’ teachings that Eusebius stated was written in a Hebrew dialect known as Aramaic. Eusesbius quoted “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But concerning Matthew, he writes as follows ‘So then Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and everyone interpreted them as he was able”.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some scholars believe Papias was claiming Matthew wrote two gospels the first one in Aramaic and the later one he translated in Greek since the Gospel of Matthew was written in the Greek language. Others believe Papias was referring to another author used some sources from Matthew’s logia and authorize the Gospel of Matthew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Eusebius also mentions Pantaenus, a 2<sup>nd</sup> century Greek theologian and leader of the Catechetical School of Alexandria who traveled to India as a missionary and found the Gospel of Matthew written in the Aramaic language which was left by Saint Bartholomew, another one of the twelve apostles who was also a missionary in India.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, some scholars believe that Pantaenus had difficulty with the translation of the Saint Thomas Christians, a Christian community in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> and confused the reference Mar Thoma(Bishop Thomas) with Bar Tolmai, which was the Hebrew name for Bartholomew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is believed that the Apostle Thomas traveled to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> and was the one to spread the Christian faith there. Other scholars believe that Eusebius simply confused <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> with Arabia or <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Persia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, however there is no clear certainly to that fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regarding, Mark’s writings, it is claimed that he was a interpreter and traveling companion of Apostle Peter, who wrote down what he remembered about Peter’s teachings, although not necessary in order. </strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Ireneanus and other early Christian theologians and apologists including Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria also clamed Mark wrote down Peter’s teachings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark is identified as Mark the Evangelist, who founded the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Church</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Alexandria</st1:placename></st1:place>, whom he became bishop, Coptic Orthodox Church and the Church of Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early Greek priest, theologian and historian <st1:city w:st="on">St. Jerome</st1:city> also claimed he founded the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Catechetical</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other sources identify Mark the Evangelist as also both John Mark who also traveled with Apostles Paul and Barnabas and assisted in their works and is mentioned several times in Acts of the Apostles, Acts 12:12, Acts 12:25, Acts 13:5, Acts 13:13-14 and Acts 15:37-40, and Mark cousin or nephew of Barnabas who is mentioned in Col. 4:10 and Philomon 24.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark is also mentioned in 1 Peter 5:13 as his son although more likely his spiritual son and 2 Timothy 4:11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is does become unclear as some sources also identify Mark cousin or nephew of Barnabas also as Mark of the Apollonias a Bishop of Apollonia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Furthur sources claim that Mark the Evangelist was also the naked man who ran during Jesus arrest mentioned in Mark 14:51-52, although other theories is he was Lazarus or Joseph of Arimathea. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has also been claimed to be the man who carried water to where the Last Supper was taking place in Mark 14:13.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is also thought to be one of the servants at the Wedding of Cana where Jesus transformed water into wine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another claim was that he was one of Jesus 70 disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, in 1854, two writings of Hippolytus of Rome a 3<sup>rd</sup> century theologian was discovered in the monastery in Mount Athos in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Greece</st1:country-region></st1:place> called “On The Twelve Apostles” and “On the 70 Disciples of Christ”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter lists all the names of the 70 disciples including, Barnabas and Mark and the Evangelist, John Mark and Mark cousin or nephew of Barnabas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The problem with these theories, is that</span> it would also contradict Papias’s report that Mark never heard or followed Jesus himself. They also list the three Marks as separate people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These findings however, have been regarded as false and unreliable. There is no real evidence that Mark the Evangelist ever knew Jesus himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is really interesting is the ending of the Gospel of Mark, Mark 16:9-16 wasn’t in the earlier manuscripts of the text and seemed to be added much later which would mean Mark the Evangelist didn’t write it. It isn’t known who wrote the longer version of the Gospel but its speculated the author/authors got there sources from the three other Gospels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regarding the Gospel of Luke, it is claimed the author is Luke the Evangelist, a Hellenistic gentile from the city of <st1:city w:st="on">Antioch</st1:city> of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Syria</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the only gentile to have written one of the four gospels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was also physician as well as Paul’s disciple and companion who traveled with him on his missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is also believed to have written the Acts of Apostles as well since in both these books, the author mentions Theophilus whom he’s writing the stories to. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Irenaeus and Justin Martyr mentioned him in “The Apostolic Fathers” as a follower of Paul. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others including Eusebius and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">St. Jerome</st1:city></st1:place> also believe him to be the gospel’s author.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Epiphanus, a 4<sup>th</sup> century Bishop of Salamis, Cyprus, he was also one of Jesus 70 disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theophylact, a 11<sup>th</sup> century Greek Archbishop of Ohrid, named him one of the two disciples who meet a resurrected Jesus while traveling to Emmaus while 14<sup>th</sup> century Greek historian Nicephorus Kallistus claims him to be a painter who painted Jesus and his mother. Of course, there isn’t any evidence that any of these claims are true and in fact, it is very unlikely Luke ever met Jesus Christ himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is claimed that he wrote down the gospel and the book of Acts from accounts of many eyewitnesses to Jesus ministry and from other documents including the gospel of Mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The fourth gospel known as the Gospel of John, according to Irenaeus it is written by the Apostle John himself. It is also reported that the Apostle John wrote the gospel while he was in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ephesus</st1:place></st1:city> some time after Paul’s death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his book “Against Hearsies”, Irenaeus refers to John as the disciple whom Jesus loved and also the disciple who leaned on Jesus breast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This phrase is also mentioned in the Gospel of John in few verses, John 13:23, John 13:25 and John 21:20.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irenaeus sends two letters one to the Florinus and another Victor the Bishop of Rome where he mentions Polycarp who knew John the Apostle and interacted with the other Apostles too and to whom Irenaeus received his sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eusebius quotes passages from Irenaeus letters mentioning Polycarp. </strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>However, there are some scholars who believe Irenaeus confused John the Apostle with John the Presbyter who was the true author of the Gospel of John but there isn’t any real evidence of this theory and many evidences point to the Apostle John. It also opens to debate by numerous scholars if the Apostle John also wrote the Epistles of John and the Book of Revelations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further discoveries of the four gospels lies within the reports of findings of ancient papyruses throughout history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was the discovery in 1901 in Luxor, Egypt of what is known as the Magdelen Papyrus three fragments of papyrus believed to be portions of the Gospel of Matthew, were written on both sides indicating they were written on codex rather than on scroll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These fragments were purchased by a Rev. Charles Bousfield Huleatt who brought them to the Magdalen College Library, <st1:city w:st="on">Oxford</st1:city> in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> and classified as Papyrus 64.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1953, author Colin H. Roberts published the fragments. </strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Some years later, Roberts and other scholars discovered that these fragments were part of the same manuscripts of Papyrus 67, another fragment of the Gospel of Matthew located in <st1:city w:st="on">Barcelona</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region> and Papyrus 4 a fragment that’s part of the Gospel of Luke located in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Paris</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another discovery was when a team of researchers found a papyrus wrapped as a mummy mask in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> though to a fragment of the Gospel of Mark made around 90 AD which will eventually be published. Then in 1952, was the discovery of an ancient Greek papyrus in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> at the headquarters of the Pachomian order of Monks known as the papyrus 75.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These writings were codex that consisted of part of the Gospel of Luke(Bodmer Papyri X1V) and the Gospel of John(Bodmer Papyri XV) possibly 3<sup>rd</sup> century old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These writings were purchased by a Swiss Scholar Martin Bodmer and later sent to the Bodmer Foundation in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Cologny</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Switzerland</st1:country-region></st1:place> and later published in 1954.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Other ancient papyrus consists of the Rylands Papyri, a collection of thousands of Greek and North African fragments and documents in which includes the Rylands Papyrus 52 also known as the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">St. John’s</st1:place></st1:city> fragment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This first or second century fragment is a codex which contains small portions of the Gospel of John which is now located at the John Rylands University Library in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Manchester</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This fragment was purchased in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place> in 1920, and in 1934 it was translated by Colin H. Roberts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite variations of the authors of the gospels, there are some who don’t believe that neither of the gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, some debate that true authors were anonymous who wrote them some time in the second century. Their evidence, they claim is due to the fact that the Apostolic fathers including Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Hermas, Ignatius and Polycarp who wrote early Christian writings don’t mention any of the Four Gospels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Another evidence, is the claim that Justin Martyr who made 300 quotations from the books of the Old Testament and 100 from the Apocryphal books but he doesn’t mention any quotes from any of the Four Gospels, although other scholars have contradicted this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also believe the Gospel of Mark received its main sources from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the fact that neither of Gospels were mentioned until the later part of the second Century. Despite these claims, there isn’t any real basis for these speculations, and there is plenty of sources and documents to support the true authorship of the Four Gospels that I’ve mentioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The fact remains is that the Four Gospels all varying accounts of Jesus life from his birth, his ministry, crucifixion and resurrection in which we Christians are familiar with throughout tradition. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What really matters is that we use these Gospels as our source about Jesus teachings, follow his example to grow more Christ-like and show honor the man who gave up his life for our sins.</strong></span></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-52861871343242227442015-08-08T16:54:00.001-07:002015-08-08T16:54:14.860-07:00Should Christian Teens Date?<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 Timothy 2:22 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">So flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace and along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”</i></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After discussing both dating and marriage in the Christian community, I now like to analyze the topic of dating among teenagers of the Christian faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There has been debating arguments about whether Christian teens should be allowed to date, when they should date or should they date only in groups or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many Christians had various attitudes on this subject with some believing teen dating should be banned altogether until they are adults. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The more conservative groups want to replace dating with courtship among youths. The popular perception is that dating his harmful for teenagers or they need special restrictions placed upon them. These can include dating only in groups even in college, never allowed to be alone together and that parents should never let them out of their sight for a moment. These kinds of restrictions can surely be daunting and some has to wonder where does such strict attitudes come from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially since teen dating isn’t some new thing of this era bout been going on for many decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the 1950s, high school students even did was called multi-dating where they dated more than one person usually encouraged by their parents who may have felt they were too young to get so serious with just one person. Then if they really liked someone and wanted to get serious they go steady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes going steady didn’t last too long during high school if they meant someone else they liked and decided to go steady with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, during these time periods sex until marriage was still the accepted norm and the biggest step in a relationship was necking or petting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People also tended to get married much younger as the common ages to marry were between the ages of 18-22.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t just high schoolers having romances but children in middle school/junior school and even as young as elementary school were forming unofficial relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>These type of relationships were usually innocent and not taken very seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Middle school/junior high school students idea of “dating” considered mainly to pass notes, send love letters or valentine cards, holding hands, talk on the phone, wearing friendship pins, rings, or bracelets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boy may boy a girl a ring or bracelet from a vending machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They usually hanged out with each other and still did typical kid stuff and went steady which would last for a few months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their biggest step was having their first real kiss on the lips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There have been plenty of classic TV shows and films involving childhood romances often portraying them as sweet and innocent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if teen dating has been popular for decades, why has the attitude changed these days?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do many Christians get so uptight about it now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it has to due with the cultural norms and customs changing since the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In today’s more hypersexual society, premarital sex has become more the norm even among teenagers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the U.S. 16 is the most common age that teens lose their virginity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teen pregnancy, Aids and STDS are quite high among teenagers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To combat all of this, the more ultra-conservative Christian community has taken another extreme with the “I Kiss Dating Goodbye’ and “True Love Wait’s culture encourages courtship rather than dating which I mentioned a previous post about Christian dating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these groups even discourage friendships with the opposite sex out of fear it would be too tempting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like with dating among adults, these types of extremes can actually hinder teenagers especially when they get older and have to deal with the dating world and are so unprepared to what to do and who relationships work. </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t help but feel perplex when teenagers aren’t considered old enough to date yet are encouraged to engage in courtship when they are barely out of their teens which could also cause some problems in their marriages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I personally think that dating among teenagers is not only appropriate but should be embraced as just a one of the many life experiences of growing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These experiences can be quite beneficial contrary to what many believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One benefit of dating is learning<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>how to form bonding relationships with the opposite sex with all it entails, the emotions, the ups and downs, the sacrifices etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another one is discovering what he/she needs and desires in a partner, learning to draw boundaries in what is right for them and what isn’t. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, dating can help teens learn more about themselves even if it means being challenged and stepping out of their comfort zone. They can find out what they can bring to the table, how much they can endure and what it really means to truly care for someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These skills can help teenagers in the dating word once they leave their teen years behind and reach full adulthood and enable them to find their future spouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The many arguments against teen dating also consists of getting their hearts broken since dating at such a young age often doesn’t last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, sometimes relationships don’t last even for adults and people still often get their hearts broken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Breakups in a dating relationship can be painful but it is also part of life and one of the pitfalls of dating and can happen to any single person. Unfortunately pain itself is a part of life in that a relationships but we can overcome pain. In a breakup we can recover from by starting to heal and learn to move on in time and even learn from the experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just because something didn’t last doesn’t mean it was all bad or that it wasn’t beneficial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes God could bring someone in your life even temporary and could even benefit you before you find the person you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most common concerns for youths dating so young is the sexual activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In this modern society, saving sex for the sanctuary of marriage is less common and it could be particularly problematic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for teenagers who inexperience what to do with their raging hormones, easily led astray by peer pressure and getting<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the wrong information from peers and sometimes well-meaning adults alike about sex. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there are other solutions on how to deal with this problem than banning dating altogether which is mostly done out of fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acting out of Fear doesn’t often help the teen even if it may ease the parent’s state of mind it may even stifle them and/or cause resentments causing them to rebel especially after they leave for college and get out under their parent’s roof where they had much more options and may want to compensate for all the restrictions that were placed on them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides there are so much better solutions to the problems in dating. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First it’s the parents job to give reasonable and fair rules, standards, and boundaries regarding their child’s dating by setting an age requirement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>For younger teens there can be group dating, or mixed group outings however typically when the teen is between the ages 16-17, it’s probably best to allow single dating, so the they can get the experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other boundaries can include going out only in public places, no parking in secluded areas, in fact parents may want to ban car dating until they feel their teen is mature and can be trusted to handle these situations on their own, maybe anywhere between ages 16-18(just my personal opinion) until then the parents can chauffer their kids around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also not allowing their child to bring his/her girlfriend/boyfriend to the house unless under parental supervision and the same rules can apply at their girlfriend/boyfriend’s house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Banning the bedroom or any secluded rooms with a door or insisting either a third party has to present in the room or the door remains open at all times. Although some churches will say that teen couples shouldn’t ever be allowed alone together, I don’t recommend chaperoning their every move to the point of hovering over them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>There needs to some form of trust between child and parent and just as kids need their own space to be around their friends they need space with their dating partner as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s unlikely the teen will do anything too far knowing their parents are under the same roof in another room who could hear them and walk in on them any moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there is the thing parents most fear, the sex thing itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some churches and parents alike just feel they can just install to them that sex is saved for marriage and don’t want to dwell more on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others even inflict shame or guilty over teen’s sexuality which causes them to fear sex or any intimate moment in a relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s natural that parents don’t want to think about their kid’s sexuality and raging hormones but the reality is they do exist and parents can’t control these aspects of their children no matter how much they try. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of trying hard to control their kid’s sexuality it’s best to le their kids know that there is nothing to be ashamed of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’ is important for them to know that their sexuality is normal with all the sexual desires and hormones and that we all have them but how they are responsible how they handle and control these desires ensuring they don’t allow themselves to give n to sexual sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>As for physical affection, it’s unrealistic to not expect teenagers not to engage in some form of intimacy including kissing, touching, holding hands, hugging etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s important that they are aware that physical affection is a normal and healthy ways caring couples express their feelings but that their needs to be some boundaries so they won’t be led to stray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than a long list of what not do, it may be better to help them come up with reasonable boundaries of what is appropriate and what isn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly importantly is encouraging them to control their hormones rather allow their hormones control their impulses by making wise judgments, showing self-restraint and will power which will also help make wise decisions during their adulthood when they are on their own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last but not least, dating should be a fun experience where boy meets girl and they go out, spend time together and have good time and the rest is history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Teenage years are the most exciting, frustrating, challenging and stressful but teens can make the most of them in whatever they do which includes experiencing the joy sand hard ache of romantic relationships for the first time.</span></strong></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-82146822778993616482015-07-13T19:35:00.000-07:002015-07-13T19:35:01.498-07:00Purity Movement Part 4 Modesty Movement<br />
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<span style="background-color: #fdfeff;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Timothy 2:9-10 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.”</i></span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this post, I want to analyze a final topic of the purity culture within the Christian community now focusing on the new modesty movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The modesty movement is a new phenomenon that started during the new millennium where women and girls combat the hyper-sexualized society in provocative fashion by dressing more modestly yet stylish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>It all began when an Orthodox Jewish author and speaker Wendy Shalit published a book in 1999 at the age of 23 called “A Return To Modesty: Discovering The Lost Virtue”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this book, she encourages sexual modesty where women save their sex <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>until marriage, something that considered no longer relevant in the post-sexual liberation society where random hookups and friends-with-benefits has become more the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then in 2007, she published a sequel “Girls Gone Mild” where she encourages women and girls to take a stand against the sexualization females in the fashion industry by embracing a more modest fashion stance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2005, she founded an online community for women called “Modesty Zone” and is the blogger for the blog “Modesty Yours”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then the modesty movement emerged, as dressing less revealing and provocative started becoming more desirable for young women and girls alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>This movement became quite prevalent in the Christian community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brenda Sharman, a Catholic former and beauty pageant became the founder and national spokesperson for the Pure Fashion Show in 2005. This a faith-based international program that targets teenage girls who learn that they can retain their dignity, by dressing modest and still stylish, as well as value their inner beauty, through fashion shows, modeling training, etiquette courses etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This program had since become successful and performs in several states in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other programs similar include Secret Keeper Girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also several modest fashion websites and modest clothing magazines, modest clothing lines being sold at stores, self-help books by Christian authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even other religious and non-religious groups are also contributing to the Modesty movement that caters to Jewish, Muslim and secular women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The fact remains is more women and young girls are starting to realize they don’t need look sexy or dress provocative in order to be stylish or look attractive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dressing less revealing is now seen as classy, attractive and more appealing to both men and women alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More men are becoming attracted to females who cover up rather than those who need to where skimpy clothing in order to look attractive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way the modesty movement has helped both genders as it has helped boost self-confidence and self-worth in women and girls against the society that is everyday sexualizing them with sometimes unrealistic or demeaning body image in society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do believe the modesty movement is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has been a positive thing new generation in decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, just like all new phenomenons that start off as positive and well-meaning, there can be some downsides when it becomes taken too extreme that can hinder than help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One downside seems to be the shaming of females’ bodies similar to the slut-shaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The attitude is that it’s the female’s responsibility to cover up in order to keep males from lusting after her or having any impure thoughts at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian writer Sharon Hodde Miller clarified this type of shaming in her article in which she states that it treats women’s bodies as a temptation and a distraction that needs to be hidden or else it causes males in Christ to stumble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another Christian writer Elrena Evans shared the same view in her article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They both are concerned that in shaming female bodies, that the modesty movement is objectifying women and girls just in a different way than the sexualized society does by reducing females to sex objects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This type of shaming resorts to policing women and girls’ wardrobes based on rigid standards among the ultra conservative Christian community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rules from no tank tops, spaghetti straps, strapless outfits, skirts above the fingertips, shorts, bikinis, etc are often imposed of women and girls in what is modest and what wasn’t. The problem is various communities and individuals have different ideas on modesty which can make it quite difficult for some to apprehend what is appropriate and what isn’t<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is considered modest some folks may not be considered modest for others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another factor is the idea that both women and girls are installed the idea that it’s on them to honor respect men depending on how they dress as to not be tempting the male’s lust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have found a few examples of this ideal on the internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One forum I found a few years back that I can’t remember when a Christian mother admitted how she told her nine- year old daughter she couldn’t have a certain bathing suit in order show respect to men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I found it quite disturbing that nine-year little girl is taught that she has respect men based on how she dresses as if a grown male may have impure thoughts about her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a male would be considered a pedophile plain and simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recall Christian author and speaker Shaunti Feldhahn wrote book in which she describes how teenage boys when looking at girls in bikinis are tempted to have lustful thoughts and picture the girls naked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys tend to believe the girls are purposely trying to get attention when dressed in bikinis or short skirts or shorts and wish girl would cover up more in order to make it easier on them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shaunti Feldhhan herself seems to confirm this theories even if the girl isn’t intentionally trying to get the guys attention, girls still need to be aware of tempting they can be to the boys on how they dress that could lead to direction they don’t want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The most disturbing thing I read on the very conservative blogs it that some women may at least in part bring it on themselves when they get sexually assaulted or raped based on their attire, behavior and conduct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These mentalities are quite bothersome indeed for various reasons. They can be quite chauvinistic and patriarchal dating back to when Eve tempted Adam with the fruit declaring women as seductive and tempting creatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, there isn’t a whole lot a views on male modesty to protect female lust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although some do occasionally bring up legalistic views on modesty of men and boys such as no going topless even at beaches or swimming pools dressed only in swimming trunks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My point is that despite these myths, the fact remains that female bodies are not source of shame that need to be hidden away to block male temptation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our bodies also bare the image of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course both males and females should be conscious on how they dress and not be dress to revealing but not for the reasons that is usually taught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For women and girls they should dress more modesty not out of respect for the males but out respect for themselves as way of honoring their bodies as God’s temple. (John 2:21, 1Corinthians 6:19).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way, both women and girls use their bodies to glorify god not unhealthy self-gratification.