What's interesting is is you always jump in for a ride around the circle with us and I'm thankful you do friend.

And the rest of the bible.

I answered the question that was asked and then got challenged for my answer. No circles there that I can see. Is it OK for you to give your opinion but people who don't agree should be quiet?

So what about Pearl Harbor? Was going to war and killing Japanese people a sin?

Not true my friend.You have to take into consideration when the Bible was written.When they said "the world was flooded" how much of the world did they even know existed at the time?I went to Catholic school from kindergarten through high school,, and even the nuns and priests said you had to take these things into consideration.I believe in our creator,,but also believe in evolution.

Ok, I tried to stay quiet. I did some investigating on the "turn the other cheek" meaning. In those days, in the Jewish culture, there was an insult where you would smack someone. They people listening to Jesus would have understood this. It was not to do bodily harm, it was just an insult.

"Such a blow connotes an insult, not a fistfight, and was a normal way to reprimand someone over whom you had power (e.g. masters to slaves, husbands to wives, Romans to Jews). To strike your equal in such a manner was socially and legally unacceptable, carrying with it a huge fine.

With this new understanding of the context Jesus was speaking in, picture the scenario with yourself as the oppressor. You are a wealthy, powerful person whose slave has displeased you in some way. You reprimand your slave with a backhanded slap. The response you expect is the response you have always received from your slaves – the response you yourself would give if someone higher than you treated you the same way. You expect your slave to cower, submit, and slink away. Instead, your slave defiantly turns their other cheek and challenges you to hit them again. What can you do?

You would like to give your slave another backhanded slap to show them their place, but to do that you would have to use your left hand which would admit that your action is unclean.(Jesus lived in a right-handed world where left hands were reserved only for unclean tasks.) You could hit them on their left cheek, instead, but it would be embarrassing to hit your slave the way you should hit your equal. You’re confused. You don’t know what to do. Flustered, you could order the slave be flogged, but the slave has already made their point. They have shown you that they are a human person with dignity and worth. You don’t own them, you cannot control them, and they do not submit to your rule."

(Not sure if this is 100 percent right, but most sources agree that it was about not returning insult for insult, not about self defense.)

Some other things to consider:
Proverbs 24:29 - “Do not say, ‘I will do to him as he has done to me. I will pay the man back for what he has done.’ “

Jesus is expressing an important principle which applies to our relationships with friends and neighbors. It does not apply when we are confronted with a murderer, rapist, or like person of violence; nor when we are facing the enemy on the field of battle. Jesus is not talking about how to deal with violence. He is talking about the fundamentals of brotherly relationships, about how to relate to our neighbor. If, for instance, a neighbor dumps a pail of garbage on our lawn, we are not to retaliate by dumping two pails on his lawn. If someone cuts in front of us in traffic, we are not to catch up and try to run him off the road. Wanting to “get even” is, of course, a natural response; however, it is not our responsibility to punish our neighbor for his action. That responsibility is God’s. We are to respond to our neighbor in a way that will disarm and shame him for his actions.

Proverbs 25:21 - “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

In doing so, you heap red-hot coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” Once we discover how to correctly translate Matthew 5:39, we can then correctly understand the verses which follow. Each verse is an illustration of how we should react to a hostile neighbor. If, for example (Matthew 5:39), a friend insults and embarrasses us by slapping us on the cheek, we are not to slap him back, but instead offer our other cheek. This, by the way, is probably the best-known of all the sayings of Yeshua. It also is another of the sayings on which pacifism is based. Properly understood, however, it has nothing to do with battlefield situations, defending oneself against a murderer, or resisting evil. It is an illustration of how to deal with an angry neighbor, a personal “enemy.”

Mistranslation of Matthew 5:39 has created a theological contradiction. But, when this saying is understood Hebraically, rather than contradict, it harmonizes beautifully with the rest of Scripture. Our response to evil has to be resistance! It is morally wrong to tolerate evil. Our response to a “hot-headed” neighbor, on the other hand, must be entirely different. His anger will only be temporary if we respond in a biblical manner:

1 Thessalonians 5:15 - “See that none of you pays back evil with evil; instead, always try to do good to each other and to all people.”

