Discussion Starter: New Testament

Jesus teaches that to be good, we must set ourselves apart as good people by loving everyone, including our enemies, instead of selectively loving those who love us too. In Matthew 7, he also teaches us not to be hypocritical. (He said not to judge others because you will be judged the same way, but if you are righteous and do not do those things for which you judge others for, are you allowed to judge then..?) He says to do good things without wanting to be seen by others doing them, which encourages people to do good for the sake of doing good and not for the sake of appearing to be good. This reminded me of Book 2 in Plato's Republic, in which they discuss two people - one who is completely just but accused and punished as unjust, and another who is completely unjust but appears and is praise as just. Jesus answers this therefore by saying that we set ourselves apart by doing good for the sake of good and not to simply appear as good. Furthermore, Jesus gives hope to those going through hardships through the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 3-11), assuring those poor in spirit, those mourning, those who hunger and thirst, that they shall be satisfied and comforted in heaven. These are issues that face everyone at some point in their lives; however, they are more often applicable to those in poverty, who face challenges such as malnutrition, disheartenment, and higher child mortality. Those who are more fortunate will have the nutrition they need to be healthy, do work, and take better care of their families. Moreover, a pastor once told us that often the idea of religion appeals more to the poor than to the rich, since the poor are seeking consolation for their state whereas the rich are content with the materials they have in the world. Will the poor therefore be more blessed than the rich? In return for the easier lifestyle, do the rich have to put more effort in showing their worthiness of being blessed for their righteousness? How do the rich set themselves apart as good people too? Who is the audience of this passage and the book as a whole? It seems more catered toward those who have less and would be more willing to accept the promises that Jesus makes about the poor being blessed (and the first coming last and the last coming in first, in Matthew 20).

To add to the question of the audience, does the book and a lot of its rules still apply to the modern world? For example, what happened with Moses' son's circumcision -- circumcision is the practice of removing the foreskin from a male. I'm not very experienced with this haha but according to my friend circumcision makes you less sensitive to physical pleasure. I have never heard about this at church all my life; is it still required in order to be a "good" Christian? Or is it a metaphor to the circumcision of the heart, meaning that you value God and good above pleasurable things in the material world? Secondly, in Matthew 5:30 it says that if your right eye sins, you should "cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your beers than that you whole body go into hell." In basic science courses we learn that it's not the eye that makes judgements or decisions; the eye only sends the image to the brain, which then processes it and would be the body part causing the lustful feelings. If this isn't to be taken literally, what is the metaphor?

Divorce is only acceptable if the man has committed adultery and if a woman remarries without this condition then she is an adulteress. In the modern world divorce rate has risen a lot recently, and it's not just men and women getting divorced on a whim. Relationship violence is a big problem in our society; Lerner Hall is lit up in purple light for domestic violence awareness. Would divorce still be considered a sin under these circumstances?  

Lastly, a more general question. God says that He loves everyone as His own, and He created all of us. From my understanding, he is all-knowing and all-seeing, and he already has our lives plan out and controls what we do - for example, he could harden Pharaoh's heart so many times in Exodus. If he does indeed control all of us, then why has he created us in this way for the purpose of hating us -- why does he harden the Pharaoh's heart and then punish him for it; how can he cause the people to ask him testing questions and then say do not test me; how can he say that "Not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" shall enter the kingdom of heaven", if he controls our actions and beliefs? He compares himself to a king who has invited a bunch of people to his great feast in Matthew 22 and then is contemptuous of those who show up without wedding clothes. How can He call upon everyone, while controlling our lives, and then pick and choose who is good or bad when He created us this way?

What do you think of this - my friend proposed that God created the world in the beginning and interacted with the people back then, but left it alone for the past 2000+ years to let it become whatever it'll be. As a Christian I believed in all the stories, even the incredible ones like Noah's Ark. That friend questions whether all these stories are true and really happened. If God was interacting with the people back then and filled them with the Holy Spirit, these stories could have happened for real. However, are these stories just parables to teach the ways of a good and righteous person? Is the Bible just composed of metaphors that make these concepts easier for the people to understand?