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They do this be not cheapening their bodies in order to lure and attract lust or as an object for male self-gratification. This doesn’t mean women can’t still try to look pretty, stylish and beautiful but have reasonable standards and boundaries on what is appropriate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for men, their responsible for having self-control and restrain, but they should also understand having physical attraction to the female body and even some desires are not itself sinful, but how they handle these feelings and not allow them to a point to objectify females as mere sex objects, desire cheap self-gratification built on lust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Men and boys also have the responsibility to dress more modesty, not for the women’s sake but for their own self worth as image bearers of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their bodies are equally not to an objects for unhealthy lustful desires for female self-gratification.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the modesty movement, I don’t wish to see it end as it can impacts millions of women and girls on a positive light, but it can use some improvement and revamping by letting go of the negative ideals of female’s bodies as a source of shame and stop focusing too much on their long lists of rigid rules of what not to wear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Instead, it should focus on female bodies beautiful images of God and with that their bodies are God’s temples that should be respected and valued rather than be cheapened or tarnished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How we dress will certainly play a role on how our bodies are valued with decency and self-respect</span></strong></span></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-43633342804510398652015-03-08T11:06:00.000-07:002015-03-08T11:06:18.632-07:00Purity Movement Part 3 -Physical Intimacy, What is Going Too Far and Premarital Sex?<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Corinthians 7:1-2 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Now concerning the matters about which you wrote:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“it is good for man not to have sexual relations with a woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But because of the temptation of sexual immorality each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the last post, I discussed about sexual desires among Christians, in this post would like to discuss physical intimacy among Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among the Christian community are different views how just what type of physical affection is allowed in Christian relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The popular question just how far is too far?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>For almost all Christians, premarital sex is a sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God designed Sexual intercourse as a pleasurable expression saved for marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, outside of sexual intercourse just what is acceptable<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>among non-married couples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should Christian couples engage in kissing, light kissing or French kissing, necking, making out, heavy petting etc?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For almost all Christians The purity culture has held on the ideal that no kissing until the wedding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other Christians and churches discourage little physical contact as possible warning the dangers of sexual temptation, from kissing, French kissing, hugging, touching, making out since any of these will lead to sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The main premise is to keep sexual purity which is in the scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm 119:9 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How can a young person stay on the path of purity</i>?<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> By living according to the word.” </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 Timothy 4:12 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The Greek word for purity is “hagneia” verb form of “hagnos” which means undefiled, not contaminated, sinlessness of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s true as Christians, we should strive to remain pure and not just sexual purity, and flee from sinful behavior, although this is not always easy and we will stumble from time to time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it comes sexually purity, how is that really defined?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christians have different ideas on how to be sexually pure, from no kissing until marriage, to not having sexual thoughts or desires, to only hold hands, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To combat, sexual impurity, both the churches and Christian communities have decided to delegate their own various man-made rules on what is acceptable and what isn’t when it comes to physical affection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From no passionate kissing, no French kissing, necking, touching, making out on a couch, being alone together, play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some churches even goes as far as to police people’s behavior, giving them the rundown on just how much they can do as the relationship grows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The moral behind this that in this sexualized world, Christians need to be told what is best for them as they can be so easily led astray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>After all, we can’t help ourselves as we are so weak that once we become physical, we can easily lose control like sexual beasts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But with so many different ideas from different Christian circles and churches as to what is permissible or not, we had a hard time defining exactly what the boundaries based on biblical principles are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing I like to point out his although Christians believe premarital sex is a sin and goes against the bible, the reality is bible doesn’t actually forbid premarital sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There isn’t a verse that definitely says premarital sex itself is wrong. The bible does have numerous scriptures that speaks against sexual immorality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1 Corinthians 7:1-2, the Greek translation for sexual relations or touch is “hapto/haptomai”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These words mean to fasten oneself to, kindle, set on fire, clinging, to light, carnel intercourse with a woman or cohabitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Other verses are 1 Corinthians 6:18 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ephesians 5:5 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colossians 3:5 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Galatians 5:19-21 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">kingdom</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">God</st1:placename></st1:place>.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>It is very clear that sexual immoral behavior is forbidden in the bible but what does the bible exactly mean by “sexual immorality”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Greek translation is “porneia”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This word means harlotry, prostitution, illicit sexual intercourse and fornication(sexual intercourse between two unmarried people) and idolatry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Septuagint usage, the word only refers to prostitution and illicit sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word “zanah” is translated as fornication meaning harlotry or having sexual relations outside of a covenant marriage including adultery. The Septuagint(Greek translation) of the Old Testament, fornication is translated as porneia. There are some more progressive Christians and churches who argue against the word porneia including fornication at all. Their argument is that porneia only included prostitution since during Ancient times there were Pagan temple prostitutes and adultery on the woman’s part since women were considered property and men could have more than one wife and take concubines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1 Corinthians 6:9 the word Greek word for fornicator is “pornos” which means male prostitutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Yet these progressive Christians who don’t condemn premarital sex also use biblical scriptures to support their reasoning including Exodus 22:16-17 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>A similar verse is found in Deuteronomy 22:28-29 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days”. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is considered proof by some that premarital sex is allowed as it was allowed in the Old Testament of the bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, others view Deuteronomy 22:28-29 referring to rape and the consequences of the man who raped a woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there is the story of Jacob and his marriages to two sisters Leah and Rachel in Genesis 29:16-30 which describes him having sexual relations first Leah, then Rachel in exchanged for working for their father his uncle Laban.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>None of these verses are actual proof that bible doesn’t condemn premarital sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, the first two verses are actually a consequence for the man who has sex with a woman, as the custom was for a man to ask for her father’s permission to marry his daughter offering a bride-price, then take her as his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, since he didn’t he is has no choice but to pay a bride price to the father and take her as his wife, and even if the father refuses to allow his daughter marry the man, the man is still obliged to pay a bride-price anyway for he has defiled her. Also, some scholars claim under Ancient Jewish law if couple had sexual intercourse they were considered married or the man had shamed the woman. Another factor in Ancient Israel, is that men could take more than one wife or take slave women as concubines. What was considered adultery was when a married or betrothed woman had sexual relations with a man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in the New Testament, in the Greco-Roman society polygamy was condemned although it was still practiced by the Jewish people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1 Timothy 3:2, Paul declares a church elder has to be a husband of only one wife. Paul speaks numerous times against any sexual immorality(porneia) even declaring a sexual union as becoming one flesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Corinthians 6: 16 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>This is mentioned again in Genesis 2:24 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”</i> which repeated in Ephesians 5:31.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “one flesh” is the sexual union between the husband and wife which bonds them beyond just physically but spiritually and emotionally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul is condemning the sexual union to a prostitute since such a union should be sacred preserved between a husband and wife not cheapened with a prostitute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1 Corinthians 7:1-2, the Greek city of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Corinth</st1:place></st1:city> sexual immorality was rampant with promiscuous behavior including men engaging in sexual activity with temple prostitutes, slaves living together as tent companions rather than being legally married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact promiscuous behavior was the norm and even encouraged. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, to combat this, Paul was encouraging believers to marry rather than engage in such immoral behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He mentions something similar in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 Corinthians 7:36 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>This goes back to the question if the Greek word porneia also includes fornication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In Greek translation the word fornication means illicit(forbidden) sexual relations between people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that time period of Paul’s teachings, sexual relations outside of marriage were forbidden, but in the 21st century today, such behavior has become the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although we have to consider the cultural issues and customs of that era, that doesn’t mean that some standards still doesn’t apply today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having to consider the verse Genesis 2:24, I’ve decided to concur that a sexual union is preserved in marriage only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also concur that avoiding sexual immorality is still applies but this meaning goes beyond just fornication, or prostitution, but any sexual deviancy that includes adultery, incest, rape, bestiality(sexual relations with animals) and pedophilia behavior(sexual relations with children).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in marriage in should include threesomes, orgies and rape. What about other sexual activity such as oral or anal sex? Although these acts aren’t actually considered sex, I personally consider any actual sexual relations between to unmarried people that causes penetration a sexual act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With that being settled, then what exactly is acceptable between non-married couples?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have read in different forums were Christians have different standards of what is appropriate and what isn’t in a relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>These standards are from no touching until marriage, no kissing until marriage or unless they plan on getting married or not being alone together at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve read from teenage girls who follow purity culture author Leslie Ludy berating themselves for kissing their boyfriends because they don’t think they are pure anymore. Also, from a college girl getting in panic because she dared kissed her boyfriend in their car while lying down on the seat although nothing further happened. I also read from Christians chastising others who engaged in kissing, holding hands, hugging and cuddling with their boyfriends/girlfriends insisting that they shouldn’t be doing such things unless they are planning on getting married. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many Christians just don’t seem to know where to draw the line in physical relationship and often seek out advice or validation from others who sometimes give well-meaning but misguided advice. These mentalities have caused more harm than good, causing many Christians to feel fear, shame and guilt over intimacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian therapist and author Dr. Stephen W. Simpson has mentioned counseling young married couples who avoided any intimacy before marriage only to have problems with sexual intimacy after marriage. Then there are couples who do cross the boundaries and engage in sexual intercourse outside of marriage only to be left feeling guilt, shame and even ostracized by their churches, family and friends and peers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In fact, despite what the churches attitudes about sex, sexual activity is going on in the churches. Many young Christian couples are almost as sexually active as their secular counterparts, mostly due to the peer pressure in the modern sexualized times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only differences is that Christian couples are more likely to be in serious committed relationships when becoming sexually active than their secular counterparts yet less likely to use protection or go to the doctor to get tested which leads to many unplanned pregnancies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I’m aware there needs to be reasonable boundaries on what Christian couples should engage in regarding physical affection going to the other extreme among the purity movement isn’t helpful either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, I think is important for Christians to be aware that sexual and physical intimacy isn’t something to fear. Sexual intimacy is pleasurable and beautiful thing designed by God for marriage which is built on mutual love, emotional connection and commitment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for physical intimacy that doesn’t involve sexual intercourse, this type of display is not only okay but quite healthy and important as it is just an expression of two people in a relationship who truly care for and are devoted to each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Even experts including psychologists say that physical affection including, kissing, holding hands, hugging and cuddling are important in a relationship as they release the feel good and love hormones known as dopamine and oxytocin which in turn decreases stress and lower the blood pressure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, couples who engage in many forms of physical affection(minus sex) feel more satisfied in a relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for what is acceptable and what isn’t in physical relationship, the truth is besides saving sex for marriage, there aren’t any biblical rules on what else you are allowed to do in a physical relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the bible chapter Song of Solomon mentions a physical affection in a romantic relationship between a Shulamite woman and a shepherd boy in verse Song of Solomon 1:2 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine;”.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for what could lead to sex, anything basically could anything could lead to sex from kissing to being alone together, but that doesn’t mean it will lead to sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People can have a some will power and self-restraint especially if they understand the boundaries, and the fact people have different sex drives with some being higher and lower than the other does play a role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>What couples decide to do regarding physical affection in a relationship is totally up the couple and what they feel they’re comfortable with and will vary for different couples as each couple is different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The type of physical display will also differ depending on the different stages of that relationship, for example maybe only light kisses on the lips in the beginning of the dating process to more physical affection of holding hands, passionate kissing, embracing, caressing etc in a more serious committed relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if a couple chooses on their own to save their first kiss until their wedding day or at least an engagement ring that is their right and their business as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There shouldn’t be any type of judgment on what couples do that don’t violate the bible nor should we create legalistic rules on what we should or shouldn’t do based on misinterpreting the bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I will say I personally wouldn’t recommend engaging in heavy petting, foundling each others genitals, breast, or buttocks even though such acts aren’t actually forbidden, they still can be too temping and pushing the boundaries a bit, but in the end it’s the couple’s choice. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Even if a couple does cross the line and engage in sexual intercourse, it doesn’t mean that they should be forever condemned, treated like they committed the ultimate sin, branded to slut-shaming(on the female’s part), any type of shaming or damaged goods. There is room for repentance and forgiveness and understanding as we are all sinners and sometimes we will stumble not out of being immoral but out of weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The main issue is in relationship there should be mutual trust and respect, knowing the boundaries and having a sense of will power while doing what the couple feels is comfortable for them without fear or anxiety over what is appropriate.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></strong></span><br />
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-85648020751788317482015-01-27T17:41:00.003-08:002015-01-27T17:41:35.456-08:00The Purity Movement part 2- Sexual Desires a Sin?<br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Galatians 5:16 “<em>B</em><span><em>ut I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh</em>.”</span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong>After discussing dating in the Purity Movement in my last post, I now want to discuss another topic that was been running rampant among ultra-conservative Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The topic now is about Sexual Desires and sexuality among the Christian culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are sexual desires or sexual arousal sinful?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do Christians face regarding this topic? What is acceptable and what isn’t?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the most part it appears there is a trend in the Purity Movement that encourages Christians to feel ashamed of their sexuality.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong>Instead, they must suppress their sexuality in order to avoid sin. Because of this mentality, plenty of Christians have felt guilt and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shame whenever, they felt<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>physical attraction to the opposite sex, felt sexual desires with special person in their life, longed to kiss or hold them or even fear physical contact with friends of the opposite sex etc. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when couples marry, sometimes they have trouble with intimacy with their spouses due to suppressing their sexuality so much in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many well-meaning but misguided churches have played a role teaching Christians about purity and avoiding lust at all costs so as to not give in to temptation to sin, with distorted information and facts. This is mostly prominent in the purity culture of the typical “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>philosophy<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the “True Love Waits’ among teenagers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong>The fact remains, many churches believe people can’t control their impulses and will give into lust so easily and many have a long list of man-made rules what leads to lust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is true there are plenty of bible verses that state against sexual sins and lust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matthew 5:28 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1Thessalonians 4:4-5 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 John 2:16 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James 1:14-15 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></i>It is true that as Christians, we are not to give in to temptation built on pure lust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we need to have a real understanding exactly what is lust and what isn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First the Greek word for lust is “epithumia” which means strong desire, longing, craving, desire for what is forbidden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although sometimes the word is used in positive way in the Bible, often times it is used negatively when referring to sexual behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we shouldn’t confuse lust or epithumia with the sexual desires or sexual arousal as they are not necessary the same thing. To further explain, I want it to be clear that sexual arousal or sexual desires are not necessarily the same thing as lust and therefore not a sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God created us humans to be sexual beings, and thus gave us sexual desires especially for our spouses and they are natural human instincts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sexual arousal is a involuntary physical response we humans get that are also quite natural especially in a marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are not necessary lustful even outside of marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The problem isn't having these kind of feelings as a whole, but I we act on or handle them. It’s true we need to learn how to control these feelings rather than let them control us but suppressing them based on shame or guilt isn’t the answer. Maybe knowing in what circumstances where they are acceptable and how to manage the correctly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to take the time to list several situations of sexual feelings that are not based on lust in itself and quite normal and natural. Physical attraction or arousal people feel when they see a very attraction person of the opposite sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sparks and arousal people feel whenever they engage in any form of physical affection(that doesn’t include sexual intercourse) between a couple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps curious to what it would be like to make love to their boyfriend/girlfriend one day that there are in love with(as long as they don’t act on it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Maybe a teenager discovering his/her sexuality by being curious about physical or sexual intimacy and what is like. Or even adult wanting one day experience the joys of being held, touched or kissed by a future love interest or to have a sexual pleasure with a future spouse. These are normal natural and even healthy feelings that all people have once in a while, and it would be unrealistic and unfair to suppress, deny or shun them under a misguided notion of avoiding lust. However, I can list several examples of feelings that are just built pure lust an nothing else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a person eyes up someone of the opposite sex and has the desire to engage sexual activity with him/her simply for self-gratification.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Having the urges to have sexual intercourse, simply to get laid because you’re horny and don’t care who the person you do it with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking at or watching porn and maybe fantasizing engaging in illicit sexual activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Married person sexually desiring someone else other than their spouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply, regarding members of the opposite sex as mere objects for their own sexual pleasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These circumstances are obviously not acceptable and should be avoided but shutting down our sexuality altogether until marriage is not the answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides the fact, this in itself could create new problems especially for newlyweds who are ill prepared on who sexually pleasure each other because they have been taught to shut down their sexuality for too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve actually read from several former members of the purity culture complain about this very thing and how it affected their marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The Bottom line is that we as Christians really need is to find better and more realistic understandings on how to express and channel our sexuality that reflect the new era while staying true to the biblical teachings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do this by simply, accepting our sexual desires as natural human feelings we all get when relating and feeling attraction to the opposite sex that shouldn’t be feared but be allowed to be expressed, yet managed by setting reasonable boundaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do this by not allowing our desires to control our actions instead we should always stay control our actions instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which actions are permissible and what isn’t should be something we need to figure out by using sound judgment with Lord’s guidance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Luckily, more Christian authors, speakers, bloggers and ex purity culture members are speaking about more modern and practical ideals on sexuality, sexual desires, etc among believers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the next post I will discuss what is acceptable among physical behavior in dating relationships.</strong></span></div>
</o:p></span>Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-87009716370976933102014-12-09T12:20:00.001-08:002014-12-09T12:20:34.896-08:00Debunking the Purity Movement Part 1 Dating vs. Courtship<br />
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Proverbs 18:22 <em>“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD"</em></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wanted to the take the time to discuss and analyze the purity the movement that sprang up in the past decades and the affects it has on society since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will be posting a few parts on this subject matter regarding different fields within this movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This first part is about the courtship vs. dating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 1970s, conservative pastor Bill Gothard taught courtship over secular dating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then in the mid-1990s, Jonathan Lindvall, also introduced courtship known as “Youthful Romance” as an alternative to dating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>However, the purity movement itself all started in 1997 when Christian conservative Pastor Joshua Harris wrote a book called “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” when he was only 21, in which he encourages young Christian people not to do the regular dating based today’s secular standards. Instead, they should embrace courtship in which they only form romantic relationships with each other for the sole purpose of marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The young man will also usually ask the young lady’s father for permission to court his daughter, and they don’t do anything physical with each other(with the exception of holding hands) until after the wedding including a first kiss. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They shouldn’t even be left alone together as group dating or chaperoned dates are often encouraged. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever since the book came out, more books by Christian authors including Leslie and Eric Ludy’s “Set Apart” series promoting the same message. There is also the “True Love Waits’ organization for Christian teens. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The Purity Culture would become a huge phenomenon among very ultra-conservative, patriarchal Christian Fundamentalists and homeschooling families. This movement was meant to be a Christian counter-culture to a sexualized society of the post-sexual liberation of the 1970s. The idea was to restore a pre-20<sup>th</sup> century romantic relationships that was more pure, holy and innocent and considered biblical and godly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not against reviving or restoring any traditional ritual, moral, ideal that is beneficial as I’ mentioned in my previous post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can even understand the motives behind this purity movement, and agree that in today’s culture, society as become too sexualized and has affected both Christians and non-Christians alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this courtship ritual among the purity movement has many downsides that has actually hindered rather than help Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, it has caused uneasiness and discomfort socially awkwardness interacting with the opposite sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Males and females had trouble relating to each other and were even discouraged from forming friendships fearing it would lead to something more. The idea of a male and female being alone together, even if they are not a couple or don’t have any romantic or any desires for one another, is discouraged out of fear of any temptation that may arise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Because of these restrictions, plenty of Christian adults in the late 20s and onward, who are involved in the movement wind up still single.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plenty seldom dated or dated at all in their early 20s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many had troubles forming romantic relationships and out of frustration gave up dating and the complications that come with it, choosing to hang out with the opposite sex instead buying into the idea that God will just find a spouse for them when they are ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the young Christians in college and afterwards, part of their reluctance to date may have been out of fear of the expectation of marriage, since, marriage was seen as the only purpose date known as courting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another factor, is the idea among the purity movement, is that for young people who date and then break up are just practicing divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even, read an article from a fundamentalist pastor who was warning his congregation on the dangers of dating since it was practicing divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Many ultra-conservative churches discouraged dating among younger Christians from dating for this exact same reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always wondered where these folks get this logic?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I assume it comes from theory that young people who get used to forming relationships then breaking up may conclude that relationships aren’t meant to last and if it fails, just end it and this attitude could extend to marriages as well with the divorce rate so high. Another theory is that to give their hearts away to someone who they are not going to marry will cause them to not be able to completely give their hearts to their future spouse and could be considered emotional cheating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, young people are cautioned not to give their hearts away so easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Proverbs 4:23 “<span><em>Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it</em>”. Many</span><span style="background: #fdfeff; color: #001320;"> </span>misunderstand this verse to refer to romantic relationships, therefore not give our hearts so easily to people we won’t end up marrying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the context of that verse is about a father cautioning his son, warning him not to allow his heart to be corrupted by sin, including greed, selfishness, lust and allowing the heart to harden becoming bitter and malicious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is certainly something all us Christians should strive to avoid. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many young Christians doing courtships often marry young sometimes barley out of their teens encouraged and pressured by their parents, churches, pastors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of this many who haven’t had any experience in dating have trouble relating to one another causing conflicts in their marriage and some lead to divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in less patriarchic Christian circles, Christians are encouraged to date with the only purpose for marriage known as “dating with marriage in mind”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These can be really discouraging for Christian high school and college students who are not yet ready for marriage but feel ready to explore romantic relationships with all the fundamental ups and downs that come with it. The main point is to form romantic relationships on biblical principals, and being god-centered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I definitely agree with this concept, we should strive not be influenced by the modern secular attitudes on dating that go against God’s will, which has become to sexualized, just for the sake of getting with the program and following the crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Christians, Our first priority is being a glory to God even in dating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>However, combating the ungodly sexualized society, by adapting to another extreme ideal doesn’t solve this issue but as in fact created even more problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many survivors of this courtship movement have created blogs and articles in which they talk about the downsides and the bad affects they and fellow peers endured due to this movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, plenty of Christians are now and have gradually turned away from the courtship culture and regretting their choice to embrace it in the first place. The fact is movement’s views are often legalistic with rigid restrictions, rules and outdated and unnecessary cultural ideals on romantic relationships which are not biblically mandated. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, there is nothing at all in the bible that mentions dating since dating didn’t exist during ancient biblical times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During, the ancient times, arranged marriages and courtships were the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love didn’t often play into the role when couples married by arrangement by their parents, sometimes for business reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, the norm was men taking more than one wife and having concubines whom he fathered children with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also girls married as young as twelve and boys young as thirteen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, none of these customs are no longer socially acceptable, some not even legal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arranged marriages and courtship continued as late as the 19<sup>th</sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In the 1920s, courtship was replaced by dating rituals, especially in the western world, where couples go out together without a chaperone and the no kissing until the wedding was relaxed to allow some forms of physical affection, premarital sex was still frowned upon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As decades have past, cultural norms has since evolved including dating customs, not always for the better as the sexual liberation emerged during the 1960s and 1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Christians, many are simply bad at dating, as they are confused as what to do, what is acceptable for them and what isn’t, receiving well-meaning but sometimes conflicting and misguided advice and standards from their churches. Plenty of young Christian women are dating and even marrying non-Christian men as they complain Christian men don’t pursue them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christians just seem to be lost when it comes to the modern dating world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, there are several Christian dating experts, authors who are not embracing the courtship rituals and instead are focusing on realistic modern dating standards for Christians that still holds to godly principals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experts include Dr. Stephen W. Simpson, a Christian psychologist who wrote the book “What Women Wish You Knew About Dating”, Jason Illian <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>author of “Undressed: The Naked Truth About Love, Sex and Dating”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Others also include Mindy Meier, Chad Eastham, Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like to point out I don’t condemn courtship altogether, so long couples choose on their own free will to follow the courtship way and share there first kiss on their wedding day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Couples should be able to freely choose whatever they feel is right for them, without judgment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I don’t condone courtships and the “I kissed dating goodbye” culture restricted to Christians, in which they are made to feel these standards are the only godly way for all Christians to pursue. </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we are now living in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, culture and customs has since evolved in progressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christians need to adapt to the modern world and all in entails, rather than always isolate themselves from the present society in order to feel more godly, while still embracing Christ.<span style="background: #fdfeff; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; text-transform: uppercase;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></div>
