Andylusion
Platinum Member
you seem to think those ideas about behavior originated in the Old Testament.There are going to be a lot of shocked 'Christians' when they get to Heaven. Sitting in the pews on Sunday and claiming to have accepted Jesus as their savior yet not living the teachings of the Bible isn't what saves people.sadly the prayer is seen as the deed when it is not.
No panacea for societal ills?
Honor your father and mother
Do not murder
Don not steal
Do not commit adultery
Do not envy / covet - be thankful for what you have
Love your fellow man
Treat everyone as you would like to be treated
In all things show kindness
Be generous
Do not cheat others (Zacceus, the tax collector)
Look outside yourself and our own problems / issues and understand those around you are also going through their own similar problems
Jesus did not hang out with as much with those who had been 'saved' - he sought out the lost, the abandoned, the sick, the lame, the lost
Where you see the teachings of Jesus are no 'panacea for societal ills' I see a 'how to' manual / teachings that, if learned / accepted / applied correctly / lived would solve just about all of our societal ills.
Unfortunately men are born of sin and it is our sin that has taken control, separated us from God, and has created our societal ills.
But that's just me. We disagree, and that's ok. I respect that and you.
They didn't.
And I do not believe a man is born a sinner. The only time all men are indeed equal is as a babe dependent on others for his very life.
That's another thing that seems self evident. Have you been to a day care? Do you see parents teaching their kids who to steal, lie, or hit each other? They seem to be selfish, and prone to evil form the very start.
If human beings are naturally good, and have no evil tendencies, where does all the evil and hate we see around us, come from?
And if you really do believe parents are teaching their kids to be evil, why are kids from broken homes, or end up without parents, end up the highest rates of imprisonment over those who grow up in intact families?
I know for my own sake, my father beat me when I was evil. That's how I learned to not be evil. True story.