The Not So Nice Jesus

Exploring the details of Christianity

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Miles
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The Not So Nice Jesus

Post #1

Post by Miles »

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Matthew 10:34-36
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (also translated as "trouble," "conflict," "division," and "war"). 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’


So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world? Got fed up with The Love of Christ assignment perhaps?



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Re: The Not So Nice Jesus

Post #21

Post by Purple Knight »

Miles wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 4:56 pm .


Matthew 10:34-36
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (also translated as "trouble," "conflict," "division," and "war"). 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’


So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world? Got fed up with The Love of Christ assignment perhaps?



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If he's really selling Truth with a capital T, that's not always nice.

Imagine he brings some moral principle we all agree is a valid one, to a planet without. Imagine Murder-and-Steal Planet, where the people there hunt each other for sport or steal or whatever else they want. They don't know any better.

So yes, when Jesus comes, and Little Becky realises people shouldn't steal or kill, it's going to tear her family apart and make her own mother her enemy. Her mother loves her and would never kill her, so this casts Little Becky as the sower of discord, because she must now try to slap the hand that feeds her away from doing evil things.

This passage doesn't bother me at all, because the Truth is seldom nice, and moral truth especially is bound to put people at odds, break families, and bring conflict.
Tcg wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:43 pmNice try, but the scripture presented in the OP says nothing about anyone turning evil. Of course this wouldn't be the only case of needing to add to a story presented in the bible in order to hold onto the idea that the Jesus presented in the bible is some sort of saint. He wasn't.
It doesn't have to say that. It's a given that when new morality is added, some will take it up and some won't. This nastiness is the logical result of telling people that what they've been doing for a thousand years is morally wrong.

Who takes up new morality first? Children, and the young. This tears families apart. It tears families apart and anyone who is against that is against progress, one of those old-timey conservatives asking us to accept their casual racism or that we shouldn't disassemble privilege, for the sake of peace.

I'm with Dimey. Peace isn't automatically right and what Jesus is talking about in that passage isn't automatically wrong. I'm just glad he's being so honest about it.

Morality isn't easy. Morality isn't fun. Morality brings misery and suffering sometimes seemingly without any reason. And when you do it anyway, it tears families apart, creates strife and conflict, and throws you in an ocean of pain. Does that mean it would be better to simply not adopt the best morality? Would it be better to accede to our parents' wishes that we know are wrong for the sake of peace? Let moral wrongs occur and ignore them just because it's less conflict?

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