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Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-81480848680017001432014-11-14T17:24:00.002-08:002014-11-14T17:24:24.078-08:00Traditional Values?<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Colossians 2:8 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” </i></span></span></strong><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>I want to discuss in this post about what many Christians proclaim on traditional values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among very conservative Christians, there is a lot of discussion on what or lack of the long forgotten traditional ideals and morals of the by gone era and how society as been hindered because of some of its loss and the longing to bring back these ideals for the modern society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The debate can be about a variety of beliefs regarding roles, attitudes, behavior whether it’s the lack of defined gender roles, family values, good parenting, behaviors among the youth or basic civility and common decency to each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In many of their minds, things were so much better in the nostalgic golden days where things were so much simpler and everyone knew their roles and place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They blame a variety of changes that came in the past several decades that destroyed these ideals, whether it’s the rise of the women’s movement, the hippie culture, the sexual revolution, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only solution for these Christians is to revive the traditional models of past and blend them into modern society which many are already doing by teaching in the churches, books, programs, movements and on websites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The beliefs among such groups will vary depending on how ultra-conservative traditional they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>For example, there is Dr. Robert Lewis of “Men’s Fraternity: Authentic Manhood” who also wrote the book “Rocking the Roles” which goes beyond the old fashioned 1950s family model and the 1980s modern family unit altogether with perfect balance of both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many others follow this philosophy trying to avoid pandering to either extremes of the patriarchal model and the post-feminist model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, there very patriarchal and traditionalists groups who want to rebuke many of the modern values of today for nostalgic cultural idealogy blaming feminism for most of the confusion, the changing gender roles and lack of morals in society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not just Christians who long for revive the traditional way of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Even some in the secular society are becoming less satisfied of today’s society bellowing how some of the old ways were so much better, be it the morals, the attitudes, the fashion, movies, TV, music, gender roles, family models and basically how people treat others, how things were less expensive. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For them, many things were so much better in the by gone eras of the past decades and they longed to have been born in another time period era. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a retro style going on recently among younger and older folks who are fascinated by all things in the past especially the fashion, hairstyles, music style, books, classic films, celebrities, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of these folks run blogs and websites expressing their new fascination. TV shows like “Mad Men”, “Downton Abbey” and any time period dramas also perpetuate the theories of the innocence and simplicity of the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will admit that I agree to this only to an extant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I myself have some partially old fashioned morals and beliefs balanced with some modern views depending on the circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I support reviving some good ideals that are considered traditional or even outdated that are beneficial, while other negative ideals we can leave in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, most modern people have some of old fashioned views they follow. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I can’t help but think for many who long for the nostalgic ways of life hold onto a very romanticized idealistic image the golden eras.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly from people who are fed up with drudgeries and standards of the modern world benefit the most from the past generations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mainly women who don’t desire the equal responsibilities of today and revel in being housewives, focusing only on caring for the homes and children, being treated like ladies, etc or men desire being the main breadwinners, not debating their wives over careers, and household chores and all the privileges of the patriarchic society and when things were much cheaper. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>This is mostly true among Christian traditionalist groups, as many want to abandon all the modern values altogether and live as if they are living in a different era, with al the different standards, customs, values that were common. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although there are many positive things about the past generations, there were also plenty of downsides and not all people would have benefited the by gone eras.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, decades ago racism, sexism, Anti-Semitism and other forms are bigotry were more rampant than today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laws were made to discriminate against others, like the Jim Crow laws in the deep south that encouraged racial segregation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Basically,</span> laws didn’t protect all people due to their race, gender, or religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Black people were oppressed especially in the south where unfair treatment, lynchings, abuse, rapes etc commonly occurred. Women were regarded as second-class citizens and marital rape, spousal abuse, sexual harassment were not illegal during past decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There weren’t any stalking laws to protect citizens from harassment. Also, back in the days, many people were more narrow-minded, naïve or ignorant on certain things in situations. Many had to fight for rights and opportunities many others already had, for the black people it was the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, for women it was the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Other minorities also had to fight for fair treatment and dealt with many of the struggles in the process. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Today, we live in a more egalitarian society where all people are protected equally under the law, have gained more equal opportunities and fairness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are also less ignorant upon becoming more acknowledgeable in certain fields which is making good progress including technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> We also have many advantages than we had in the past..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having growing up in the more equal society, I wouldn’t to live in the era my parents grew up and deal with all the struggles that black people and women as well as other minorities had to endure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m satisfied in living in an era with all the progress it has made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Of course today, there are also some downsides and disadvantages as not all things have changed for the better but for the worse, but that doesn't take away many of the positive sides of in the present time. </span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>As a Christian, I strive to live the modern society adapting godly principles in today’s culture, learning to differentiate between biblical ideals and culture ideals not confusing the two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it is better to stop moaning about how great it was in the past and wishing to have been born in another era or to go back to the way it used to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The by gone era of the past decades are over and we can never go back to those time periods and shouldn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, we should accept the present and look to the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However that doesn’t mean we have to abandon all of the traditional ideals and customs of the past. </strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>As I said before, part of moving forward could be preserving and reviving some of the good ideals, morals and customs of the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>past generations for the newer generation to adapt<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to adapt and honor<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which could be beneficial in today’s society while balancing them out with some progressive ideals of the changing times.</strong></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-86289899666857155612014-09-14T16:24:00.000-07:002014-09-14T18:35:11.092-07:00Did Jesus Have A Family?<div abp="57">
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<span abp="73" style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b abp="74">John 4:6 “<span abp="75" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfeff; background-origin: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”<o:p abp="76"></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span abp="132" style="background: rgb(253,254,255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span abp="133" style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b abp="134">There has always been questions and debates regarding Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Was he really the messiah? Was he really the son of God? Did he really die for our sins on the cross? Did he have a wife and children? A lot of the questions have gone on for decades with many scholars coming up with some controversial conclusions about the life and time of the famous Jesus. Recent debate is possibly evidence that Jesus did in fact have a wife. There was always speculation by some that not only Jesus was married but his wife was actually Mary Magdalene, one of his disciples. This theory was also made in several books over decades the earliest being “The Holy Blood, The Holy Grail(1982)” by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln. </b></span></span></div>
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<span abp="143" style="background: rgb(253,254,255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span abp="144" style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b abp="145">In this book the theory is not only that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married but they had children and their descendants are of the Merovingian Dynasty in <st1:place abp="146" w:st="on"><st1:country-region abp="147" w:st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Other books that supports these theories is “The Templar Revelation(1997)” by Clive Prince and Lynn Picknett. In this book, Jesus is a disciple of John the Baptist whose teachings were from Egyptian mystery religion Isis-Osirus-Horus and that Mary Magdalene was ritualized to having a sacred sexual relationship with Jesus. Then there is the popular mystery fiction novel “The Da Vinci Code(2003)” by author Dan Brown. There hasn’t been any confirmed proof that Jesus was married or Mary Magdalene was his wife, however there has been new findings that may consider the possibility. Recently, in September 18, 2012, Professor Karen King of <st1:placename abp="148" w:st="on">Harvard</st1:placename> <st1:placename abp="149" w:st="on">Divinity</st1:placename> <st1:placetype abp="150" w:st="on">School</st1:placetype>, announced the existence of a papyrus fragment dubbed “The Gospel of Jesus Wife” at the International Coptic Congress in <st1:place abp="151" w:st="on"><st1:city abp="152" w:st="on">Rome</st1:city></st1:place>. Following the months later, numerous studies and scientific testing was done one papyrus by several professionals who determined it was written in seventh or eighth century. The English translation of the fragments has the phrases “Jesus said to them ‘my wife she is able to be my disciple, and ‘as for me I am with her in order to”. Despite this, many skeptics doubt the papyrus is genuine and even believe it was a forgery including Coptic specialist Christian Askeland, Professor of Indiana Wesleyan University. Some believe the fragments are genuine and a few scholars suspect the text was written by Egyptian Christians in AD 400. </b></span></span></div>
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<span abp="161" style="background: rgb(253,254,255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span abp="162" style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b abp="163">Then there is the famous Jesus Family Tomb in Talpiot which I mentioned in my previous post(See fact or fiction part 2). I mentioned in this discovered tomb nine ossuaries with the names “Yeshua Bar Yosef” which in Aramaic means “Jesus son of Joseph”. Other names are “Mariamne” which some believe refers to Mary Magdalene, “Yosa” meaning Joses(Joseph). In the New Testament Jesus is mentioned of having four brothers, James(known as James The Just), Joses(Joseph), Judas(Judah) and Simon as well some unnamed sisters in the Gospels of Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55-56. Canadian Israeli Journalist, author and film director Simcha Jacabovici made a documentary film on these findings and co-wrote the book about it claiming these were the remains of Jesus and his family. He believes that the name Mariamne is referring to his wife Mary Magdalene, Yosa, his brother Joseph. There is also an ossuary with the name “Yehuda Bar Yeshua” translated as “<st1:country-region abp="164" w:st="on"><st1:place abp="165" w:st="on">Judah</st1:place></st1:country-region> son of Jesus” leaving him to believe of the possibility Jesus also had some children. </b></span></span></div>
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<span abp="174" style="background: rgb(253,254,255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span abp="175" style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b abp="176">Also was discovered was the tenth and missing ossuary found in the <st1:placename abp="177" w:st="on">Kidron</st1:placename> <st1:placetype abp="178" w:st="on">Valley</st1:placetype>, near <st1:placetype abp="179" w:st="on">Temple</st1:placetype> <st1:placename abp="180" w:st="on">Mount</st1:placename> in <st1:city abp="181" w:st="on"><st1:place abp="182" w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:place></st1:city>. This ossuary had the Aramaic inscription “Ya’akov bar-Yosef akhui diYeshua” translated as “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”. The existence of the ossuary was announced on October 21, 2002 in a Washington Press conference co-hosted by the Discovery Channel and the Biblical Archaeology Society and is owned by Oded Golan, an Israeli engineer and artifact collector. Many believe the ossuary to be that of Jesus brother known as James, the Just also an Apostle. However, some doubt the authenticity of the inscriptions, in fact, Mr. Golan was arrested for forgery of the ossuary in late 2004 and it took several years for him to be cleared of the charges in 2012. Mr. Golan put the ossuary on public display and debate still going on whether it is the genuine box of Jesus brother’s remains. However, if these claims were true it could possibly mean that Jesus resurrection wasn’t true. Some speculate that perhaps his disciples moved his body from the tomb after his death and hid it, then put in the family tomb later on. Skeptics rebuke the idea that the Jesus family tomb is the actual burial of Jesus and his family as the names Jesus, Mariamne, Joseph and Judah were common names in <st1:country-region abp="183" w:st="on"><st1:place abp="184" w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> during that period. Also, there isn’t any real evidence that Jesus was ever married or had children or had any relations with Mary Magdalene. </b></span></span></div>
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<span abp="193" style="background: rgb(253,254,255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span abp="194" style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b abp="195">Another controversial theory is the paternity of Jesus Christ. Over years, some scholars who doubted Jesus was the son of God believed that his true father was a Roman soldier named Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera. This theory was first mentioned by a 2<sup abp="196">nd</sup> century Greek philosopher Celsus who claimed Jesus was a result of an affair with Mary and Pantera. Others speculate Mary might have been raped by Pantera. A possible support to this theory is in a Talmud, a text of Rabbinic Judaism which consists of over 6,200 pages written in Mishnaic Hebrew and Aramaic. Some scholars believe the text contains information about Christian traditions related to Jesus. In some of the texts refers to “Yeshu Ben Pandera” Hebrew translation of “Jesus son of Panthera” found in the Tosefta, Qohelet Rabbah and Jerusalem Talmud. However, other scholars refute the theory that the Jesus in this text is Jesus Christ. In fact, historians claim that there is evidence he was a different person. In the Talmud Shabbot 104b and Sanhedrin 67a, Yeshu Ben Pandera is also known as Ben Stada(Son of Stada), and was a result of a adulterous affair between Miriam(Mary) a hairdresser also called Stada and Joseph Pandera, a Merchant. Miriam’s husband was Pappos Ben Yehudah(Son of Judah). This Jesus brought black magic and sorcery from <st1:country-region abp="197" w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> and deceived and led <st1:country-region abp="198" w:st="on"><st1:place abp="199" w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> astray. He later was stoned to death and hung in the town of <st1:city abp="200" w:st="on"><st1:place abp="201" w:st="on">Lod</st1:place></st1:city> on the eve of Passover along with his five disciples. This should clear up any speculation to Jesus parentage although there are still skeptics. </b></span></span></div>
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<span abp="210" style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b abp="211"><span abp="212" style="background: rgb(253,254,255); font-size: 10.5pt;">The fact remains there isn’t any confirmed evidence Jesus was ever married and had a children neither any reason that if such a thing was true it was omitted from the bible. </span><span abp="213" style="background-color: #fdfeff; font-size: 10.5pt;">I personally believe that if Jesus was married to anyone it would have been mentioned as it wasn’t forbidden for him to have a wife or any children.</span><span abp="214" style="background-color: #fdfeff; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span abp="215" style="background-color: #fdfeff; font-size: 10.5pt;">As for whether he is the son of God, there will always be skeptics with their own theories on this matter, and I know the bible may not be 100% proof of this knowledge, but as I mentioned before in a previous post, that I have strong faith in Jesus Christ was our Savior is the son of God, died on the cross for all our sins and was later resurrected.</span><span abp="216" style="background-color: #fdfeff; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span abp="217" style="background-color: #fdfeff; font-size: 10.5pt;">As long as any of us has faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, and embrace him in our lives that is all that really matters. </span></b></span></div>
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Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-63029902437866652342014-08-10T19:23:00.003-07:002014-08-30T09:02:25.127-07:00Bible Fact or Fiction part 2<br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Matthew 7:7 “</b></span><i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ask,
and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I want to conclude on the topic of facts vs fiction in the
bible and how accurate the bible really is regarding certain places and
people. Many critics have been skeptical
on biblical figures and events and if they really existed and whether there is
evidence to support this. Such figures
include Noah’s <st1:state w:st="on">Ark</st1:state>,
the Garden of Eden, Jesus Christ himself etc. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Many have wondered about the famous Noah’s <st1:state w:st="on">Ark</st1:state>, whether it existed
or not and what happened to the large ark that carried Noah’s family and a
large menagerie of animals during the flood that wiped out millions of
people. That questioned may have been
answered when in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Turkey</st1:country-region> a
Kurdish farmer discovered what appeared to be a large boat-shaped formation
after an earthquake in 1948 fifteen miles from <st1:place w:st="on">Mount
Ararat</st1:place>. In 1959, a Turkish
air force pilot also discovered the site and took a photo of this formation and
it was published on July 9, 1960 in the Australian Pix Magazine, then later in
the Life Magazine on September 5, 1960. That same year, an archaeological research
team investigated the site, but didn’t find any evidence it was the famous
ark. Then in 1977, archeologist Ron
Wyatt traveled to the site with his two sons to study the formation himself. He
would travel to the site for over few years, but on his first visit he did
discover several artifacts that he linked with Noah. These included stone sea anchors, he believes
Noah used to steer the vessel. Also, a
house that Noah allegedly built and some stones containing inscriptions of the
details of the flood. He also found a
pictograph showing eight people leaving a large wave of water with a boat. Also
the alleged burial ground of Noah. In 1979, Wyatt returned to the site, a year after a great earthquake occurred
splitting the formation from bow to stern.
This time Wyatt took some soil samples from outside and inside the
formation and after some testing discovered they were petrified timbers. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Turkish government has since supported
Wyatt’s theory and acknowledged the site to be location of Noah’s <st1:place w:st="on">Ark.</st1:place> However, some skeptics have rebuked these
claims. In fact, others have also
claimed to have found the true location of Noah’s <st1:state w:st="on">Ark.</st1:state>
One such person is the late Edward Crawford, a former draftsman
illustrator for the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
military who also taught theology at the Evergreen Bible Presbyterian Church in
<st1:city w:st="on">Seattle</st1:city>. Crawford made numerous trips to Mount Ararat
and in 1990, he discovered a rectangular structure buried under snow and ice
elevated about 14,765 feet which he determined to be the Noah’s <st1:state w:st="on">Ark.</st1:state> In June 2006, a 14-crew of explorers went on
an expedition in <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>
led by bible historian and explorer Bob Cornuke. They found an unusual shape on a slope
approximately 13,000 feet above sea level in the <st1:placename w:st="on">Ararat</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Mountain</st1:placetype> range which they believed to
the location of the famous <st1:state w:st="on">Ark.</st1:state> The crew took video footage of a 400 feet
black formation which was about the size of the biblical ark. They also took samples of some of the
wood-like rocks which they tested and was
proved to be petrified wood.
However, the latest alleged discovery of Noah’s <st1:state w:st="on">Ark</st1:state>
occurred in October 2008, when a 15-crew of Turkish and Chinese biblical
explorers from Noah’s Ark Ministries International from Hong Kong, traveled to
Mount Ararat <st1:country-region w:st="on">Turkey</st1:country-region>. They found a structure 13,000 ft above sea
level and over 4,800 years old. They also discovered on the site, several
compartments with some wooden beams that they believe was used to house
animals. The explorers also videotaped doors, staircases and nails. The team are not 100 percent sure if the
structure is Noah’s <st1:place w:st="on">Ark</st1:place>
but are 99.9 percent convinced it is. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Another popular biblical site allegedly discovered is the famous Garden
of Eden, where Adam and Eve were kicked out of after eating the forbidden
fruit. Although, there isn’t any 100
percent definite sources as to the exact location, there are several theories
as to where the Garden of Eden existed.
Genesis 2:10-14 mentions four rivers flowing in the Garden of Eden,
Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel and <st1:place w:st="on">Euphrates</st1:place>. Although there is no mention of a Pishon and
Gihon rivers that exist today, the Euphrates river in the Turkish mountains
area and merges with the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Tigris</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype></st1:place> near the
Iraq/Kuwait border. Some speculate the
Tigris river is the Hiddekel river in the bible leaving many theorize that the
Garden of Eden is located in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Turkey</st1:country-region>
or possibly <st1:place w:st="on">Kuwait</st1:place>. However, according to Latvian-German born
archaeologist and professor Juris Zarins, the Garden is located in the Persian
Gulf where they Euphrates and <st1:place w:st="on">Tigris</st1:place> rivers
runs into the sea. He also believes that
the Pishon river is actually <st1:placename w:st="on">Wadi-Batin</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype> a dry riverbed in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Kuwait</st1:country-region> that runs through <st1:country-region w:st="on">Saudi Arabia</st1:country-region> and the Gihon river was the Karun
river in <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>. British Egyptologist David M. Rohl, also
claimed the legendary Garden is actually located in the Iranian Azarbaijan area
in the city of <st1:place w:st="on">Tabriz</st1:place>. According to Rohl, the location is in the
long valley north of the Sahand volcano.
Also, Rohl claimed to have located the two other headwater rivers Gihon
and Pishon, known as <st1:place w:st="on">Araxes</st1:place>(Gihon) and
Uizhun(Pishon). He also claimed to have
located <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Land</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Nod</st1:placename></st1:place>, where Adam and Eve’s son Cain was
exiled after killing Abel. The land is
now known as Noqdi. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Another factor
regarding the tale of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden is the famous
forbidden fruit that Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The most popular story is the fruit was an
apple, however, there is debate if this was true. Apparently apples didn’t exist in the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>, during the Ancient times and it was never
described as an apple in the bible. Many
scholars speculate that the forbidden fruit was really a promenade. The confusion may have become because the
latin word malum(mal-um) means apple where as the latin word malum(ma-lum)
means evil. Other known discoveries are the some of the tombs of the twelve
apostles and Jesus Christ himself. In
fact, in 1942 Vatican archeologists discovered some bones under Saint Peter
Basilica’s near a monument in <st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city>. After some testing done in the 1940s and
1950s, Catholic pope Paul V1 declared them to be remains of the Apostle Simon
Peter in 1968. However, in 1953
Franciscan priests found an underground cave on the Franciscan church Dominus
Flevit on the <st1:placetype w:st="on">Mount</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Olives</st1:placename> in <st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city>.
There they discovered hundreds of first century ossuaries, one which read in
Aramaic “Shimon Bar Yonah” which translates to “Simon son of Jonah believing
this was true remains of the Simon Peter.
Between 1953 and 1955, 43 inscriptions of the other ossuaries where
photographed and later published in 1958.
Some of the names read were, Jesus, Joseph, Judas, Matthew Mary, Martha,
Lazarus and Mariame. To these scholars
this was proof of a Christian community in <st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city>. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Some scholars are skeptic about this discovery and doubted the
claims that they were the remains of the apostle. Also, many in the past had believed Apostle
Simon Peter died in <st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city>
where he was legendary crucified. His brother, Apostle Andrew’s tomb was buried
in Patras <st1:country-region w:st="on">Greece</st1:country-region>. In March of the year 357, the Emperor
Constantine, who was the son of Constantine, The Great ordered the remains to
be moved to the Holy of Apostles in <st1:place w:st="on">Constantinople</st1:place>. Later, some part of his remains was taking to
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Scotland</st1:country-region>,
since he was chosen as the protector of the Scottish people. In 1460, the ruler Thomas Paleologos had the
skull removed from Patras to <st1:place w:st="on">Rome</st1:place>. Then in 1967, Pope Paul had the skull
returned once again to Patras. Another
Apostle’s tomb that was recently discovered is that of Apostle Phillip. The event happened in the summer of 2011, in <st1:city w:st="on">Hierapolis</st1:city> <st1:country-region w:st="on">Turkey</st1:country-region>,
where Italian professor Francesco D’Andria helped in finding a first century
Tomb 40 yards from the monument Martyrium in honor of Saint Phillip buried
under a small church. He claimed to have
evidence that supports the theory that the tomb was of Apostle Phillip even
though his remains were no longer in the tomb.
Professor D’Andria believes that the remains was taken to Constantinople
at the end of the sixth century then later to <st1:place w:st="on">Rome</st1:place> to the Church of the Holy Apostles. Of course, there are some contradictions to
these claims as some reports that Phillip’s remains were still in <st1:place w:st="on">Constantinople</st1:place> as late as the twelfth century. </b></span><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there was the discovery of the tomb and
bones of <st1:city w:st="on">Saint Paul</st1:city> in <st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city> of 2009, when researchers found a marble
sarcophagus in an underground chamber of the Basilica of Saint Paul, where
bones were found inside. After scientific
tests, the Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that the remains were that of the famous
Saint. However, the most intriguing
discovery is that of Jesus Christ himself. </b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In <st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city>,
the famous rock-cut tomb known as the Garden Tomb is considered to be the
burial and resurrection of Jesus found in 1867.
