As promised, I have a small 'sermon" for today. It concerns Matthew 22:21 and is said by Jesus: They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. We must remember that Jesus was speaking in parables; sayings which we call metaphors in our English language era.
In the United States, the first amendment to the Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." In my opinion, the words of Jesus and the phrase from the American Constitution go hand in hand, and they each have the same meaning: government must keep out of God's business and religion must keep out of a government's business. It is the concept of "separation of church and state" which Thomas Jefferson wrote about in 1802. The problems arise when religions attempt to misinterpret or ignore the words of Jesus and the Constitution. If the US Constitution isn't good enough for American-style religions, why should they risk all and go against the words of the Son of God whom they claim to revere? Because they choose to interpret the words of Jesus Christ in any fashion which suits their immediate wants and needs. After awhile, these immediate wants and needs become part of the dogma and tradition and are never questioned by the congregations or their leaders, be it a lay preacher (laity), the Pope or whomever. In fact, I bet most Christians never bother to read and think about all the words of their Saviour, much less their entire Holy Bible. Instead, they go to church each weekend and depend on a Sunday School teacher or a preacher to tell them what the Bible says and means.
The same God whom created man also created in him the ability to think for himself, but when it comes to religious beliefs, our minds are taught (usually through fear of Hell as much as the love of God) to be closed to any other interpretations than those of the person(s) instructing us, just as they were instructed. These traditional teachings are instilled in us from the day we are born until the day we die, but if we choose to remain ignorant to the truth of Bible teaching, there may be a high price to pay.
Disclaimer: I am not one of those Sunday teachers, but am merely placing my thoughts here. My interpretations are ripe for interpretation, but they do come from an open mind.
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My next "sermon" may concern Jesus's teachings on questioning authority, especially biblical authority.
In the United States, the first amendment to the Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." In my opinion, the words of Jesus and the phrase from the American Constitution go hand in hand, and they each have the same meaning: government must keep out of God's business and religion must keep out of a government's business. It is the concept of "separation of church and state" which Thomas Jefferson wrote about in 1802. The problems arise when religions attempt to misinterpret or ignore the words of Jesus and the Constitution. If the US Constitution isn't good enough for American-style religions, why should they risk all and go against the words of the Son of God whom they claim to revere? Because they choose to interpret the words of Jesus Christ in any fashion which suits their immediate wants and needs. After awhile, these immediate wants and needs become part of the dogma and tradition and are never questioned by the congregations or their leaders, be it a lay preacher (laity), the Pope or whomever. In fact, I bet most Christians never bother to read and think about all the words of their Saviour, much less their entire Holy Bible. Instead, they go to church each weekend and depend on a Sunday School teacher or a preacher to tell them what the Bible says and means.
The same God whom created man also created in him the ability to think for himself, but when it comes to religious beliefs, our minds are taught (usually through fear of Hell as much as the love of God) to be closed to any other interpretations than those of the person(s) instructing us, just as they were instructed. These traditional teachings are instilled in us from the day we are born until the day we die, but if we choose to remain ignorant to the truth of Bible teaching, there may be a high price to pay.
Disclaimer: I am not one of those Sunday teachers, but am merely placing my thoughts here. My interpretations are ripe for interpretation, but they do come from an open mind.
----
My next "sermon" may concern Jesus's teachings on questioning authority, especially biblical authority.
8 comments:
There are new graphic component on your blog, Ken. A little surprise for us.
I have just returned from Podlasie. I must think a bit about your "small thoughts".
It's late evening in Poland.
Dobranoc, my friend. :-)
Hi Jola;
I made the banner more than a month ago, and am just now getting to upload it.
Hope your weekend was wonderful.
As for the "small thoughts", they really are very small. My eyes gave out on me before I finished with what I wanted to say. :-(
Good night to you, friend Jola. :-)
It seems that we, like too much of the rest of the world, are becoming a nation that has a lsrge section of society that wants all things dictated be religion and that is scary.
Many claim to read the Bible. They never claim to understand it.
Ken, you should have been a preacher. I think you know more about the Bible than some of them do. I am one of those Sunday School teachers, but I do hope my members would read the Bible and not take my word for what I think it means.
HAPPPY BIRTHDAY, My dear friend.
Have a wonderful Birthday.
Alice
Hi mark, and welcome back from dreary Miami. ;-)
Yes, it is scary that people will take someone's word for the most important decisions in their life. It is no wonder the US trails many other countries in education because we are too lazy to learn.
Hi Alice,
Can you really imagine me as a preacher? If I had my life to live over, being a preacher would top my list of things I would want to do.
As a Sunday School teacher and a person, you have faced enough trials in your life to know not to take anything for granted, and that everything can mean something else and that every action definitely has a reaction.
How about having your class read a bit of scripture they are not real familiar with and have them tell you what they think it means. You all may learn something new about the bible and each other.
I am having a very good birthday so far; my eyes seem vastly improved over the past 3 days.
Thanks so much, my friend.
There is a big crisis of religion in Europe; especially in west part of this region. I was glad to see religious people in churches in Russia, Lithuania, Slovakia. People are tied to Bible (its rules, values and stories) also in Poland. I heard that there are still many religious people in the US. I met some wise priests and monks in my life. I was grateful that they could explain me some difficult matters.
I like hearing the words of Bible which are loudly red during the Mass. I love their rhythm and beauty. There are several authors of Bible. They were simply v. good writers.
Of course I believe that they were inspired by God; in Polish this is a nice phrase: "słowo natchnione".
I realize religion in Europe is different than in the US, and that Catholicism is the major belief.
There are very many people in the US whom are religious; in fact, a huge majority believe in the Christian/Hebrew God.
As for divine inspiration, it could just as easily be something else, but we can agree to disagree and still be friends. :-)
I will be on your Flick to comment as soon as my eyes become a little better, but I have seen your wonderful vacation photos.
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