Today is the Feast of Perpetua and her Companions. We're in between the Feasts of Valentine and Patrick. Why don't we have some way of remembering these martyrs? Read the second link above.
It is also the anniversary of a Bloody Sunday in Alabama. Take a minute to read the above link and think about the brutality and sacrifice that was displayed just forty years ago today.
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One weird thing is that at the end of the incident, God said “now I know that you fear God” as if God didn’t already know that without Abraham doing this.
in Jeremiah 19:5 and 32:35, God said sacrificing children never even entered his mind. How could that act not have entered his mind? He knows all things, even ungood things.
I like to focus on Isaac in this occurrence. How much fire does it take to completely burn a person? Probably a whole lot. Isaac was strong enough to carry it (Gen 22:6). Many commentaries say that Isaac was pretty grown up at that time. Possibly 33. There was no way that Abraham could have overpowered Isaac and tied him to the altar (without supernatural intervention). Isaac had to submit to being the sacrifice.
It may be that in this instance the ethical lesson is not about the sanctity of life, but really about honor thy father. Abraham honored God, Isaac honored Abraham.
The Word of God that Abraham had was God’s Voice. And he obeyed that Word no matter what his understanding was, and no matter what he saw around him.
How would you explain it? Do you think God’s ethics were suspended? Even most mainstream Christians would disagree with that idea. They would say that the principles are consistent and apply to all people at all times, no exceptions; but the application of those principles varies and those principles are expressed as different rules at different times. I agree and disagree with some parts of that belief.
But if ethics rooted in God’s character are constantly changing, then how would you know that God’s character isn’t constantly changing?
A question for you: How is Jesus’ death just? Is it righteous to kill the innocent in place of the guilty?
Above I wrote "how much fire does it take" I meant "how much wood"
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