It has become a popular tourist site for many visitors. One contradiction to this theory is the
belief from some that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is considered to be the
death and resurrection of Jesus. </b><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other
theories have been made about Jesus burial including the 1980 discovery by construction
workers of a rock-cut tomb in East Talpiot Jerusalem. Inside the tomb, ten ossuaries were found
some of them translated the names Jesus son of Joseph, Joseph, James, Maria,
Matthew, Judas etc. </b><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In March 2007, a
documentary aired on the Discovery Channel titled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
produced by popular filmmaker James Cameron(Titanic) and directed by Canadian
filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici. Later, in
2010, Biblical scholar and college professor of religious studies at <st1:state w:st="on">North Carolina</st1:state> in
Charlotte, James Tabor and Jacobovici discovered another underground tomb 200
feet away which was originally found in 1981.
Using a robotic camera, they found many more ossuaries in this tomb with
inscriptions engraved on them one with a drawing of a fish and a human stick
figure in its mouth which they believe to be the refereeing to the story of
Jonah and the whale. One the same
ossuary is also a drawing of a cross which they believe represents Jesus. Another box had a message in Greek which was
translated to read “Divine Jehovah, raise up, raise up”. It was believed that these messages were
referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It was also believed that this was the actual burial place of Jesus
Christ. Tabor and Jacobovici had since
published a book called “The Jesus Discovery” and a documentary of the same
title was made in 2012. </b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Biblical
scholars reject these theories since finding Jesus’s remains would contradict
the famous biblical story of his resurrection.
Also, some claim Jesus would have likely been buried in the place of his
birth as was the custom not in <st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city>. Another argument is that Jesus ossuary would
like state “Jesus of Nazareth” or “Jesus the Messiah” As for the inscription “Jesus the son of
Joseph”, it was been argued that both the names Jesus and Joseph were common
names in Ancient Israel. Speaking of his
birth, there is now a debate among scholars were he was actually born. The long held belief was that Jesus was born
in the Palestinian city of <st1:city w:st="on">Bethlehem</st1:city>
in a manger. Recently, some
Israeli archaeologists now believe that his birthplace was a Galilean small
village also called <st1:city w:st="on">Bethlehem</st1:city>. This is supported by the knowledge that both Joseph
and Mary were from Galilee in a town <st1:city w:st="on">Nazareth</st1:city>.
The most important and controversial
discovery about Jesus was the famous Shroud of Turin which led to the possibly
revelation of the true face of Jesus Christ.
For decades there has been theories of what Jesus looked liked, with
many drawings of him mainly famously viewed as a fair-skinned man with long
light brown hair and blue eyes. Of
course, many doubt that that is what Jesus looked liked being from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> where he
would have likely been bronze-complexioned man with dark hair. However, the most recent discovery of his
possible physical appearance came from a Shroud of Turin, a 14-foot cloth that
contains stains of blood, dirt and water and an image of a man’s body with what
appears to be a crown of thorns on his head. Scholars believe this was used to
cover Jesus body and has been the most studied artifact in history. </b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It was first discovered in 14<sup>th</sup>
century and has been at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Turin</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region></st1:place>
since the 16<sup>th</sup> century. The
first photograph of the cloth was taken in the very late 19<sup>th</sup>
century in which the facial features were first confirmed. Over decades, more studies were done on the
shroud and in the 1970s, a team of scientists found that the image of the cloth
was likely that of a crucified body and the stains were real human blood. In the late 1980s, more scientists speculated
that the shroud dated back between 13<sup>th</sup> or 13<sup>th</sup> century,
however it has now believed the cloth dates back to Jesus time. Then in 2009, the latest discovery came about
with 3D computer graphic artist and TV producer Ray Downing of Studio
Macbeth. Mr. Downing used the body image
from the shroud and recreated Jesus face through 3D computer-generated
image. A two-hour documentary “The Face
of Jesus” aired on the History Channel in 2010 regarding these findings and
many viewers got to see a possibly realistic image of what Jesus really looked
liked. This latest discovery received
mixed views as some doubted the discovery and others did not. For centuries, there have been many theories
and allege discoveries regarding the biblical figures, places and artifacts and
debate on whether these discoveries are 100% definite. </b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I guess we may never completely prove for
sure if all in the bible is true regarding Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden,
Noah’s Ark, Moses, King David, Esther, Jesus Christ himself etc. However, at this point I think all that
matters is not 100% proof but faith.
Faith in the belief of God our Creator, Jesus Christ who died for our
sins, in Moses who led the Jewish people out of Egypt, in Adam and Eve the
first man and woman on earth and faith in the bible itself. No matter if I get conflicted or not and
start questioning historical accuracy of the bible I just remember my faith in
God our Lord and realize as long as I have that proof is not really important.</b></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-53643337079380294352014-07-13T20:24:00.003-07:002014-08-30T08:58:02.429-07:00The Bible: Fact or Fiction Part 1<br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have been thinking a lot of about the bible and the
stories in them regarding biblical characters and situations that are mentioned
in which many of the events seem impossible, even unbelievable to the normal
person. In fact, there are some
skeptical people out there that believe the bible to be a work of fiction or an
exaggeration of what really happened.
These people will reason that logically, some of the events couldn’t be
true because they seem to be so unreal and there is no proof or evidence to
claim that they are true. For example,
did Noah really build a very large ark and travel with his family and a large
menagerie of animals during a flood? Did
Moses really exist and did he really lead 60,000 Jews out of <st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place> back to their homeland? Was there really a King David and did he
really defeat a Philistine giant Goliath who was 9 ft 9 inches tall? Did Jesus really walk on water and heal the
sick with is hand, and was he really the son of God who was later resurrected
after his crucifixion or was he just an ordinary man as the Jewish people
believe? Also, how much of the bible is
true and how much is fiction? </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I while
ago I learned that some characters and chapters in the bible are work of
fiction. These characters include the
heroine Judith known for beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes. Other fictional biblical figures are Ruth,
Boez, Queen Esther. Some even wonder if King
David was real or a work of fiction or Abraham, Joshua etc. Having always believing in the bible, I have
recently discovered that the bible isn’t 100% historically accurate and there
is certain elements of fiction mixed with truth in the stories presented. This knowledge leaves me to wonder just how
much is fiction and how much is true and would like to analyze this
further. One historical fictional event
is the Book of Judith which was original in the ancient Jewish Books Aprocrypha
and not included in the Hebrew bible although it was later included in the
Catholic and Orthodox Christian bible in the Old Testament. In this chapter, there is mention of King
Nebuchadnezzar of Assyrian when reality, he was the King of Babylon mentioned
in the chapter Jeremiah. Also certain events including places, time periods are
also not accurate. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Some scholars have
based Judith off of historical female leaders including Queen Salome
Alexandra, one of two female leaders of <st1:place w:st="on">Judea</st1:place>
who reigned between 76 through 67 B.C.E.
Also some scholars have based King Nebuchadnezzar of Assyria off of
historical conquerors of <st1:place w:st="on">Judea</st1:place>. Biblical scholar Gabriele Boccaccini based
him off of Tigranes the Great, an Armenian King who conquered all the lands in
Book of Judith during Queen Salome Alexandra’s reign. Others linked him to
Artaxexes III the Ochus, a Persian Emperor, simply because Holofernes and
Bagoas who are military figures in the Judith.
In reality there was a Holofernes who was a general under Artaxexes III
and his servant was Bagoas. 19<sup>th</sup>
century Catholic Priest and Scholar Fulcran Vigouroux attempts to based the
Assyrian King on Assyrian King Ashburbanipal. He claimed that in the Septuagint version of
the book of Judith, the battle between King Nebucnezzar and King Arphaxad is
identified with the battle between King Ashburbanipal and King Phaorates of
Median Empire in which Phaortes was killed.
Then there is the Book of Esther which is also be acknowledged as
historical fiction. Some Scholars
believe that Esther’s husband the King Ahasueres is modeled after Xerxes I of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Persia</st1:country-region> who
ruled between 486-465 B.C. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>However, some doubt that Xerxes’s first wife
and mother to several of children Amestris is based on Esther or Vashti
Ahasueres’s first wife, since Amestris was never banished. Besides, there is no resemblance between
Amestris and Esther. According to first
century historian Josephus, Ahasueres was actually based on Xerxes’s son
Artxerxes I of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Persia</st1:country-region>. Josephus claimed that Artxerxes married a
Jewish woman from a royal family who saved the nation of the Jewish
people. There isn’t much evidence of
this since historically Artxerxes married Damaspia whom he had several
children. He also fathered children with
several concubines. Some of claimed
Damaspia to be the daughter of Esther and Xerxes and therefore Artxerxes’s half
sister which was common in those times.
Whether Esther existed or her husband Ahasueres was actually King Xerxes
or King Artxerxes is still unclear.
Other historical fiction is that of the Book of Ruth, where Ruth and
Boez are fictional characters. This also
leads many to wonder if King David, the most famous King of Israel who was
Ruth’s descendent in the bible is also real.
There has been many skepticism if King David existed for a while now, but
some scholars do believe he existed due to evidences found other the
centuries. The first evidence of his
possible existed is 1868 when a German Anglican medical missionary F.A. Klein
discovered a stone tablet in Dibon <st1:country-region w:st="on">Jordan</st1:country-region>
written by Mesha a Moabite king who was an enemy of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> in mid-ninth century B.C. The tablet was written 200 years after King
David and mentions the “House of David”. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>About a century later in 1993, another stone was discovered near Tel Dan
in <st1:place w:st="on">Northern Israel</st1:place> directed by Archaeologist Avraham
Biram. This stone was also written 200
years after King David by another <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> enemy Hazael, King of
Dmascus. It stated that he killed 70
kings including one from the House of David.
However, even if David existed, did he really fight a Phillistine Giant
Goliath from the city of <st1:city w:st="on">Gath</st1:city>
and defeat him with a slingshot. The
earliest report of this incident is a fourth century AD Codex Valicanus Graecus
1209. Although this manuscript doesn’t
contain some verses in 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, regarding David, it does narrate
Goliath challenging the Israelites to combat in which they were afraid until
David accepts. It also gives reasons for
the challenge as being Saul’s shield-bearer.
Despite the legend that Goliath was 9’9 ft, the oldest manuscript the
Dead Sea Scrolls, first century historian Josephus, fourth century Septuagint
manuscripts describe Goliath as four cubits and a span( 6’9 ft). Later manuscripts increased his
height to six cubits and a span(9’9ft). There is also doubt about him being injured
from a slingshot to the forehead.
According to British Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, Philistine helmets had
forehead covering sometimes down to their nose.
He also claims the Hebrew word “meitzach” meaning forehead is identical
to another word used earlier in the passage “mitzchat” which means greaves, the
flexible leg-armor that protected Goliath’s lower leg mentioned in 1 Samuel
17:9. Rabbi Magonet believes it possible
that in verse 49, the word metizach replaces mitzchat, meaning Goliath was hit
in the lower leg-armor causing him to stumble.
King David is not the only biblical character that many wonder existed
or not. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The famous Abraham’s existence
has been doubted by some skeptics. There
isn’t any real evidence of Abraham’s existence.
However, sources of have found some historical info that collaborates
the story in the Bible. The bible claims
that Abraham was born in Terah in the city of <st1:city w:st="on">Ur</st1:city>
of Chaldees and later moved to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">land</st1:placetype>
of <st1:placename w:st="on">Canaan</st1:placename></st1:place> on God’s
wishes. The people in the city of <st1:city w:st="on">Ur</st1:city> were known for
worshipping the Sumerian Moon God, Nanna as mentioned in the Book of Genesis.
Another factor, is the Nuzu tablets found between 1925 and 1941 in <st1:city w:st="on">Nuzi</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region>
on <st1:place w:st="on">Tigris</st1:place>. These clay tablets were made in the
fifteenth BC and detail the customs Abraham and other Patriarchs of that time
period. One custom is if a couple is
barren, the patriarch may adopt a servant as an heir until a real heir is
born. This is related to Abraham
adopting the servant Eliezer as an heir in the Book of Genesis. The tablets also mention a barren woman
asking her husband to take their slave girl as a surrogate wife and produce an
heir with her which is in reference to Sarah asking Abraham to use their slave
girl Hagar and produce a son. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Even the
most important biblical figure Moses who is known to have led the Israelites
out of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region>
to the Promised Land has been considered fictional by many. </b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just like with Abraham, there is no hard
evidence that Moses existed. However,
there are some clues. Most notably the Tell
El-Armarna letters, over 350 clay letters found accidently in Tell El Armana in
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region>
in 1887. These clay stones, possibly
written in the time of Moses, details certain events including the Hebrews
conquering the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">land</st1:placetype>
of <st1:placename w:st="on">Canaan</st1:placename></st1:place>. Within these texts, there has been a debate
among scholars regarding a group of people referred to as Habiru or Abiru, who
may have been slaves or fugitives who fled <st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region> may have been Hebrews. Also the letters also detail events in the
Book of Joshua and the Book of Judges. </b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Another
factor is the famous burning bush where God speaks to Moses in Exodus
3:1-22. What is believed to be the
burning bush is now surrounded by a massive wall of St. Catherine’s Monastery
near Mount Sinai in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region>. Other locations relating to the story of
Moses were claimed to be discovered.
There is the famous Red Sea Crossing in the book of Exodus in which
Moses and the Israelites crossed ground land on the sea to flee the Egyptian
Pharaoh’s army caused by God. After they
finished crossing, God removed the dry land causing the Egyptian army to drown
in the sea. </span></b><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> In 1978, the late treasure
hunter Ron Wyatt who has also claimed to have discovered several biblical
locations also claimed to have found the Red Sea Crossing in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Saudi Arabia</st1:country-region> on the Nuweiba beach in the <st1:place w:st="on">Gulf of Aqaba</st1:place>.
Between that time and the 1980s, he found artifacts in the ocean which
included chariot wheels, human and horse bones.
The chariot wheels were claimed to date to the 18<sup>th</sup> century
Dynasty in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region>. Mr. Wyatt also declared the location of <st1:place w:st="on">Mount Sinai</st1:place> where the ten commandants was given to Moses
was in Jebel-al-Lawz. After a few
attempted trips in 1985, Wyatt along with treasure hunter David Fasold returned
to Jebel-al-Lawz in search for the gold of Exodus. </span></b><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">They discovered a shell
bracelet and what seemed to be an ancient temple, where stones were engraved
with a petroglyph of Hathor an Epyptian Bull god known as the Golden Calf that
the Israelites worshipped when Moses spent 40 days and nights in <st1:place w:st="on">Mount Sinai</st1:place>. </span></b><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">In
1988, two more treasure hunters Larry Williams and Bob Cornuke traveled twice
the allege <st1:place w:st="on">Mount Sinai</st1:place> where they also found
the location of the ancient altar of the golden calf and the peltroglyphs of
the bull god. They also discovered caves
where they found tombs supposedly of Moses’s father-in-law Jethro and his wife
Zipporah. Both Williams and Cornuke
would write books on their findings. However, some biblical scholars dispute
all these claims stating that they are false and inaccurate. Also, In 1978 Ron Wyatt also found what he
believed to be the Ark of Covenant, a stone of tablets where God engraved the
Ten Commandments. He was in <st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city> walking on the
Garden tomb grounds where he later discovered an underground cave. Mr. Wyatt
traveled to this area over a few years to make this discovery. However, many critics rebuked his
claims. In fact, several others have
claimed to have the Ark of Covenant in several different countries. </span></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">There have been many claims of discovering
famous biblical locations, from Noah’s <st1:state w:st="on">Ark</st1:state>,
Jesus’s tomb, the Garden of Eden, even what Jesus Christ would have really
looked liked. I will discuss these all
these theories and findings in part 2 of this topic.</span></b></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-57958596898225790702014-06-18T20:02:00.002-07:002014-06-18T20:02:49.037-07:00Forgiveness <br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Matthew 6:14-15 “</span><i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">For if you forgive others
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not
forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses”. </span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I want to take the time to discuss about forgivingness and
all it entails, the power behind it and just how much can we as people can
forgive. On a daily basis we can
forgive others who wronged us over various matters, as when they take their
anger out on us, when they lie to us, they damage of property, steal from us,
or even assault us. It comes easy to
forgive when the person who wronged us steps up and apologizes, admitting their
offense and tries to make amends. It
also comes easy to forgive our loved ones, closest friends, neighbors or even
strangers or you know the person we are forgiving is naturally a good
person. However, what about forgiving
over extreme offenses that tests your will to forgive. Such as when a spouse betrays you through
adultery or harms you through physical or emotional abuse or just walks out on
you. When a parent who is suppose to
protect you, harms you or abandons you when growing up. Someone you trusted betrays you in the worst
ways imaginable from harming or even molesting your child, to committing a
heinous violation on you(rape, brutal assault, robbing, kidnapping ). Maybe someone murdered or raped a loved one
in your family tried to murder you committing unspeakable acts upon you or a
relative, closest friend etc could anybody possible forgive in these
circumstances? </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Also, do we have to
forgive such offenses right or away, is that what God commands? There are some who will use Matthew 6:14-15
as a tool to guilt others into forgiving anyone who has wronged you no matter
what the offense or else God won’t welcome us into his kingdom in heaven when
we die. Because of this, many have felt
the pressures of forgiving no matter how serious or horrible the offense and
the guilt if they don’t or least not right away or entirely. Many people struggle with forgiving feeling
is a way for salvation and God to bless them. The fact remains there are several verses in
the bible that says we must forgive.
Ephesians 4:32 “<i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">Be
kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave
you”. </span></i>Luke 6:37 “<i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">Judge not, and you will not be judged;
condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven</span></i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">”. </span>Luke 17:3-4 “<i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke
him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in
the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive
him.” </span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;"></span></i>However, I don’t
believe it is essential to enter heaven in the eternal afterlife, in which if
we don’t forgive all the people who have ever wronged us throughout our entire
life by the time we die, God will condemn us to hell. Besides, as I stated in a previous post, once
we receive Jesus Christ, all are sins are forgiving and we don’t need perform
certain tasks to earn his blessings but just our faith. However, I<i>
</i>do believe forgiveness as a whole is necessary in order to follow Christ
and be a glory to him. In Matthew
6:14-15, Jesus was teaching his followers about praying and how to ask the Lord
to forgive them for their sins as they forgive others for the sins the commit
upon them. He was making it a point that
is quite hypocritical to plead for God’s forgiveness for their sins when they
can’t forgive other’s sins and he was right.
Sometimes we tend to expect to be forgiven either by God when we sin or
by others when we wrong them, but as soon other people wrong us, we have a hard
to time returning the gesture even if offenses committed are the same ones we
committed to them. For example, when
someone betrays their spouse through adultery or a friend by stabbing them in
the back, then they apologize and beg forgiveness, but the shoe becomes on the
other foot, and that person is on the receiving end of that same betrayal,
he/she has a harder time forgiving because it now happened to them. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In this way, we become hypocrites, since how
can we beg others or the Lord to forgiven our sins or offenses and then can’t
bestow others the same forgiveness we desire.
Forgiveness is not always an easy task, it can become harder depending
on how serious the offense. We are
imperfect human beings so it’s natural when we are betrayed or horribly wronged
we feel react in anger, rage, hostility and the need to lash out and even hurt
them the way they hurt us although the bible speaks against seeking vengeance,
it is still an natural impulse to do we still should strive to retrain from
this. Also sometimes we reasons we don’t
forgive is because of a selfish desire lord it over the person who wronged us
all the misdeeds the committed against us punish them and to play the victim
feeding on their guilt. Others confuse
forgiveness as excusing the wrongs and letting the offender off the hook
therefore forgiveness is seen as a weakness.
Forgiveness does require letting go of the anger, and the need to punish
and hold a grudge against others but does not mean excusing or condoning the
offense but no longer holding others actions over them and it takes a lot of
strength and strong will power to do. Still, forgiveness is not something we can
demand or force others to do, or force ourselves to do like is a simple
chore. Depending on how extreme the
offense is, sometimes forgiveness may take time for person to do in which they
need to heal from the pain and anguish they are feeling first before they can
let themselves forgive an offense. It
may take months for some it may event take years to completely forgive someone
but is possible to forgive even the most unforgivable act. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Yet some well-meaning Christians will use
bible verses to pressure or guilt someone forgiving or else God will reject
them. I’ve read articles in which
pastors and parishioners alike insists forgiveness is demanded by God and some
insist we should forgive right away or we as Christians are not welcomed in the
kingdom of heaven, or we are hard-hearted people. I don’t agree these types of methods to which
many people will put pressure on themselves out of guilt and shame to forgive
in order to be “good Christian person” fearing they God will reject or that
they are hypocrites who are dishonoring the Lord. The problem is forgiveness doesn’t come from
their hearts in these situations, instead it is out of fear not pleasing God
and not being true believer. I believe
even as followers of Christ, we are still only human and should be allowed with
all the human emotions that are reasonable.