1 Peter 3:9 - “Do not repay evil with evil or curses with curses; but with blessings. Bless in return – that is what you have been called to do – so that you may inherit a blessing”

Romans 12:14, 17-19 - “Bless those who persecute you. Bless them. Do not curse them. Do not pay anyone back with evil for evil….If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with everyone. Beloved, do not take revenge, but leave that to the wrath of God.”

The responsibility of the godly person is to defuse a potentially divisive situation by “turning away wrath.” We are not to seek revenge. If a neighbor or friend has wronged us and is in need of punishment, God is the only one who can administer it properly:

Proverbs 20:22 - “Do not say, ‘I will repay the evil deed in kind.’ Trust in the Lord. He will save you.”[i.e.,"He will take care of it"]

Our responsibility is not to react, not to respond in kind, to be a belligerent (combative ) neighbor. We are not to “be overcome by evil, ” but to ” overcome evil with good.”

I've noticed in your posts that you seem to be a mighty bitter man when it comes to Christianity.

Wow skinner. That makes sense. In that context yes, love your enemy

So if we all love are enemies who will stop the enemy fro. Murdering us all? So one has to stand up and say enough. I look at it as if I have to sacrifice my soul for my kids and all of y'alls guess I will then. I cant love some one who wants to destroy me. I cant pray that they will just go away and leave me be and believe it. I can pray for the strength to will and help others that may not be able to help them selves.

, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

I said Luke but I meant Mark.

Some seem to think that to love your enemies means you have to be a pacifist, that when someone belts your wife in the face you can't do anything about it, that if someone rapes your wife you should just shake the guys hand. That's bizarre. God loves the whole world, yet punished many people for their sins. He killed people for their sins all the time. He wiped out nations, he made people go crazy, and he drowned armies. He even made a couple drop dead for lying about how much they sold something for. Yet he still loved the whole world, in fact he loved them so much he sent his son to take the punishment that they deserved.

As I stated I'm glad you joined in on the conversation. The Bible says there is time for war, and no I dont believe killing in war is a sin. Murder is a sin. Murder and killing in a time of war are two things.

What is your point of this thread lucygoose

Read it too. All the gospels, epistles, etc etc.

Sometimes I even try to make sense of Leviticus.

Hate to tell you this... but the Nuns and priests arent all thet Credible...No Authority of the Bible in my mind throws away the half that they want.

Hahaha,atta boy.My son has my 3 year old grand son making mean eyebrows and saying get off my lawn.Cracks me up.

Love is not mushy gushy warm sit-in-a-circle-and-sing-kumbaya feeling. Love is not a feeling or emotion at all. Love is an action, it's a way of treating people. And we're to treat them differently than how the world treats them. What exactly that means, I'm not totally sure. But it definitely doesn't mean that to love someone, you have to be their best friend. I out can love a homeless person by letting them starve and shiver on a cold night so they finally seek real help. You can love a drug addict by letting them rot in their addiction so they can hit rock bottom. You can love the guy that belts you wife in the face, or rapes her, by beating him to a bloody pulp so he sees the error of his ways. You can love the people that bomb you by showing them that evil deeds result in their country being destroyed. Love is sometimes rough sometimes it's not pretty.

It's easy to pull out a verse and build on it. What about 2 Timothy when the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy from prison in Rome. He tells him to stay away from bad people. Or in 2 Corinthians 6:14 when Paul tells Corinth to not team up with unbelievers. 2 Thessalonians 3:6, Paul says to stay away from bad people, and so on. My point is, define what love Jesus is talking about, I don't believe he in no way means be a door mat. I think he, and Paul mean to let your light shine so it may bring others to the fold. It doesn't mean you have to hang with them, which is written. Secondly, to bolster that, he gave discernment.

Nothing more than something to think about. Iron sharpens iron and men sharpen men, right? It's good for men (and women) to talk about these difficult to figure out subjects, we can build each other up, even if we don't agree.

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.