Sometimes it is best to let others or let ourselves feel anger, hurt,
betrayal, rage whenever we a terrible wrong as been committed against us rather
than repress them. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>However, in time as
we get these feelings out of our system, we should strive to heal rather than
hold a grudge indefinitely that poisons our hearts. Also, we should show mercy, patience and
understanding to others who show such anger when they have been done a terrible
offense and not yet ready to let that anger go rather than patronizingly tell
them to just forgive the offense and move on, especially if we can’t possibly
comprehend what they are going through or experience the same offense
ourselves. </b></span><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We should also show patience
to ourselves if we can’t forgive right away, our angry feelings are normal and
justified at the moment may pass in time through healing relying on God’s help. Many has been said about forgiving those who
apologize and repent and deserve our forgiveness but what about those who don’t
repent, are not remorseful and seem undeserving. I recall watching a program on the
Investigative Discovery channel about a Christian man who murdered his wife,
although he claimed she shot her by accident it was later learned he was having
affair with another woman during their courtship and continued it after their
marriage. He may have only married his wife because of the pressures from his
family rather than out of love and may have murdered her in order to be with is
mistress. I read on forum from other
Christians discussing the events saying how they forgive him because he
deserves forgiveness even judging others who don’t. </b><br />
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Although, I think it was admirably that they
forgive this man’s sins, I couldn’t help wonder why they actually felt he
deserved forgiveness or why they believed it was their place to forgive since
they didn’t know him and he crimes wasn’t against them or their loved
ones. Thinking about this again I
started to wonder whether is forgiving always about whether the person is
deserving of it. What can make
forgiveness so amazing sometimes is when it is giving to people who don’t
deserve it. I have read cases of people
forgiving people who raped them, murdered or accidentally killed their loved
ones, burglarized their homes, been abused by a family member or spouse, not
because they deserved it but to let get of their pain and bitterness which
would enable them to move on. </b><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also,
sometimes they actually feel pity for the offenders who suffered horrible pain
and tragedy in their own lives that led them to take the direction their lives
that caused them to commit such heinous acts. The bottom line is its okay to
sometimes forgive the undeserving and unrepentant and to feel sympathy for
their sad and sinful lives and even pray for them. That’s not an easy task to do and I
personally wouldn’t condemn anyone who couldn’t do that or not for a long time
and it is the trulest amazing power of forgiveness. </b><br />
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus himself begged God to
forgive those who rebuked them when he was on the cross and God blessed and
forgave our sins even though it wasn’t deserved but was his amazing gift to us. Last point about forgiveness is that it isn’t
the same as forgetting. Just because you
chose to forgive an offense doesn’t mean you just forget the offense nor does
it mean there isn’t any consequences for the offender. For example if a person damages someone’s
property, he/she may forgive the offense but still hold that person accountable
to pay for the damages. If someone
commits a crime against another, the victim may forgive the offender but still
hold him/her accountable under the law and expect fair justice. Another point
is forgiving someone doesn’t mean we just trust the offender again. A trust can be broken when there is betrayal
like when a spouse commits adultery or family member steals from another or
there is constant dishonesty. However,
trust can be regained but it has to be earned in time through repentance,
healing and actions while turning to God for strength. </b><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Through our trust in the Lord, the power of
forgiveness can be possible even for the most unforgivable sins and showing the
ability to show mercy on others even on the undeserving can liberate us from
pain and bitterness and takes true strength in ways we didn’t know possible.</b></span><br />
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Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-30315495771748152372014-06-08T14:11:00.000-07:002014-06-08T14:49:32.654-07:00Does Embracing God Prevent Bad Experiences For Believers?<br />
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that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are
slaves or free</span></i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I started this post, because I’ve been thinking a lot about
whether embracing God and obeying his laws guarantees you are rewarded with
good things and nothing bad can happen to you.
I’ve questioned this a lot even after a year ago finding a comment on a
facebook page by a Christian woman who posted that her husband is leaving her
filing for divorce despite the fact she forgave him when he cheated on her and
was emotionally abusive, but decided to except the divorce. However, one commenter who disagreed with her
decision responded that if she obeyed God’s laws he would reward her. I’m assuming she was suggesting that if she
stayed faithful to God and follow his will, he will reward her by restoring her
marriage, but what if that didn’t happen?
I find myself coming back and forth whether obeying God’s commands
promises the believer under his protection and blessed with only the good out
of life. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">I read several cases of
Christians claiming how they prayed to God, obeyed his will and he healed their
diseases or any handicaps, restored their marriages, protected them from tragedy
by it death or other injuries. Many will
turn to the verses such as Hebrews 11:6 “<i>And
without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to
God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him”. </i> Deuteronomy 11:26-28 <i>“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:</i></span><i> </i><i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">and
the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn
aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that
you have not known”. </span></i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">But
what about those who obey God’s words, pray and read the bible everyday, attend
church regularly and yet receive many sufferings including, illness, loss,
tragedy, divorce and even death. In
fact, many bad things occur to those who follow Christ over the past centuries
and still occur today. I have read
stories of Christian aid workers being killed abroad in Middle Eastern and
African countries or Christians in these countries be persecuted for their
religious beliefs. Even in Western countries, there are accounts of scandals in
the church involving sexual abuse, murder sometimes involving church leaders. The
bible even mentions plenty of righteous people suffering and being oppressed
while the wicked prosper with riches and privileges. In the book of Job, Job was righteous man who
was blessed by God, who then decided to test his devotion by allowing the Devil
to cause him suffering, losing his wealth, his home, his children and his
health to deteriorate. The martyrs mentioned in the bible who were crucified
including some of Jesus twelve apostles such as Simon Peter, Phillip and James,
as well as Saint Stephen, the first martyr, Mark the Evangelist and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Saint Paul</st1:place></st1:city>. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Throughout the ancient early centuries and the later centuries there is a history of saints and heroes/heroines who were
martyred for their faith and of course Jesus himself was unjustly persecuted
and later crucified on the cross. The fact remains, many people who spend their
lives doing righteous and honorable deeds experience suffering, persecution and
even killed because of it, while those who commit wicket and selfish acts may
go unpunished for their misdeeds and may being benefit from it through riches
and other privileges. Although I don’t
believe God wants good people to suffer, the reality is that life is not always
fair or easy and the Lord is aware of that. He allows people to have free will
to turn against him and give into Satan’s will by oppressing or committing
heinous acts on others, deserting their spouses and families break the law or
harm themselves with irresponsible and destructive actions like addiction,
smoking tobacco too much, neglecting their health until it’s too late. Or
sometimes suffering such as illness or diseases happen to good righteous people
just because these things are reality in our fallen world where such things
exists. God doesn’t cause illnesses or any suffering to teach anyone a lesson
but allows them to happen for whatever reason whether to test or challenge us
although I myself can’t really come up to any simple answers to this. Now I want go back to the old question
regarding embracing God and obeying his will and how this doesn’t always
rewards us from never experiencing any pain and suffering. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Despite the myth that God will always reward
us with his protection from anything negative in our lives this just isn’t true
or realistic and would be foolish to always think that way. I think the real rewards are that God will
never leave us throughout any suffering or turmoil in our lives. He will be there for us through it all and if
we turn to him he can help us overcome any battles in our lives whether it is
the lost of spouse or relative, a divorce, losing your job, your wealth or
home, becoming penniless, terminal or non-terminal illness, being a victim of
brutal crime or your life is in physical danger at the moment. As we reach out to him, he stands by us and
gives us the strength to overcome any obstacles, to heal from any physical or
emotional pain. Also he doesn’t allow
our hearts to be hardened or give up hope, that there is light at the end of
the tunnel and we can find peace and happiness throughout all the strife even
if that means sometimes healing our sufferings and give us peace is through
death. Also at other times, by allowing
suffering in our lives, God can strengthen us in ways that we never experience,
which could lead us use our strengths that will benefit us or others in the
future as we gain new perspectives. Of
course, sometimes it is possible that God will bless us by curing any illnesses, restoring our abilities from any handicap, save us
from any financial ruin and bring us luck any other ways. Sometimes the Lord does allow miracles to
happen in one’s life, however why he allows it for some and not others know one
can explain. </b></span></span></div>
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he allows bad, pain and suffering into our lives, he should just be aware that
in this fallen world these things will
occur and sometimes we don’t get the outcomes that we want no matter how many
times we beg and pray to the Lord.
However, we should be aware of the fact that the biggest reward God can
give us by having our own personal relationship with him as he becomes our
strength and our guide or our rock in a time of need who will never abandon us
as long was we have faith in him.</b></span><i><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
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Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-46790269372264500612014-05-26T19:53:00.003-07:002014-05-26T19:53:53.299-07:00THE FACTS ABOUT JUDGEMENT<br />
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luke 6:37 “<i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">Judge
not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned;
forgive, and you will be forgiven</span></i></span><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">”</span><span style="color: #001320; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #FDFEFF;">After my post about
legalism, I would now like to take this time to discuss the actions of
judgement. One habit all of us humans
have is the act of judging, be it good or bad.
We judge tend others based on their actions, beliefs, religion, culture,
race, appearances, habits, hobbies etc.
Judging is a natural human instinct that we all act on in our daily
every day life. Many people think passing judgement is a negative habit to have
and will go out of their way to prove that their not judgemental, feeling it’s
not their place to judge anything anyone else does no matter what it is with the
exception of breaking the law. After
all, we live in free country and have the basic individual rights to live our
own lives and make our own choices good or bad.
To be judgemen-tal is considered closed-minded and ignorant and people
strive to be open-minded and more tolerant and accepting which is the right way
we all should be. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #FDFEFF;">First, I want to point
out that believe no matter what many people claim, we are all too an extent a
little judgmental and it’s nothing wrong with that. I believe it’s okay some-times pass jugement
on others based on an action, conduct, morals and behavior. When someone commits a crime, inflicts harms
another person, abuses a child, the logical reaction is to pass judgement on
their actions by condemning them cruel and immoral. Judging another isn’t perceived for only
negative light as some-times we judge others on a positive light. When someone commits a heroic action and
saves another person’s life, comes to the aid of a person in need when no one
else would we praise that person and commend them. In the court system, it’s the job of the
judge to pass judgement after hearing all the arguments and getting all the
facts they need then makes ruling based on his/her knowledge. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #FDFEFF;">The problem is not passing judgement as a
whole since all of us has and will do that from time to time. The real problem is when we become too
judgmental to the point we’re too quick to judge others based condescension,
lack of knowledge of the whole facts, close-minded-ness and hypocrisy. As humans, sometimes we can’t help but judge other
people and their lives and
circumstances just because it’s so
easy to in order to feel morally superior even though we may
no little about their lives or their situations or don’t try understand what is like to be in their
position. There is an old saying “before
you criticize someone, you should walk in <span class="versetext">mile</span> in
their shoes, that way when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and have
their shoes. For Christians, one the
many flaws they have, is the tendency to be too judgemental. The habit of overly judging and analyzing
aspects of other’s lives from their habits, hobbies, choices and alternative
lifestyles that don’t meet their preference or ideal way of doing. This often leads to becoming self-righteous,
holier-than-thou and sanctimonious. It’s
can be so easy to judge and condemn others to feel superior, hide our own flaws
or be blind to them because we are all so consumed with pointing fingers at
other people. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #FDFEFF;">There is the verse Matthew
7:1-5 “</span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;">Judge
not, that you be not judged.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;">For with the judgment
you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure
you get.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;">Why do you see the
speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your
own eye?</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;">Or how can you say to
your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in
your own eye?</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt;">You hypocrite, first
take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the
speck out of your brother's eye.” </span></i></span><span style="background: #FDFEFF;">This simply means we shouldn’t get so caught up in
judging and pointing fingers at others while ignoring or being oblivious to our
own faults or mistakes. Instead, we need
to focus on ourselves more before we can focus on others or else we are just
hypocrites. Another verse confirms this
in Romans 2:1-3 </span><span class="versetext"><span style="background: #FDFEFF; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">“</span></span><i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">Therefore you have no excuse, O man,
every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn
yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. </span></i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">Do
you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them
yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?”</span><span style="background: #FDFEFF;"> </span><span style="background: #FDFEFF; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Plenty of times, people tend not
practice what they preach. It happens
often in the Christian commun-ity from Christian and church leaders, church
members etc. Many hide their own sins
out of fear to show their weaknesses due to insecurity or the need to appear
better than they are and to cover these traits indulge in looking at other
people’s weak-nesses using it against them. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #FDFEFF; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Often, Judgementalness comes out of ignorance, being closed-minded or
fear of what of what they don’t understand sometimes because of what is
different from them. This sometimes can
be prejudice which itself is some-times based on bigotry and hatred. In John 7: 25 “</span><i><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right
judgment.”</span><span style="background: #FDFEFF;"> </span></i><span style="background: #FDFEFF; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">In other words, we should
not judge simply based outward appearance, based on race, na-tionality,
handicap, disfigurement, how someone dresses but instead judge on based on
what’s inside their hearts and mind. If
people look beyond the outward appear-ances, they may see the truth of who that
person is and may be quite surprised what they find. Another problem many Christians have is the
tendency to be quick to judge those who don’t share their faith. Many constantly complain about the
ungodliness of the secular society write off those who share other faiths as
heathens. I read it plenty comments from
Christians complaining about the secular schools, colleges, club scenes or
condescend to those who don’t chose to live a secular lifestyle without any
religion in their lives. In this way, Christians can be so consumed with all
what is wrong in the secular society, that they ignore some of the sinfulness
and scandals that go on in the church. Paul even warned about this regarding the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Corinth</st1:city></st1:place> church in 1 Corinthians 5:12 “</span><span style="background: rgb(253, 254, 255); font-size: 10.5pt;">For
what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church
whom you are to judge? </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #FDFEFF;">As Christians, we should stop be so focused on
judging the secular society when there is sin inside the church. Instead, we
should be concerned about the sinners among fellow Christians and church
members. In this context, Paul is
stating that it is okay to judge as many Christians do stray against God’s will
and commit immoral sin such as adultery, addiction, any forms of abuse, look at
porn, become promiscuous etc. We
certainly shouldn’t overlook these negative traits in a misguided attempt to
appear non-judgemental. However, rather
than be too harsh and condemning, we should strive to help the sinner to flee
from their sins by repenting and encourage them to get help they need if
possible. We should then strive to show
mercy and forgiveness as Jesus did for all rather lord they sins over that
person especially if they are trying to change their ways and be better
people. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #FDFEFF;">When it comes to judgment as
whole, it is not a black and white answer.
We should all strive not to be
too judgemental that leads to self-righteousness, over criticism and hypocrisy
yet we should judge with the right attitude and our hearts in the right place
that has a positive affect following Christ’s example.</span></span></b><span style="background: #FDFEFF; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-61999789700401469322014-05-20T18:03:00.003-07:002014-05-26T19:43:53.903-07:00Legalism, Law and Grace<br />
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we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”<o:p></o:p></b></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In this post, I want to discuss legalism and how it affects
Christian community including the churches, the home etc since it is what millions
Christians have and now still dealing with in everyday life. First I want to define what exactly is
legalism? Basically, legalism is a long
list of man-made religious laws and rules that Christians are expected to
follow in order to earn Jesus Christ’s love and blessings sometimes based on
false or misguided teachings. If a Christian doesn’t follow all the rules, then
their written off as not true believers by their fellow Christians, unable to
be welcomed into the Lord’s grace and will be condemned. The mentality for these Christians is to turn
the bible into a long to-do and don’t list what we should or shouldn’t do and
if anyone falls short, they should be judged.
A lot of the times, bible scriptures get taking out of context,
distorted and misinterpreted to justify these so-called rules. What these legalistic laws are will differ in
many churches and other Christian organizations. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Some churches ban members from
any alcohol use, tobacco use, tattoos, women wearing make-up and jewelry, pants
or their hairs short and men from wearing their hairs long, or anyone going to
clubs, dances, swimming places and swimming in mixed groups. Many others are constantly analyzing or
worrying themselves or many aspects of their life, whether they should get tattoos,
is it okay to smoke, drink any alcohol beverages, wear makeup, its it okay to
love fashion, what to watch on TV or at movie theatres, how to dress, can they
cut their hairs, what type of music should they listen to, what books to read,
etc. They fact remains, is that many individuals and churches feel the need
become the moral police con-stantly delegating on what other Christians should
do based on their own interpretations on how a godly person lives. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This may
seem well-intentional at first since we all need some order in our lives but it
can also have major negative affects.
For one thing, many interpret the bible in their own way, and when
others don’t follow by their code of standards and rules, they feel compelled
to harshly judge, criticize or/and condemn.
I recall many accounts I read on the internet of Christians complaining
how they were ostracized, sneered at for a variety of reasons, because they
allow their children to watch Disney, they don’t homeschool their children,
mothers working outside the home, etc..
I also read many comments from fellow Christians who condemn others for
watching soap operas, women wearing make-up, jewelry and high heels etc. Once and a while, I will stumble on a article
from a Christian feeling the need to tell others what they should or shouldn’t
do whether it was to turn away from the fashion industry, celebrating
Halloween, turn away from movies and books that involve horror, supernatural,
witches and wizards. These types of
mentality winds up embracing an attitude of self-righteousness, arrogance,
overly judgementalness, and condescension which isn’t what a Christ-like
attitude is all about. These attitudes tend to come taking out of context scriptures that warns us against embracing worldly passions. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>There is 1 John 2:15-17 </b></span></span><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"><i>“</i></span></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">Do not love the world or anything in the
world.</span></i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="1"></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.</span></i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="2"></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">For everything in the
world--the cravings of sinful man,</span></i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="3"></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">the lust of his eyes</span></i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="4"></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">and the boasting of what he has and
does--comes not from the Father but from the world.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">The world and its
desires pass away,</span></i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="5"></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">but the man who does
the will of God</span></i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="6"></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">lives forever.” </span></i></span><span class="versetext"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"> Colossians 3:2 “</span></span><i><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">Set your minds on things that are
above, not on things that are on earth.”
</span></i><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">Titus 2:11-12 “<i>For
the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to
the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world”.
</i>Many interpret these verses to mean that we as Christians should
have nothing to do with anything of this world. That partaking in anything of
this world be it hobbies, interests, that is god-related in general is
sinful. By that reasoning, that means
that Christians should give up all their personal hobbies, be it fishing,
camping, going to sporting events, or playing sports, movies, TV, not read any
books that aren’t Christian books, or listening to secular music. In other words, don’t have anything to do
with anything secular in general.
However, I don’t believe that what the scriptures are actually saying
and I found such ideas unrealistic and too restrictive. Besides what about
secular things that are positive such as charity organizations, humanitarianism
or those who care about the environmental?
Would it be sinful to get involved in these events because they are not
god-related? </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">One could argue, they’re
purpose to get involved in these events is to please the lord be involved in a
calling, but that is besides the point.
I don’t believe the purpose is to abandon all things in the world, but
that our hearts foremost should be with God rather than desires things of this
world that are sinful. Also, we
shouldn’t be so consumed of desiring things of this world that causing us our hearts to be filled with greed, lust, selfish cravings, too much
materialism, making us turn away from god or prioritize these things over
honoring the Lord. God, should be
foremost the center of our lives in which we can still enjoy our passions and
pursuits that doesn’t cause us to go against God’s will or turn away from him altogether. We should be careful to what is sinful or
not. I mean that Christians shouldn’t be
so consumed with sin that we look for sin in any fun pursuit be it going
dancing, swimming in mixed groups, watching soap operas, having an occasional
alcohol drink or read romance novels or adding things that are not in the bible.
Over analyzing such behaviors where Christians are constantly looking
for sin and judging and criticizing others leads to an legalistic mentality
that is negative destroys the spirit of Christ, rather than uplift it. </span></b><br />
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10.5pt;">People can become miserable, anxious or
constantly second-guessing themselves as they feel they never measure up to
being a follower of Christ. Others we become holier-than-thou always feeling morally
superior to others, feeling the right to nit-pick people’s choices or mistakes.
This is not what following Christ is about. If we give ourselves to God and Jesus Christ
than we don’t need to be too self-conscious as we trust our hearts to know that
nothing can cause us to stray from the lord.
Of course, we should avoid things that are sinful or tempt us to sin
like not get drunk or look at porn but not too the point where we are obsessed
with sin that is discouraging to us. Another
problem is that many Christians tend to forget is that we are no longer under
law but under grace. Paul stated this in Romans 6:14 “</span><i>For sin shall not be master over you, for
you are not under law but under grace.” </i>Paul
was referring to the old covenant of Moses, which we are no longer obligated
since the old laws were made for Israelites to follow in order to receive God's blessings and could only condemns those to death who don't follow them. However, the Israelites failed to live up to all laws or god's standard of perfection as it was too impossible.</b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even today, some churches teach that Christians have to follow a long list of rules in order to earn God's love, blessings and favor and perform certain tasks to earn his forgiveness and many Christians believe this. The fact remains, is that we are all sinners,
and will never be free from sin since as human beings we are all imperfect. This is confirmed in 1 John 1:8 “<i>If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” </i>Jesus Christ was the only perfect person who
was free from sin and he died for all our sins when he was crucified on the
cross. In the aftermath, Paul was now
declaring a new covenant in which Christians are now under grace rather than
the old law. This means God blesses all
of us with undeserved favor, love, mercy and forgiveness when we sin. This however, isn’t a free pass to do as we
please no matter how sinful. Paul
confirmed this too in Romans 6:15 “<i>What
then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” </i>For example, we shouldn't feel free to break
the ten commandments, commit adultery, steal, etc. Christians should strive to follow Christ's teachings and God's laws including the ten commandments. However, we don’t do these things to earn the
Lord’s love or favor since we already have that, but because of our faith in Christ. Embracing God in our lives and receiving his grace will enable us to strive to do better and be better as we grow more in our spiritual path. Of course we will sometimes stumble and stray from him but we when we repent he
forgives our sins and we are no longer condemned. </b><br />
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We shouldn’t have to worry about being perfect and not make mistakes
which is impossible to fulfill but when he embrace the Lord and Jesus Christ in
our lives and our hearts, we will desire to want try to do right and grow more
holy in order to honor him. To me that
it’s what all that matters. As for
legalism, I personally don’t believe in being too judgemental by playing the
moral police based on a long list of man-made rules of what Christians should or
shouldn’t do in their daily lives. Instead,
I believe in focusing on following Christ, and sometimes reading the bible for
guidance and analyzing what they mean in the context the verses are written so
as not to take them into context. </b><br />
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most
importantly I strive to have a clear sense of right and wrong as I try figure
it all out. I don’t claim to always get
it right, I don’t believe any Christian will but take one step at time as we
struggle to grow everyday in Christ.</b></div>
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Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-17522231905015905112014-04-23T12:33:00.001-07:002014-05-20T15:23:55.435-07:00Gender Stereotypes About Men in the Christian Faith Part 2<div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Corinthians 16:13 “<span class="text1cor-16-13"><sup> </sup><i>Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith,
act like men, be strong</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made a previous post about how gender stereotypes affect women in the
Christian community, now I want to take the time to discuss how it affects
men. Just like women, men too have been
subjected to stereotypes on how a man is suppose to be and act among the
Christian faith. Men are expected to be
strong, touch, macho, aggressive, courageous, more logical and rational than
women and are natural born leaders.
There are other many ideas on what makes a real man. Real men hunt, enjoy sports, like outdoor
activities, are hard drinkers, eat red meat, know how to fight, can take a
punch, aren’t soft, too sensitive, don’t show their emotions don’t have any
interest in anything that isn’t considered manly. In fact, if men show a lot of sensitivity or
any interest in non-traditional masculine hobbies, he often ridiculed as being
weak, gay, a sissy or not real man. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One
example I like to make, is few years back while stumbling upon a British
Christian women’s website. A female commentor posted to complain about her
husband because he always asked for her opinions when making decisions, offer
to wash the dishes, shed a tear when watching a touching film, and did cross
stitching(since his mother taught him) and she even implied she was worried
that he might be gay because of his hobby, although she declared he
wasn’t. She claimed she didn’t want a
man who fluffed her pillows but one who told her what to do and would forbid
her from going out with her friends at night.
I felt the description of her husband sounded normal and wondered if
she had a skewed view of what a man should be like which was touch, macho and dominant
and even considered she was an unhealthy view relationships with men as she
basically admitted to wanting to be dominated by her husband. More surprising, an older female who was
member of the website, gave her advice on how to persuade her husband to turn
away from cross-stitching and washing the dishes, just in case his actions are
the result of the devil. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the end
of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, in the secular society there has been an new
phenomenon called the menaissance movement which is meant to combat what is
considered the feminized male, the effeminate male, the emasculated male, the wimpy male or the
man-child, in which men embrace some traditional male ideals, such as being decisive, assertive, protectors, gentlemen and celebrating the
differences between the sexes. Even in
the churches, there is a new masculinity movement to attract more men and
combat what they perceive to the church of becoming too feminized with women
outnumbering men in attending church. There
was the popular Promise Keepers which started in the 1990s. Christian comedian Brad Stine started a
ministry called GodMen in which men are allowed to display traditional manly
traits such as being raw and express themselves in typical male ways and watch videos
of karate fights, car chases and listen to a song called “Grow A Pair”. Even Pastor Mark Driscoll once described
Jesus, Paul and John the Baptist as heterosexual, win-a-fight,
punch-you-in-the-nose dudes who are also aggressive, assertive and
nonverbal. </span></b><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I even saw a painting on the
internet of Jesus Christ having muscles, wearing a T-shirt and Jeans and
showing off a tattoo on his biceps. It seems in this movement, is the desire to
redefine Jesus Christ to fit into the mold of masculinity built on the
traditional cultural ideas of manhood. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This
concept isn’t very original.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In fact,
early as turn-off-the 20</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> century,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">former baseball player and Evangelist preacher Billy Sunday founded what
was know as Muscular Christianity which was to remasculize the church. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">During the Ancient Roman Empire, Christians
were being persecuted and accused of being too effeminate, including 3</span><sup>rd</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
century Emperor Diocletian who blamed Christianity for making the </span><st1:place style="font-size: 12pt;" w:st="on">Roman Empire</st1:place><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> weak.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Of</b></span></span><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> course during the 1960s and 1970s, in
middle of the popular famous “Jesus Movement” Jesus transformed into a
peace-loving, kumbaya-type, namby-pamby hippie. I don’t follow either of these
ideals of Jesus Christ and find some flaws in them. I view Jesus, our savior as a strong, wise, kind and
courageous man who taught about love, peace, patience, humility, forgiveness, to love your enemies and
turn the other cheek, who at times was firm and showed anger when justified and other times
showed mercy, healed the sick and in the end endured pain and suffering as he
was crucified on the cross and died for all our sins. </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus also wept in John 11:35, when he was moved
by the mourning of the death of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha of whom
he and his disciples stayed with.</span></b></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regarding Manhood itself, although I
understand and even agree with some of the need for the menaissance movement, I'm often conflicted on what I regard as two extremes. On one side, there is need to bring back the
retrosexual male who carry all the traits and characteristics of the old model
of manhood based on very rigid gender stereotypes and from a nostalgic era and have
little tolerance of anything that is seen as too soft or sissified. Than on another side, there is a need to take
the gender-neutral approach too extreme to the point of wiping out gender
distinctions, since gender is considered a social construct. Men were expected
to get in touch with their feminine sides, be more like women, express their
emotions like women, some typical masculine traits like aggressiveness, and
rough and tumble play among boys is seen as negative. These ideals are based on
society cultural expectations placed on males, dating back in the by gone era
where boys were taught that “boys don’t cry” , be tough, don’t be too soft, play
sports, learn how to fight, dolls are for girls, housework is women’s
work. If a boy took an interest an
anything that wasn’t typically boy hobbies they were considered a sissy. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In today’s post-feministic society, the
pendulum swung the other way, where boys are encouraged to play with dolls, and
typical boy traits, like playing with toy guns, rough and tumble play are
considered too aggressive and some believe even encourage violent behavior when
they become men despite experts claiming otherwise. Even in schools, boys are often penalized for
engaging in these types of behavior which led to complaints on how now boys and
not girls are more disadvantaged in schools. In the media or TV and
films, sometimes males are portrayed as the clueless idiot, wimpy guy or the
immature man-child which makes one understand even more why the call for the
menaissance. As I stated before in my
previous post, I’m aware that men and women do have some differences not just
biological but also psychological with their own unique strength and
weaknesses. I also support some
traditional manly traits, such as the men being the providers, protectors,
defenders, strong, courageous, decisiveness, gentlemen behavior as good core
values for men. Yet, I also balance these out with being sensitive, tender,
caring, gentle, compassionate, empathetic, nurturing, not afraid to show
emotions and express his feelings, allowed to be vulnerable and to cry. I also believe men should be men, but not the classic
1950s, John Wayne-type of manhood. Instead, they should embrace their masculinity in their own individual ways.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the 1960s and 1970s, when feminism was
on the rise, just as women were breaking down barriers, so were men. Men realized that they also could also go
beyond restrictive gender stereotypes and pursue any goals they desire and not
just what was considered typical male interests. They learned it was okay for men to become
nurses, ballet dancers, models, fashion designers, learn sewing, knitting, cross-stitching,
cooking, poets, stay-at-home dads etc.
Even in the home, men started contributing more in the household chores
and childcare as women leaving the home to pursue their own careers or
education. Now men realize that they
don’t need to be the only breadwinner, make all the decisions, be macho, throw
a punch, avoid any housework or childcare and write them off as women’s work
or hold in their emotions and feelings to validate their manhood. They can be strong, protective, even tough and still be
sensitive, gentle, caring, vulnerable, show emotions even cry at the same time. </span></b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There are some biblical figures that can be used
as examples including in the book of Samuel,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">David and his friendship with Jonathan, the son of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">King Saul who hugged each other and cried
when, David was forced to flee since King Saul was trying to kill him. In</span></b></span><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> today’s society, more men are just like women, are free from the burdens and
constraints of the past cultural expectations placed upon them and can be
freely who they are embracing their own individual god-giving skills, gifts and
talents and interests/ without judgment or condemnation on what a real man
is. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most importantly, men should strive
to be strong godly men, husbands and fathers who worked alongside women as
heirs in god’s kingdom to glorify god and follow Christ, our Lord and Savior.</span></b><br />
<span class="text1cor-16-13"><br /></span>
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<span class="text1cor-16-13"><br /></span></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-79602436419410497062014-04-01T19:07:00.002-07:002014-04-04T10:52:25.269-07:00Gender Stereotypes in Christianity, About Women Part 1<br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1 Peter 3:3-4 “<span class="text1pet-3-3"><i>Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate
hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.</i></span><i> <span class="text1pet-3-4"><sup> </sup>Rather,
it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.</span></i><span class="text1pet-3-4">”<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="text1pet-3-4"><span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I
want to discuss in this post about gender stereotypes that go around in the
Christian communities. Stereotypes have
been going around for centuries be it racial, gender, nationality or other
religious faiths. However, among
Christians there is a mentality to hold on to rigid gender stereotypes leftover
from patriarchal attitudes that affect both the sexes. Many of the stereotypes are directly towards
women, how we should be, act, what are roles should be in life or in the
home. I was astounded when I read very
outdated arguments on what women should be allowed to do, whether they should
be doctors, political leaders, play sports, join the military, be tough, strong,
brave or aggressive etc. On one
Christian women’s blog, there was a debate about women doctors where one
commenter even argued that women shouldn’t be put in position where she will be
required to be aggressive. Another
argument on another site, was whether women should be politicians, some
believing that men make the better leaders, and one female commenter reasoned
that women need protection. I was
confused about what type of protection she thought women needed that would be
compromised by becoming a political figure. </b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text1pet-3-4"><span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>On a very conservative Christian blog called “The Rebelution” run by two
young Christian men Alex and Brett Harris, the younger brothers of Joshua
Harris popular for the “I Kiss Dating Goodbye” book made a post about their
idea of what real woman should be.
Although, I found the post quite interesting, I couldn’t help but also find
it rather exhausting in its long list of how women should behave and act
some. When one female commenter objected
to their ideals claiming she was truck driver, she was criticized by another
female commenter for taking on a man’s role. </b></span></span></span></span><b style="color: #783f04; font-size: 12pt;">Many of the myths are how women should act or behave include being
docile, nice, passive, helpless, fragile, dependent, too emotional, not as logical as men who are interested in only
traditional women’s interests like shopping, sewing, knitting, cooking,
housekeeping in order to retain their femininity as opposed to being strong-willed,
independent, outspoken and with a headstrong personality who prefers sports,
mechanics, hunting and other traditional male interests. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #783f04; font-size: 12pt;">Some ultra conservatives reason that for a woman
to have strong mind or a will of her own, means she is embarking on a Jezebel
spirit or stepping out of a traditional women’s role she is being temped by
Satan or being unfeminine. Afterall,
women are the fairer sex, the gentler sex or the more patronizing referred the weaker
sex. Women shouldn’t do anything that
goes against their feminine nature, least of all take on what is considered masculine
roles. </b></span><b style="color: #783f04; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I still wonder where many
Christians get these ideas. I believe
part of it still based on traditional cultural attitudes that are still hung
over from the by gone era starting in childhood when girls are expected to only
play with dolls, like the color pink, and have only typical girly interests, be
girly-girls rather than tomboys who like to do typical “boys interests” or be good in math and science. Even in adulthood, there are what is
considered women’s jobs like nurses, teachers, secretaries, seamstress, hair
stylists etc and women’s hobbies like sewing, knitting, cooking, fashion, arts and
craft, reading romance novels etc. </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="text1pet-3-4"><span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The main argument to justify these attitudes are that males and females are different and men should be men and women
should be women and stop trying to unisex everything between the genders by
eliminating gender distinctions. First,
I like to point out that I do except that male and females have equal rights,
are equal worth but not identical and do have some differences that extend
beyond just natural biological differences.
I also believe these differences consists with each gender having their
own unique strengths, capabilities, and weaknesses which should be acknowledged
as it is what makes men and women complement each other. I’ll even go further
to say that I believe on average there are certain things that may be more
suitable for men(like physical heavy lifting) and certain things on average
more suitable for women(like multi-tasking) and see nothing wrong with admitting this. There are also certain circumstances where
males and females shouldn’t compete against, such as professional sports and
other areas that require a lot of physical strength, or even heavy
binge-drinking, since studies have shown
that women tend to be more vulnerable to alcohol consumption due our bodies
been built different from men. I even
find certain negative traits more unflattering in women than men and don’t care
if this will offend some feminists. I also believe to an extent, certain
gender roles where men are the providers and the protectors and women are the nurturers
and caregivers. </span></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Women today should
embrace the uniqueness of womanhood with balance of the traditional and modern
elements. With this, they can be
encouraged to embrace their femininity, with their more natural nurturing
ability, be soft, be full of gentility and be a lady. While at the same time, be strong, assertive,
self-reliant, independent minded, outspoken, be bold and fearless who can stand
on their own two feet and embrace their individual talents and skills. Neither of these traits need to be mutually
exclusive in today’s society. </span></span></b></span><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
problem is many who hold very ultra conservative patriarchal attitudes over
emphasize the gender differences and use scriptures to justify these very
restrictive and rigid stereotypes based on nostalgic ideas on how women should
be that basically pigeonholes women. </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">One verse is 1 Peter 3:3-4 where women are referred to as having a “gentle and
quiet spirit”. This phrase has been
misinterpreted by some to meaning women should be docile, soft-spoken and quiet
in speech, that they shouldn’t be assertive, too strong-willed or talkative. However, this is not what the verse is saying
at all. The Greek word for gentle is “prautes” which means something or someone
with a soothing quality. A gentleness in
conduct, especially for people who have the power to act otherwise, such as
being humble, humility, showing self-restraint, not seeking revenge or malice. An adjective form of the word is “praus”
which has been translated into the word meek.
Jesus says in Matthew 5:5 “</span></span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the
earth”. </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus also refers to himself as meek in Matthew 11:29
“<i>Take my yoke upon you, and learn from
me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls</i>”. The word quiet in the Greek translation is
‘hesuchios” which means an inner calmness, causing no disturbance to others,
peaceful and free from agitation. </span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This
doesn’t mean women shouldn’t be assertive, never be angry, be a doormat, a
pushover nor be quiet in speech. It
does mean that she should be good-natured, be humble without arrogance, selfishness,
conceit, vanity and restrain from being vindictive and malicious, instead
strive to be forgiving. It also implies
having a peaceful nature free form so much inner turmoil or anger and hostility
especially that starts affecting others.
Of course we are allowed to be angry when someone as wronged us or our
loved ones, but we should pick are battles wisely and not be quick to anger
over trivial things and can shouldn’t express our anger beyond that is
reasonable nor let anger fester that makes us bitter, spiteful and hardened.
Plus we should strive to be forgiving even when it’s difficult. Our hearts are at peace with god. </span></b></div>
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<span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Other misconceptions about women’s abilities
as I pointed out regarding our capabilities to be strong leaders, brave and
courageous since many believe these traits are more suitable in men. Recently, the military lifted the ban on
women in ground combat branches such as infantry, armor and artillery which as
caused debate about women in combat involving mixed thoughts. Those who argue against this change reason
that women don’t have the ability to kill because they are too emotional, too
delicate and weak. However, most knows
these are true as many women in the past have killed and committed other brutal
acts and proven to just as ruthless and deadly as many men and many have led
nations too. In fact, I want to debunk
all these myths and misconceptions once and for all. </b></span></span></span><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One example is that during ancient times,
there were exceptional female rulers.
These include the Queen of Sheba who visited King Solomon in 1 Kings
10:1-13. Scholars believe her dynasty
was in parts of what is now known as <st1:country-region w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:country-region>
and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Yemen</st1:place></st1:country-region>. There were also a few female pharaohs in
Ancient Egypt. One was Hatshepsut, who
was the fifth pharaoh in the eighteenth dynasty who reigned longer than any
other woman in the dynasty and was regarded as the most successful. Then there was the famous Cleopatra VII who
was the last active pharaoh in Ancient Egypt. </b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The bible also mentions a number of strong courageous women. I’ve already mentioned Deborah, the judge and
prophetess mentioned in the Book of Judges who accompanied the military general
Barak into battle to defeat the King Jabin of Hazor Canaan’s army although she predicted
that the glory of victory will be given to woman and not Barak. That woman was in fact Jael, the wife of
Hebor the Kenite. Apparently, Sisera,
the commander of King Jabin’s Canaanite’s army fled to the settlement of her
husband in the plain of Zaanaim where he was greeted by Jael who invited him
back to her tent and gave him food and shelter promising to hide. After he fell asleep, she then killed him by
driving a peg into his temple with a mallet so hard that his head was pinned to
the ground. </b><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another brave heroine
mentioned in the bible is Judith a widow from the <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>
city of <st1:city w:st="on">Bethulia</st1:city> whose town was invaded by King
Nebuchadnezzar of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Babylon</st1:place></st1:city>’s
army. Judith, along with her maid goes
to the enemy’s camp and confronts the army’s general Holofernes, captivating
him with her beauty and gaining his trust and promising him information on the
Israelites. Once inside his tent at a
banquet, he gets drunk and while they are alone, she takes his sword and
beheads him placing his head in a food sack, she and her maid return to
Bethulia where she shows Holofernes’s head to the men and tells them to mount
an attack of the enemy camp the next morning.
The Israelites then plunder the camp, where Holofernes’s men have fled
and bring all of Holofernes’s possessions to Judith. Judith is hailed as having saved her town
Beuthulia from the King of Babylon. </b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another brave heroine who saved her people is Queen Esther in the Book of
Esther. Esther was an orphaned Jewish
woman raised by her cousin Mordecai who was selected as a wife to King
Ahasuerus of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Persia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Mordecai had exposed of a plot to assassinate
the King and the guilty parties are put to death and Haman, the King’s official
is granted honor higher than the King’s other officials whom all bow to him. However, Mordecai refused to bow to him since
he only bows to God which angered Haman and upon learning his is a Jew, he
ordered all Jews to be killed in the city.
Mordecai informed Esther of Haman’s plot and pleaded with her to
confront the King. Then Esther dressed
in royalty went to confront the King, despite the fact that the penalty to see
the King when he hadn’t called anyone to him first was death. She risked her life and confronted Ahasuerus
inviting him to two banquets in which at the second banquet, she presented
herself as Jew and exposed of Haman’s plot to kill all Jews which angered the
King that he ordered Haman to put to death, than he allowed the Jews to defend
the themselves against the attacking army and they killed Haman’s army. </b></div>
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<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Queen Esther is praised has having saved her
people the Jewish nation risking her own like to do it. Another brave heroine is an unknown woman in
the Book of Judges. Abimelech was a
ruthless and power-hungry ruler of the city of <st1:city w:st="on">Shechem</st1:city>
who massacured the people of the city who revolted against him and then
proceeded to siege the city of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Thebez</st1:place></st1:city>
where the people fled to the tower. When
Abimelech and his army planned to burn the tower down, a woman at the tower
threw an upper millstone with all her strength and crushed Abimelech’s skull.
Not wanting it to known that a woman killed him, he ordered his arm-bearer to
finish him off with his sword. </b></div>
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<span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Despite
the myth of being the weaker and the more gentler sex, throughout history women
have played a active roles in wars battles more than people believe. In Ancient Rome, there were female gladiators
that fought in the games. Also during Ancient times, throughout the continents,
there are stories of women leading armies into battle, leading revolts and
fighting as skilled warriors. One known
warrior was Boudica, a Celtic warrior Queen who was the wife of Prasutagas, the
ruler of the Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of
the <st1:place w:st="on">Roman Empire</st1:place>. Another known warrior was Queen
Amanishakheto, an Ethiopian ruler who defeated the Roman Army sent by Emperor
Augustus to conquer <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nubia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Her daughter was Queen Amanitore, of the
Kushitic Kingdom of Meroe who is also mentioned in the bible Acts 8:26-40. </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Then there are the legendary Amazons, a tribe
of warlike women in Greek Mythology who bared arms and fought in battle. For centuries many have wondered if these
mystical women really existed. According
to a 5<sup>th</sup> century historian Herodotos, claimed they originally came
from modern day <st1:country-region w:st="on">Turkey</st1:country-region> and
eventually made their way to the Black Sea near <st1:place w:st="on">Scythia</st1:place>
where they intermarried with the Scythians ending the women-only tribe and
creating a new race called the Sauromatians.
The Sauromatian women would continue the traditions of their ancesters
and carry arms and fight in battles along with their men in fact the custom was
a girl shouldn’t wed until she killed in man in battle. In the 1990s, a team of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> and
Russian archaeologists discovered graves near the Russian-Kazakhstan border and
digged up skeletons of the Sauromatians that consisted of women buried with
weapons near them indicating they fought in battles. There is research of many women throughout
the centuries and countries who fought
in battles even as late as Revolutionary and Civil wars with stories of women disguising themselves as men in order to fight. Also during the First and Second world wars, women
were spies, agents and resistant fighters etc.
Research also shows throughout centuries, women have been rulers of
dynasties, as Queens and Empresses in Europe, Asia and <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>. </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In today’s woman have broken many barriers in
going against the grain and what was once expected of them. They become doctors, lawyers, scientists, supervisors, police
officers, firefighters, FBI agents, civil or political leaders, athletes,
pilots, martial artists, military commanders, mechanics, explorers, scuba divers etc. Many
have committed brave and heroic acts, as well as committed criminal and heinous
acts and in some countries they have become President or Prime Minister one
example is former Prime Minister of England the late Margaret Thatcher and another is
Michelle Bachelet the first female President of Chile. My point is that women can be strong, smart,
ambitious, fierce, courageous, protective as well as gentle, soft, tender, emotional, nurturing, vulnerable and
domestic and do anything they set their mind to. Even when doing what was once
considered typically masculine roles in hobbies or workplace, they can still
embrace their femininity and womanhood.
Femininity itself is no longer pigeonholed in 1950s ideal since today women
can express their femininity in different and individual ways. What matters is by letter go of rigid
stereotypes, we can really be free to explore their individuality with their
own god-giving talents and gifts without limitations, judgements and
expectations to conform to society’s cultural ideals placed upon them. </b></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="chapter-1">
<span class="text1pet-3-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>One thing is women have always been and still
continuing being are warriors of Christ which we all do a spiritual battle
against Satan and his army and striving to preserve our Lord’s will and
grace. This in itself is a huge struggle
and will take strength and courage and where women are not excluded but work
alongside men in order to fulfill this goal.</b></span>
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Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-26305412791522396312014-03-06T18:25:00.001-08:002014-05-29T16:53:47.203-07:00Submission, Obedience and Other Meanings<br />
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ephesians 5:22-24 “<span class="texteph-5-22"><i>Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.</i></span><i> <span class="texteph-5-23"><sup>23 </sup>For
the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church,
He Himself being the Savior of
the body.</span> <span class="texteph-5-24"><sup>24 </sup>But as the church
is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought
to be to their husbands in everything”</span><o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have said that I would do a later post about submission and
I decided to analyze what the word really means in marriage, in the church, to
authority etc. The word submission
always conveys up a lot of controversiality since it is the most misunderstood
word in the bible. Many people have held
different views on what it means whether it implies mere obedience or obedience
in certain situations and subordination.
The most common belief is that it means yield to someone in
authority. In the marriage, the wife is
to suppose to yield to her husband’s authority by letting him make the major
decisions. The majority believe that this
happens only after the couple can’t be in agreement on a major decision and as
a last resort she submits his leadership. I even read a debate on a forum whether
submission means obedience giving the husband the right to expect his wife to
obey his every wish. I have always been
wary with this kind of thinking wondering whether some men who use this logic
to justify their own self of entitlement of some power in the marriage based on
possibly hidden chauvinistic feelings they harbor from their patriarchal up
bringing. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other explanations that make
little sense to me is that the wife allows the husband to decide on most things
including where they go to eat out, where they go on their vocations etc. Other examples that I have read was that one is to
suppose to give up what they like for the other, or that a wife is to put aside
her judgment for her husband’s judgment even if her judgment is better and
wiser. One website described the wife’s submissive attitude by including
domestic tasks such as cooking and cleaning.
I really couldn't buy into any of these ideals on submission. I don’t see how any marriage is good when one
party constantly gets to decide on any issue including where to go when eating
out, nor do I believe it’s good for one party to give up everything they like
for their spouse. Would this include
giving up reading, crafting, knitting or any hobbies the person has? I would
think a husband who really loves and values his wife would be willing to
compromise and sometimes do what she wants, including her in major decisions
and respect her hobbies and interests and vice versa. In other words, a marriage is never good when
one spouse is treated like a secondary figure whose purpose is to be obedient
and subservient to the other spouse but rather a marriage of two equals, a unit
who work together to honor the lord both willing to compromise, strive to be on
common ground, and serving one another. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, many have misinterpreted the word submission to justify
husbands controlling and abusing their wives and treating them as the lesser
role. I read complaints from wives who
say their husbands lord it over them that they have to do what they tell them
to do so long it isn’t against god’s will.
I read many others claim that a wife has to go along with her husband
even if it is wrong or stupid or even if the husband is spanking their child
harshly that borderlines abuse. The most
extreme example I read from a female commenter saying that she will do what her
husband demands even if it is wrong, sinful or illegal since god would only
hold her husband accountable in the end.
That’s another popular view among many Christians, that the husband is
always held accountable for any major decision made right or wrong and the wife
is let off the hook. Just to clear
things up, I don’t believe submission is the same as obedience nor do I believe
a wife’s submission means that she obeys her husband’s commands or wishers like
a child obeys a parent, or an employee obeys an employer etc. unless it goes
against god’s will. So what does submission mean? </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, let’s go back to the Greek translation
of the word which is “hupotasso”. This
word means to arrange under, to yield to admonition or advice, to yield oneself
to another’s will, or place oneself at the disposition of another. It could also be used in a military term that
means to arrange a troop in an orderly fashion under the command of a
leader. However, in a non-military use
it means a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility
and carrying a burden. Paul did not use
the word in its active voice, in which he told husbands to hupotasso their
wives meaning husbands cannot demand or insist on their wives submission to
them. Instead, Paul used the word in its
passive/middle voice which was a voluntary action on the wives part. In its passive/middle form, the word is "hupotassamai" which means give allegiance to, tend to the needs of, be
supportive of and be responsive to. In a
military term, hupotassomai meant taking the position in a phalanx of
soldiers. This term wasn’t about ranks
or status but promoted equal sharing of the tasks troops were ordered. If one solider failed to join his troop or
held back in an advance, the commanding officer would use this form of the word
to order the soldier to return to the line and join his troop, being supportive
of them and fulfill his part of the assignment. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a few other bible verses that about wives submission to their
husbands. Colossians 3:18 “<i>Wives, submit yourselves unto your own
husbands, as it is fit in the Lord”. </i>Titus
2: 4-5 “<span class="texttitus-2-4"><i>and so
train the young women to love their husbands and children,</i></span><i> <span class="texttitus-2-5"><sup>5 </sup>to
be self-controlled, pure, keepers at home, kind, and submissive to their own
husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled</span></i><span class="texttitus-2-5">”. 1 Peter 3:1-2 “</span><span class="text1pet-3-1"><i>Wives, in the same way
submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe
the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,</i></span><i> <span class="text1pet-3-2"><sup>2 </sup>when
they see the purity and reverence of your lives”. </span></i><span class="text1pet-3-2">This does
not refer to the obedience but a voluntary attitude of giving up oneself for another by coopering and responding to the husband's needs. The wife has the self-giving act of
serving her husband and caring for his well-being, rather than always thinking of one’s
own self-interests. This could require respecting him, giving her strengths to
build him up. Also, have a yielding attitude and let go of need to always be in
control in order to work with him rather than have power struggles by
constantly fighting, competing and resisting his will, trying to dominate him
or the need to be right. The wife’s submission should also include her
submitting her husband as the head. This
means she willingly yields to the husband's initiating a Christ-like atmosphere in the home.(view my
post on the husband’s role in marriage). Other ways the wife is to submit is respect his needs as the man in the marriage, as a mentioned before some of men's needs may differ from women's. This doesn’t mean she gives him the right to
dominate and rule over her, but may require at times to let him take charge of a
situation(not in a controlling or domineering way) and yield to his protection when it’s
required rather than rebuff his attempts in order to feel more independent and prove that she is strong. Submission
is nothing more than voluntary of giving up one’s own will to benefit another. To be yielding, even when it’s difficult and
let go of the need to always have your own way or to win. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text1pet-3-2">Despite this, many have used 1 Peter 3:6 “</span><i>as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.
And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is
frightening” </i>as proof that wives should obey their husbands. However, to better understand the context of
this verse would be to go back to Genesis 12:10-16, in which Abraham and Sarah
were traveling to Egypt, and Abraham feared because of Sarah’s beauty, someone
would kill him in order to kidnap her, so he tells her to say she is his
sister,(although that his partly true since she is his half-sister) and Sarah
obeyed him. Her obedience was only just
one demonstration of her submission in which she willingly yielded her own will and cooperated with him in order to save his life. It wasn’t meant to
imply that obedience the only way to show submission. Besides in Genesis 21-9-11, God tells Abraham
to do what Sarah tells him, when she insist he send away their slave girl Hagar
and Ishmael, the son she had with Abraham.
<span class="text1pet-3-2">However, there is a catch with submission that
a wife doesn’t just submit to her husband in every single thing. Ephesians 5:22 states “as to the Lord”, and
Colossians 3:18 quotes “as fit in the Lord.
Both these verses make it clear the wife’s submission should be only
what is appropriate in God's will.
Meaning, a wife should never submit to anything that goes against god’s
will, immoral, illegal or goes against her conscience. </span></span></b></div>
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<span class="text1pet-3-2"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This brings up another point regarding the
wife’s accountability in the marriage.
Many teach that only the husband’s are held accountable before god when
making the final decision in what is known as duck and cover for the wives. Some even believe even if the wife submits to
something sinful the wife is not held accountable. I read some women even reveal being relieved
to much position that puts all accountability at their husband’s feet whenever
making a major decision. I, myself,
don’t believe this is a biblical attitude nor is it true. I believe part of the wife’s role and her
submission may require to willingly carry some of the burdens along with her
husband and that includes some of the major decisions that affects them or the
whole family. Besides if a wife supports
and cooperates with anything that is sinful, illegal, unethical and causes
harm, she is equally guilty and held accountable under god. One example of this is the story of Ananias
and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. In this
story Ananias sold his land and rather than donate all of it to the Apostle
Peter, was dishonest and kept some of the profits for himself. Peter confronted him on his deception not
only to him or the people but to god and Ananias died on the spot and was carried
out. Three hours later his wife Sapphira
unaware of what happened, was also confronted by Peter who asked her how much
they received for the land. Saphhira, who was aware of her
husband’s deception, lied about the amount they received and died on the spot
as well. God punished Sapphira along
with her husband Ananias for her role in the sinning against the Lord and thus
held her equally accountable. </span></b></span></div>
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<span class="text1pet-3-2"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another
example that is quite opposite, is the story of David, Abigail and Nabal in the
first book of Samuel chapter 25. In the story, David as fled from King Saul who wants him dead and he and his men are
hiding in the wilderness. David sends
his men to go to seek a wealthy man name Nabal who is described as mean and
surly and owns a over a thousand sheep and goats in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">carmel</st1:city></st1:place> and he was in the sheep shearing
business. David sent his men to seek out
Nabal and asks for some supplies informing them to remind Nabal that they have
protected his shepherds in the wilderness.
However, when the men confront Nabal, he refuses his request and insults
him. A furious David, then plans to send
his men in to raid the place and take the provisions they need. Then Nabal’s wife Abigail described as a
beautiful and intelligent woman learns all this from one of her servants, so
she and her servants set out on donkeys bringing a lot of food and wine and
finds David, apologizing for her husband’s foolishness and begs him not to
retaliate against Nabal and take his anger out on her instead. David accepts her apology and the food she
offers and promises her he will reward her for her kindness. When Abigail returns home she finds Nabal
drunk and when she tells him of what she did the next morning he dies ten days
later. Afterwards, David takes Abigail
as his wife. The moral is that Abigail
didn’t submit to her husband’s boorish and stingy behavior and even went
against his wishes which in turn stopped revenge from being taking on her
household and prevented David from his committing a murderous attack. </span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text1pet-3-2">There may be times when a wife will have to
go against her husband, especially it is for the benefit and well being of
herself or others and after enough prayer and seeking guidance from the Lord. For example, if her husband is abusive
towards her and/or the children or he is an addict, she definitely shouldn’t
enable him but rather flee for the sake of her family and seek help. Both men and women are to be first and
foremost submitted to God. Another misconception is the idea that submission is only preserved
for wives. In fact, the bible has
several verses on submission including the Ephesians 5:21 “</span><span class="texteph-5-21"><i>Submit to one another
out of reverence for Christ”. </i>This verse refers to all of us as brothers and
sisters in Christ should be submitting to one another by supporting,
cooperating and serving one another; catering to each other’s needs and
shouldering one another’s burdens which is also mentioned in Galatians 6:2 “</span><span class="textgal-6-2"><i>Carry each other’s
burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ”. </i>Basically, we should all voluntarily
yield our will for another’s benefit. This
can also include husbands submitting to their wives as Abraham did by yielding
his will to his wife’s wishes as God commanded him. Even Jesus Christ himself submitted to the
church when he gave up his life for it dying for all our sins. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="textgal-6-2">Of course, in the bible, submission has been
used regarding submitting to a higher authority in several verses. Romans 13:1 “</span><span class="textrom-13-1"><i>Let everyone be subject to the governing
authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.
The authorities that exist have been established by God</i>”. Titus 3:1 “</span><span class="texttitus-3-1"><i>Remind them to be submissive to rulers and
authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work”. </i>Hebrews 13:17 “</span><span class="textheb-13-17"><i>Obey your leaders and
submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will
have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for
that would be of no advantage to you”. </i>In
these verses, it tells people directly to submit to authority and obey them
placing submission and obedience as two separate words and making the meanings not
one in the same. In fact, in Hebrews
13:17, another Greek word is used for submit which is “hupeiko”. This word means to surrender after the
battle, to give way, retire, yield to authority or admonition. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="textheb-13-17">As for the word obey, the Greek word used is
“hupakouo”. This word is used in
Ephesians 6:1 “</span><span class="texteph-6-1"><i>Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right”. </i>Ephesians 6:5 “</span><span class="texteph-6-5"><i>Slaves, obey your
earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you
would obey Christ”. </i>However, this
word is never used for wives regarding their husbands. There are other Greek words
translated as obey. The word "peitho" means to persuade, to convince, to seek one’s favor, to gain’s good will or to
seek to win. In its passive/middle voice
the word is "peithesthe" which means to be persuaded, to listen to, to be won
over. Peithesthe is used in Hebrews 13:17 and is translated as obey telling
those to obey their leaders and submit to them.
An almost similar word is "peitharcheo" which means to obey or to be
persuaded by someone in authority. This
word is used in verses Act 5:29 “</span><span class="textacts-5-29"><i>Peter and the other apostles replied: “We
must obey God rather than human beings!”.
</i>Act 5:32 “</span><span class="textacts-5-32"><i>And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy
Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him”. </i>Titus 3:1 “</span><span class="texttitus-3-1"><i>Remind the people to
be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do
whatever is good,”. </i></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="texttitus-3-1"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i></i>Debunking the
misconceptions of the word submission, women needn’t feel threatened,
disempowered or oppressed by this word.
Neither should men feel self-entitled to control, dominate or have any
privileges over women. A better
understanding of submission could help and having healthier marriages and
better relations between men and women.</span></b></span></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-73574402366762278622014-02-15T14:19:00.001-08:002014-07-05T11:33:42.840-07:00Feminism in Christianity Different Types of Feminism Throughout Culture Part 2<br />
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the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free”</span></i><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In my last post on Feminism, I stated how
Plenty of Christians and churches held anti-feminists views, declaring feminism
as a whole as an attack on the godly way of life, including marriage, family
etc and basically anti-male. I also
claimed to an extent the more radical forms of feminism that came about during
the second wave women’s movement justified some of these arguments, but the
origins of feminism was always about gaining more fair rights to women that
were denied to them in the male-dominated society. The trouble today is because of the more
extremists radical feminist philosophies spewed during the past decades, many
today are skeptical about feminism as a whole and many woman, including the
ones who support women’s equality in society are reluctant to declare
themselves feminists. Today society only
relates feminism to the radical 1970s bra-burning feminists who rejected male
chivalry and the traditional roles of housewives. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I mentioned before, that I myself have
separated myself from being considered a feminist because of these
stereotypical ideal of what modern feminism is about. However, after doing more research on the
history of feminism throughout the culture, I found that feminism isn’t
pigeonholed as many believe. In fact I
discovered there have been different types or branches of feminist philosophies
that have been declared over the decades and even centuries that I would like
to take the time to describe giving a better understand of feminism as a
whole. First, there was classical
feminism better known as first wave feminism that occurred between the 18<sup>th</sup>
and 19<sup>th</sup> century. Around this
time were two different branches, egalitarian feminism and conservative
feminism. Egalitarian feminism was more
progressive type that supported women’s independence rather than be pigeonholed
as wives, mothers and homemakers and viewed men and women essentially the same
in nature in which deserving of the same rights under the law. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Egalitarian feminism had its roots from the
writings of 18<sup>th</sup> century British philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft who
wrote the famous book “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”. Ms. Wollstonecraft was a free-thinker who believed
women are not inferior to men should be treated equally morally and
politically. She advocated equal
education for women as the key believing women’s inferiority in status was due
to the lack of education. Then there was
conservative feminism, which was a more traditional and family-centered-
ideology. This type of feminism actually
embraced women’s roles as wives, others, homemakers, caregivers and nurturers.
It also promoted more rights for women beyond these roles by arguing that women
could use their unique gifts and abilities in society for good in charity works
and political affairs. As Ms.
Wollstonecraft was the root of egalitarian feminism, conservative feminism
received its roots from Hannah More, an 18<sup>th</sup> century British
religious writer, philanthropist and political activist and abolitionist. Just like Ms. Wollstonecraft, Ms. More
supported women have more opportunities in education. However, she acknowledged the gender
differences between the sexes. In, fact
she believed women should use their unique natural abilities beyond the
household and to contribute to society especially in charity work. During the time period, many looked upon egalitarian
feminism with suspicion and skepticism while conservative feminism was more
praised and embraced by many women. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>While
Feminists such as Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedan influence the second
wave feminism, other branches of feminism emerged. There was difference feminism which was
originally coined by feminist and psychologist Carol Gilligan. This type of feminism promotes the equal
status yet essential natural differences between the sexes that extend beyond biological
and physiological. Ms. Gilligan promoted the view that men and women have
different moral reasoning ethnically with men being more concerned with justice
and rules and women more concerned with caring and relationships. Ms. Gilligan
believed both these traits were equally valuable which verified in her 1982
book “A Different Voice”. However,
others like Nel Noddings who published the book “Caring” believed that the
female traits were morally superior. A
similar branch is known as cultural feminism.
Like difference feminism, it affirms and embraces the differences
between the sexes. This ideology also attempts to place value on the female
traits that were once undervalued.
Although this term was coined in the 1970s, many claimed that 19<sup>th</sup>
century journalist and feminist Margaret Fuller contributed to cultural
feminism. Even women’s suffragist Jane Addams(daughter of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Illinois</st1:state></st1:place> state senator John H. Addams)
supported some the cultural feminist ideologies. Other beliefs are that traditional women’s
roles as the caretaker, domestic and child care worker in the home should be
considered equally valuable in society.
Former scholar and author Christina Hoff Sommers who published books
“Who Stole Feminism?” and “The War Against Boys” defined two forms of feminism,
equity feminism and gender feminism. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Equity feminism is basically about advocating equal rights and
protection under the law that also consists of fair employment, salaries,
education etc. However, gender feminism
is more focused on eliminating gender roles and stereotypes and viewing women
as victims of the male dominated society.
Ms. Sommers considers herself an equity feminist and criticizes gender
feminism as she herself supports acknowledging gender differences between males
and females. Other forms feminist branches are liberal feminism, an
individualistic form of feminist theory that supports women having individual
rights under the a law and including workplace, education, abortion rights
etc focus on the similarities between
the sexes while downplay the differences. Socialist feminism, which focuses on the
oppression of women in the patriarchal society in both the public life and
private life of the home as it seeks ways to end it. Separatist feminism is a
more radical controversial form of idealogy that advocates women to separate
from male-defined and male-dominated institutions, relationships, roles and
activities as many believe that men cannot make a positive contribution to the
women’s movement. In this feminist
branch there are heterosexual separatists that advocate for celibacy either for
periods of time for personal growth or a permanent way of living. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The lesbian
separatists reject any form of heterosexuality altogether. The separatists also advocate women-only
communities and many may hold a misandristic stance. Finally other branches include black
feminism, also known as womanism deals with the racial and gender oppression of
black women who felt excluded from the women’s movement and the black
liberation movement and a more conservative feminist organization “Feminists
For Life in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place>”
that has an anti-abortion and pro-life stance.
Although, the Christian community has a history of attacking the secular
feminism as enemy to the Christian faith, in the past, Christians have been
involved with feminism. Some of the
early women suffragists were devoted Christians. Plenty of them were members of the “Women’s
Christian Temperance Union”, an organi-zation that was formed in the late 19<sup>th</sup>
century that was concerned with social reforms that included the prohibition of
alcohol, prostitution, labor, sanitation, public health and international
peace. It also dealt with evangelicalism, missionary work and sup-ported women’s
suffrage. This organization still exists
today. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Around the second wave feminism,
a Christian branch of feminism known as Christian feminism emerged. This had a feminist
theology that dealt with gender equality morally, spiritually and in
leadership. It also held views on
ordination of women, equality in marriage, reproductive rights, and the Holy
Ghost was replaced with Sophia/Wisdom, a female side of God. Katharine Bushnell, a 19<sup>th</sup> century
bible scholar, doctor, author, missionary and social activist best known for
her 1921 book “God’s Word To Women” also held some feminist theology. The late Catherine Clark Kroeger, considered
an evangelical feminist and author to the book “I suffer Not a Woman” was the
founder the world wide organization Christians For Biblical Equality. In the mid-1990s, the late Pope John Paul II
called for an alternative brand of brand of the women’s movement known as the
New Feminism. This feminist branch was a
form of difference feminism, with a more conservative stance. It embraces the gender differences between
the sexes, is family-oriented and supported women’s roles as child-bearers,
wives, mothers and homemakers similar to the earlier conservative feminism of
the 18<sup>th</sup> century. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Just like
the old feminism it promotes equality for women under the law and worth and
value free from discrimination, violence and exploitation. Also believes women
can contribute to society whether a stay-at home mom, working mom, single
career woman. Unlike the old feminism,
it is promotes a pro-life, is against contraceptives and in-vitro-fertilization
and doesn’t advocate women’s ordination. Although many members of the new feminist
movement are catholic, it also has includes non-catholics alike. I’ve listened and detailed the many feminist
branches within the feminist movement throughout the centuries and decades and
believe it can give many people, especially a better understanding what
feminism as whole was about with their different and unique perspectives each
branch holds the good and the bad rather than judge and condemn it altogether
bases on a the typical stereotypes. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It
also should be known that Jesus Christ was considered the first liberator of
women, some may even consider the very first feminist. In Jesus times, women were considered
inferior under the law, in worth and basically property of men. They weren’t even allowed to testify in court
trials, go out in public and talk to strangers.
Jesus rejected the patriarchal male- dominated society of that time and
treated women as equal status to men. He
talked to the Samaritan woman at the well and taught women the gospel including
the sisters Martha and Mary at their home.
Jesus also had women as disciples who along with the male disciples
followed him in his ministry. Regarding
feminism, I the only feminist philosophy I support is holding men and women as
equal status under the law, equal worth value and regard in personhood. At the same time, affirming some of the
gender differences with their unique strengths, weaknesses, and
capabilities. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As Christians we should
follow Christ’s example that includes acknowledging equality of men and women
as the work together in the gospel, rejecting all chauvinistic attitudes to
live biblically in honoring god, our lord in savior.<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
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<i><span style="background: #FDFEFF; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></i>Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-82699842838730118822014-02-01T18:12:00.002-08:002014-05-20T18:17:54.081-07:00Feminism in Christianity History of Feminism Part 1<br />
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isaiah 1:17 “<i><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">learn to
do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow's cause”</span></i></span></b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wanted to take the time to discuss and analyze the
ideology of feminism especially in the Christian society because this term is
often viewed negatively among Christians as whole. Often times, I've read anti-feminist arguments
in Christian sermons, articles, blogs and other websites, where feminism is
blamed and condemned for destroying the society from the nuclear family unit,
marriages, loose attitudes and gender lines being blurred. Feminism, for many Christians, is looked upon
as an evil threat to Christianity altogether. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I myself am not a feminist any more than I’m a traditionalist and have
acknowledged the hindrance that the extreme radical feminism caused in the past
several decades. However, I don’t share
the anti-feminist attitudes that many Christians share. In fact, some of the ideals of feminism I
agree with, while others I don’t. I also
recognize the positive effects on society due to the feminist movement which is
why I feel compelled to defend it when others quickly condemn feminism
altogether. Even in the secular society,
many tend to separate themselves from feminism, mainly because of what the
stereotypes of what modern feminism represents and use it as a scapegoat to
blame on many of society’s problems.
Mainly when people think of feminism, they convey the stereotype of the
over zealous anti-male, anti-marriage, that doesn't see a real difference
between the two sexes other than biological, views any traditional gender roles
as sexist and demeaning. Maybe to
understand feminism better, we should understand its origins and how
historically it impacted society. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Historically, feminism was an ideology that supported equal status for
women regarding political, economical, social and individual rights in an era
when women were denied these rights and treated like second-class
citizens. The first feminist movement
began in 19<sup>th</sup> century, regarded as the first-wave feminism or better
known as the women’s suffrage which existed in all the continents in many
countries. This movement began to ensure women have the basic rights to vote,
own and control her property, earnings and inheritance, the right to hold
public office and a few other legal rights to protect them under the law. Around this time period, women could not only
vote, but if she married her husband would inherit her property and money even
if these things were inherited to her.
Many times, education was also denied to women as some universities were
closed off to women as they were expected to get married young anyway. Divorce laws favored men(in contrast to
today’s society) as woman couldn't divorce a man on grounds of adultery alone,
she had to prove abandonment while it was opposite for men and child custody
was more likely to be awarded to the man.
In the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>,
numerous women’s organizations were formed and there were famous suffragists
such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Julia Ward Howe, Alice Paul
and Lucy Burns who all help pave the way for women to have more equal status in
society. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the late 19<sup>th</sup>
century women in all the states gained right to have control of her own
property, inheritance and money. Some
states even gave women the right to vote until the 19<sup>th</sup> Amendment in
1920 that gained women in all the states voting rights. Education also improved for some women as
women’s organizations were formed to support women to pursue certain fields
that were denied to her. Some women even
became politicians including being elected in congress. Between the first and second world wars,
women were involved in the military and war efforts as women’s military corps
were formed and plenty served overseas. The
1960s brought about the second wave feminism popularly known as the women’s
movement. This movement of women’s
rights was expanded included equal employment, salaries, education, more legal
rights and for more opportunities that closed off to them. Women were breaking barriers and entering
into male-dominated fields that were once denied to them that included the workforce,
politics, sports, military etc. They
also fought for more protection under the law that included domestic violence,
sexual harassment, marital rape and even the right to have bank account or a
credit card without their husbands’ permission. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Women were also changing roles in the family life as well. More women with families were encouraged to
enter the workforce or further their education in order to expand their roles
beyond that of housewives. Plus,
changing old marriage model that had the husband being the dominant role and
the wife being a subordinate into a marriage of equal partnership was also
encouraged. The women’s movement
continued throughout 1970s as women gained more rights, freedom and
independence than before and allowed to contribute more to society and be in
charge of their own lives. They also
broke down rigid gender stereotypes and other chauvinist misconceptions that
once prevailed. Helen Reddy sang the
empowering song “I am Woman” in 1972. In
1973 Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs at Tennis match in <st1:place w:st="on">Houston</st1:place>, paving the way for more female
athletes. These were all good, well
meaning necessary changes indeed.
However, despite its many positive aspects, there were also downsides as
well that caused more damage than good. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somewhere in the middle of the women’s movement was a more radical and
militant type of feminism. This type of
feminism held extremist philosophies which could be misandristic,
anti-marriage, anti-family and viewed traditional roles such as housewives as
oppressive, chivalrous gestures and any form of male protection as sexists and
a threat to women’s independence.
Feminist Betty Friedan published her famous book “The Feminine Mystique”
in 1963 which helped sparked the second wave feminist movement. Other more radical feminists included Valerie
Solonas published the 1967 book “Scum Manifesto”. Gloria Steinem quoted that a woman needs a
man like a fish needs a bicycle. Other
radical feminist attitudes were that gender was a social construct and there
were no real differences between the sexes except for different male and female
anatomy. Roles like men being gentlemen
and women being ladies were suddenly considered restrictive, outdated and unnecessary. More women starting to use the freedom of
sexual equality to engage in negative behavior once dominated by men, including
promiscuity, binge drinking, very physically aggressive and loutish behavior
etc. During the 1980s and 1990s,
attitudes followed that women had to be more like men to be equal especially in
the workforce, being “one of the boys” was the goal. Plus women bought into the myth that they can
have it all and do it all, since men seemed able to. In the aftermath, so much more confusion and
chaos occurred. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Men began to feel
threatened by feminism and view it as attack upon them and society, sometimes
justifiable so, as men were rebuffed for the simplest chivalrous gestures as
opening a door for a lady, and treated as the enemy by the more radical
man-hating feminists. In today’s society, the aftermath continues to cause
effect as gender lines have blurred, some men no longer no what their roles are
or feel society as feminized them. Women began to realize that they can’t do it
all, at least not at all at once. Both
genders began to complain about the other women are frustrated with the lack of
gallantry and gentlemen behavior of men, and men complain of the lack of
appreciation of such gestures and ladylike behavior of women. Feminism and equality has been distorted,
misinterpreted and misused to justify lazy, ungallant and other unsuitable
behavior or other ignorant logic in both of the sexes. It has also been used to
ignore some natural and logical distinct gender differences that include
physical strength and certain other capabilities. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today many people are squeamish about the
word feminism because of what it usually conjures up usually the ideals of the
radical feminist zealots of the second wave feminist movement. For Christians and seculars, alike view
feminism as dirty word, a harmful ideology that is attack on men or a once
better way of life and to blame for many of the problems of today. It’s understandable that both genders are
frustrated with the problems of today that were created in the aftermath of
radical feminism of the second wave movement.
However, I don’t believe viewing feminism as a whole as evil, an attack
on society and a scapegoat for all of today’s problems are the answer nor is
going back completely the traditional way of life. Let’s not forget plenty of the traditional ideals
of the by gone era, had many disadvantage as well especially for women and
feminism at that time as necessary to combat these disadvantages. Maybe, today there should be balance of
respecting equality that includes the workforce, education and basically
constitutional rights for all citizens.
Yet still revive and embrace some of the good traditional morals and
ideals of the past that are beneficial for both the sexes. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Understanding that equal doesn't mean
identical and respecting some gender distinctions that may include different
strengths and weaknesses. More for
Christians there should be godly and biblical principals that should be the
first and foremost priority and over the feminist agenda. Hopefully, for Christians this can be
accomplished. I will discuss more about
feminist ideologies in another post.</span></b></div>
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Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-29271179244639536352014-01-24T19:16:00.001-08:002014-01-24T19:16:16.593-08:00Chauvinism and Patriarchy in Christian Culture<br />
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<b><span style="color: #783f04;">Genesis 3:16 “<i>To the
woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you
shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall
rule over you.”</i></span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">For this next topic, I would like to address
chauvinism and patriarchy in the Christian society. Although chauvinism, patriarchy and male
dominance has been prevalent for centuries, it has been particularly prevalent
among Christians. Even in today’s more
egalitarian society, patriarchic and chauvinistic attitudes still exist. I have read comments on very conservative
Christian websites and forums and have been perplexed by the mentalities it has
regarding men and women. Among some, the
basic mentality is that of male authority over women not just in marriage but
even among fathers and daughters or male pastors and that men are above women
in status. Women are limited to subordinate role where her only place is to be
a wife, mother who runs the home. That
working outside the home, being a leader in the community, a business politics
or any other organization should be preserved for men as men are better at
these things than women. There are even the most ultra conservative groups like
the visionary daughters, quiverfull movement, or Christian fundamentalists
whose views are so outdated and patriarchal that even other conservative
Christians would cringe. Ideals like
women remaining at home until marriage, expected to be obedient to their fathers,
being discouraged from moving out and pursue a career, further their
educations, live on her own or any other ambitions other than getting married
and becoming a housewife. </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">The common
beliefs among these groups, are that an unmarried woman is under the authority
her father until marriage then becomes under her husband’s authority and isn’t
fully independent until widowhood.
Another example is women being banned from being in a position of power
over men including being employers in the workforce or professors in
colleges. Some churches even go as far
as ban women from wearing pants, or wear headcoverings, or ban women from
speaking in church unless with her husband’s permission or even voting in
church council’s meetings. Then there are the very traditional and patriarchic
polygamous groups were a man can have more than one wife and often times the
girls are underage being forced into marriages with men old enough to be the
fathers where they are basically just to obey their husband and are restricted
to domestic and child rearing in the homes.
I recall a comment I read from one pastor who complained that men have
been lowered to being women’s equals implying that men’s design order was to be
above women. Another very conservative
male wrote an article condemning the Christian homes for becoming more
egalitarian and wanting to bring back patriarchy. Even women have bought into these ideas, as I
read comments from women also supporting the idea that women are beneath men
and believing men and not are better leaders of the community or government
etc. </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Many misinterpreted bible
scriptures to justify their beliefs. The
verse Genesis 3:16 is often used by many to support the idea of male rulership
over women as god ordained at least in marriage. The basic argument is that women will be
tempted to try to dominate the man but the man should master this by ruling
over the woman as god’s designed order.
They feel this is a consequence of Eve taking the leadership away from
Adam when she tempted him with the apple usurping his authority. I’ve even read comments from males reasoning
that because of this, women shouldn’t act on her own or else chaos will occur
and blame Eve for not asking for Adam’s consent before eating the apple. To further support these claims, many use the
verse 1 Peter 3:7 that refer to women as the weaker vessel or justify other
sexist arguments. </span></b></span><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I have also read many argue
that the term weaker vessel to imply inferiority of women from being more lead
astray, too emotional, helpless that require male protection or being taken care
of or even to keep women out of the workforce.
I recall from one forum, an arrogant male commenter used this verse to
claim women needing to be taking care of and can’t make good decisions on their
own, his attitude even angered other male commenters who rebuffed his sexist
comments. Another forum I found was
fundamentalists that claimed that the weaker vessel meant that women were
weaker than men in all things. I already
gave my reasoning on what the term weaker vessel means(go back and read my
husband’s role post) and has nothing any of these ideas. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Basically because of all these attitudes,
there has been male dominance of women in the many believing patriarchy where
men run the family, the government, the laws and the big businesses is natural
order. However, none is this was natural
order or what god designed. God didn’t
view women as second-class citizens or subordinates. God viewed all human
beings as equals in his kingdom regardless of race, religion, gender etc. This is demonstrated in the verse Galatians
3:28 “<span class="text"><i>There is neither
Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you
are all one in Christ Jesus.” </i> So
where did such chauvinism come from? It
all started with the curse after the fall,Genesis 3:14-19. Many have used this verse as a consequence
for Adam and Eve's sins in which Eve disobeyed God's command to eat the apple
from the tree of knowledge when she was tempted by the devil and then Adam
listened to Eve to eat from the fruit against God's command. They reason that because of this fall, male
rulership is now god ordained but that women will try to resist by attempting
to dominate men. </span></span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="text"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="text">Another common argument
is that Eve usurped Adam's leadership when she tempted him to eat the apple and
that Adam renounced his leadership by giving in. However, another theory among
traditionalists is that male rulership was god ordained from the beginning and
Eve usurped that when she tempted Adam into eating the apple. I don’t believe any of these arguments and
feel sad many scholars and pastors have used these theories in churches and
Christian communities. The Hebrew word
for desire is “teshuqah” which means longing, craving, and yearning. This word is also used in Genesis 4:7 “</span></span><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you
do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you
must rule over it.” </span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">It is also in Song of
Solomon 7:10 “<i>I am my beloved’s, and his
desire is for me</i></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">”. Many believe that this word is referring to the
women’s desire to control, dominate or usurp their husbands while others have
argued weather this word was referring to a sexual desire. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">According to a female blogger and author of
the Practical Theology for Women, Wendy Norger Aslup, the word is referring to
women’s unhealthy desires for their husbands by being too needy or clingy for
men to fulfill all of their needs, placing men as the center of their lives
rather than god. This does make sense
the verse states that the woman’s desire is for her husband not against, not
dominate or control. Besides, in the
past and today many women to become to needy with the men in their lives,
relying too much for men to fulfill them, defining their worth in relationships
even forming unhealthy relationships they are better off without in their
desperate need to have a man in their lives.
These actions come at the expense of placing god as the center of their
lives, relying on the lord to fulfill them, to love them unconditionally and
always be with them no matter what not men.
Regardless, the word teshuqah convoys something negative. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As for the men’s part, he will rule over
thee. The word rule in Hebrew is
“mashal” which means dominate, to have
ruling power, to master, superiority in a mental action, to be like,
comparison, parable and proverb. New
scholars theorize that the word implied that the husband is to be like his
wife, to be parable and in comparison, however I doubt this since it doesn’t have
a negative connotation which is result of the curse. I believe it means that just as wives will
have a desire to be too clingy, needy or dependent on their husbands, the
husbands will have the urge to dominate and control their wives rather than
respect them as equal partners in the marriage.
This problem still lies as in the past and today, men have treated women
as possessions, objects and second class citizens and women have formed too
much dependence from men. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In Ancient
times, male dominance persisted where women had little rights not even in their
homes, the men ruled over their wives and children. Even early Ancient scholars supported female
inferiority. There was Socrates, an
ancient Greek philosopher, who although supported equal education for men and
women in guardian classes for the benefit of the city, he believed women were
inferior to men in almost every tasks.
He also often referred to women as the “weaker sex’ claiming being born
a woman was a divine punishment since women were halfway between a man and an
animal. He also accused men who plead for their lives in court no better than
women. Socrates’ student Plato, also a philosopher and mathematician shared
some of the same views. Like, Socrates,
he supported equality for men and women as guardians and philosopher rulers and
equal education. He even believed that female guardians were superior to both
males and females in other fields. However, Plato also believed that the
majority of women were inferior to men.
He also argued women were a degeneration from a more perfect male human,
since souls were originally implanted in male bodies. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">A man who lived cowardly or less virtuous can
be reborn as a woman. Plato also claimed that women are overrun by emotions to
think reasonably and they value their physical appearances over improving one’s
soul. Another Greek philosopher was
Aristotle who viewed women as defective men and therefore inferior to men in
everything which he justified male rulership over females. Other philosophers who taught women’s
inferiority were, Philo, Josephus, Thomas Aquinas, a 13<sup>th</sup> century
Italian Priest. Even 16<sup>th</sup>
century pastor and theologian John Calvin claimed of women’s inferior
role. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In modern times, there is rise of
bringing back the patriarchy movement. Pastors like Mark Driscoll, Voddie
Baucham and Jesse Lee Peterson skewed sexist philosophies. There even secular
sites and blogs that hold chauvinistic and misogynistic languages. Some women
are so put off by these ideologies in the Christian faith, that many have
turned away from the religion altogether, either becoming atheists and
feminists or spiritual people who don’t have a particular religion while many
join the new age goddess movement that is more matriarchic where they can feel
less oppressed and more freedom and comfortable in their own skins. Even for
the women who remain in the Christian faith join what is known as Christian and
Evangelical feminism. Luckily, the Christian society has gradually strayed away
from the patriarchy with the outdated and chauvinistic attitudes embracing the
more equal society that secularism has already endured. Of course, Christians
and society in general still have a long way to go but the first step is except
that reexamine the verses used to justify women’s inferiority be it in status,
position etc. Recognize that we are all
equals in god’s kingdom, thus we should be equal in worth, value, status and
position and treated with equal respect and regard by letter go of male
dominance. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> I truly believe god’s plan
before the fall, was men and women to be on equal standing as shows in Genesis
1:27-28 “<span class="textgen-1-27"><i>So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them.</i></span><i> <span class="textgen-1-28">And God blessed
them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” </span></i><span class="textgen-1-28">I think it’s time to fight the curse by going back to god’s
original plan by continuing to fight against chauvinism and any inferior status
and mistreatment of women. I will end
this post by quoting 17<sup>th</sup> century Scottish minister, Matthew Henry </span>“<i>The woman was made of a rib out of the side
of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be
trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm
to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” </i></span></b>Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311539914770186927.post-90594475398108758782014-01-03T19:23:00.001-08:002015-02-02T13:53:39.117-08:00Men and Housework, Child rearing, and Stay-At-Home Dads<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong>Colossians 3:23 “<span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"</i></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong>For this next topic, I was originally going to write two separate posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I decided to discuss the issues concerning men’s duties inside the home regarding chores, work or stay home and what the means in modern times all in one post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We already discussed the issues of women’s roles in the home regarding housework and child rearing and working outside the home, now it is time to discuss the men’s role in all of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Even in today’s society as we are moving forward accepting women working outside the home juggling career and family in both the Christian and secular society, we are also excepting the changing roles for men in family life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, despite some of these changes, there is still a debate among many whether men should do house chores, child rearing or even be the stay at home parent. This debate is more prevalent among the Christian community who still believe housework and child rearing are women’s duties even if the woman works outside the home working the same hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, some churches even tell men that these tasks are not primary their jobs nor should they be expected to perform such chores even when both spouses work full time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even read from pastors who go as far as delegate chores in the home based on gender, such as yard work and car maintenance is the man’s job and cooking and cleaning is the woman’s jobs. Then there are articles posting around by Christian men declaring real men don’t do cleaning or even in secular articles discouraging men from housework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lately, there has been a couple of articles floating around on Christian blogs regarding men and housework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first one claiming men who do traditional women’s jobs are less likely to have sex, after studying couples between 1992 through 1994.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this article doesn’t try to discourage men from doing housework claiming, women are more satisfied feeling an amount of fairness in the marriage if the men contribute to the housework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another recent article claims a study done by a Norwegian man that in marriages where both couples share of the housework are likely to divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, his reasoning has little to do with the housework itself, but the fact that couples who share the housework are likely to be more modern and have a less traditional attitude about marriage commitments. </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite this, some Christians and secular people alike have used these articles as proof to reject the idea of men doing housework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when men are encourage in the Christian community do contribute more in household chores and taking care of the children it is often viewed as a favor men do for their wives and not something that is required of them or part of their job at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> But other </span>recent articles are saying that marriages are actually happier when men do contribute to the housework and few years back an article claimed that men who do housework actually have a better sex life than those who don't, contradicting the earlier article that claimed the opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New studies also claim children today are better off with more fathers being more active in the child care than previous generations where child care was almost mainly left to the mothers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even read from blog by a complementarian pastor who is also a stay-at-home-dad give a convincing post on the subject matter contradicting many of the misinterpretations other Christians claims that condemn the practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still many Christians can’t get past the idea that housework and child rearing are the women's job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many think that scriptures in the bible support this, although I have posted my conclusions on this argument in a previous post( Christian Working Women part 1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless, there is nothing in the bible that states these tasks are preserved only for women and that men shouldn’t be involved. In fact, during ancient biblical times, there were a number of men participating in tasks considered traditionally women’s work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men were tailors, weavers, laundrymen, cooks and bakers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During festivals, men cooked and prepared food and in Ancient Greece, they roasted meat over coals or on spits. Jesus himself cooked fish and bread for his disciples in John 21:9-10 “<span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">So when they got out on the land, they *saw a charcoal fire <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">already</span> laid and fish placed on it, and bread.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <span class="text"><sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">10 </span></sup>Jesus *said to them, </span><span class="woj">“Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="woj"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></i><span class="woj">In modern times, due to cultural changes it has become more acceptable for men to contribute more in the household chores and caring for the children and even encouraged especially in homes where both spouses are working to earn a living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I definitely believe it is ideal for couples to share or split the chores and child care fairly when both parties work outside the home, working together as team for the common goal in their homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if the wife stays home and primary cares for the house and children, husbands still can help out doing some tasks around the house other than the typical man’s job of mowing the lawn or working in the garage, as well help out with child care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That brings up my next topic regarding men being the primary caregivers of the children and home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today not only men are doing more around the house, but more men are staying at home and taking care children and managing the domestic affairs leaving more women becoming the sole breadwinners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, many rebuke these cultural changes especially Christians. Some churches even go as far as to condemn such practices and order church discipline for the men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even well-meaning pastors have discouraged men becoming stay-at-home dads believing that the man’s responsibility is to financially provide for his family, even if the wife works too. The popular argument is that the bible instructs the man to work to support his family using the scripture 1Timothy 5:8 “</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>However, this verse isn’t directed at husbands to work and provide for their wives and children but more adult children or grandchildren to take care of the elderly widows in their families rather than burden the church to provide for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that way, the church could focus more on taking care of the elderly widows who don’t have any relatives to look after them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This duty isn't reserved only for men, as women are also instructed to take care of widows in her home in the verse 1Timonthy 5:16 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“<span class="text">If any woman who is a believer has widows in her care, she should continue to help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need</span></i><span class="text">.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as Christians, we all have a duty to look after the wellbeing of the elderly in our families and see that there are taken care of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when they are no longer able to take care of themselves be it a parent, grandparent or another relative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many bible verses do support working hard and discourages laziness. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” </i></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm 128:2 “”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Proverbs 12:11 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Proverbs 21:25 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Proverbs 22:29 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong> Working hard is just about earning money for a living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are other ways to work and not be lazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running a home that includes doing domestic tasks, cooking and preparing the meals, running errands that include grocery shopping and buying other necessities for the house, tending to the children and chauffeuring them around when needed is definitely hard work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although, I like many others, support the idea that men should be the providers and the protectors of the home, I don’t believe providing means only financially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men can provide spiritually, economically, mentally for the needs of his families and still be hard-working devoted husbands and fathers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also want to point out that despite the myth of the traditional breadwinning husband and homemaking wife on the past, during biblical times this concept wasn’t commonly precedent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, in the ancient times, what was now known as the cottage industry where skilled people did their work inside the home usually as family-based businesses was more common. People during that time worked mainly as carpenters, potters, tailors, weavers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, blacksmiths, cobblers, bakers etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many were shopkeepers who lived above their shops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other workers were farmers who grew crops and raised livestock, or herders who travelled around with their flock living in tents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the exception of fisherman, traveling merchants and traders, servants/slaves, shephards, or herders, working from home was quite the norm for many of the residents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Even Jesus's stepfather Joseph worked as a carpenter and likely ranhis business in his workshop inside his home. He would also train Jesus inthe carpentry field as well. </span>It wasn’t until the industrial revolution, that many of the men started to leave the homes and work in the factories or mine especially in the western society. By the mid-19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century the typical family unit with men as the primary breadwinner became the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>In my own home, both my parents worked and shared in the household chores and both had been unemployed at least once while I was growing up and took on the primary caretaker role. I recall as small child my father was unemployed for year and became a stay-at home dad during a period such a role was rare and he took prepared me for school, made breakfast, drove me to and from school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the years, even when both my parents worked, they never invested too much in gender-specific household chores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My father cooked breakfast and dinner as good as my mother and even today does most of the cooking before<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>retiring from work, although my mother hasn’t worked full-time in years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both are comfortable in their roles and never worried about the man’s or woman’s job regarding domestic tasks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite my belief that on an average women tend to be more suitable as the primary caretaker of the children and home, this doesn’t mean that men could never or should never be in this type of role. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact some bible verses mention fathers being involved in bringing up their children. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ephesians 6:4 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fathers,<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">[</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%206:4#fen-NIV-29342a" title="See footnote a"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">a</span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">]</span></sup> do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Proverbs 22:6 “<span class="text"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Train up a child in the way he should go even when he is old he will not depart from it</i>.”</span> The problem lies in outdated gender stereotypes and unfair biases on cultural norms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as working women have been unfairly seen as and neglectful, stay-at home husbands and fathers are seen as lazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Of course there are some men who are too lazy to work and gladly sit back and allow their wives be the sole breadwinner as well as come home and cater to them, cooking their meals and do their laundries while they hardly did anything around the house. There are breadwinning men who have wives who also worked full time, in some cases the men expect their wives to work, yet still come home do the housework, cooking or tending to the needs of the children while they just relax on the couch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these cases, I can understand many concerns of the of the lack of motivation on the men’s parts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Despite this, there </span>are men who are opened-minded enough to be willing to take over the non-traditional role of the primary homemaker, maybe even work from home, taking care of the house and children, leaving his wife to pursue her career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other cases could involve the husband being unemployed for whatever reason, loss of job, illness or disability forcing the wife to be the main breadwinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as women have evolved, so have men and they shouldn’t be judged to whatever works in their home being it a breadwinner or stay-at-home parent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men also have the responsibility to make their family their primary priority as a husband and father and in past, have been guilty of neglecting this role, in favor of their career ambition, climbing the social ladder or outside pursuits. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s good that in the Christian community has evolved some as well as the secular society since more Christians today are relaxing some of restrictive gender roles in the home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Many no longer view housework and child rearing as women’s work nor working and paying the bills as men’s work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More pastors are encourage couples to decide what chores or duties regarding housework, managing family budget and paying the bills based on who’s gifted rather than gender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a good thing, although we still have a long way to go.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
Curious Thinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949160099179252771noreply@blogger.com0