Love your enemies? Seriously?

[Homie]

One of the hardest commands in the Bible, IMO, is the command of Jesus when he tells us to love our enemies. It is really difficult, but that is not the point of this thread. This is:
How is the Son's command to love our enemies consistent with the Father's command to annihilate some enemies of the Israelites. Am I missing something? Context, background information, anything?

[Socrates]

I think Glenn Miller's articles put the extermination of the pagans in the proper cultural context: Extermination of the Amalekites (http://www.christian-thinktank.com/rbutcher1.html)
Extermination of the Canaanites (http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qamorite.html)It's also important to realise that God is the sovereign Creator who gives life, therefore He has the right to take it -- or delegate others to take it.

As for "love", too many people have a sickly saccharine view, and fail to realise that Biblical agapè is often "tough love" and for the benefit of the community as a whole -- see www.tektonics.org/whatlove.html

In the case of the examples above, there was the whole world community at stake, ebcause through the Jews the Messiah would come and bless all the nations (Genesis 12:3). The debauched paganism was always in danger of currupting the Messianic People.

We should also note that Homie makes a false contrast between the Father and the Son. The OT frequently talks about God as longsuffering, patient, kind and merciful. While in the NT, the Son preaches on Judgment more than He does about Heaven. Truth is, both the Father and Son are perfectly loving and perfectly just.

[Homie]

Thanks for the links Socrates. I have only read the latter though, I will read the others later.

One question poppes to mind: The writer of the article describes agape as love for the group:
"In such a scenario, not only is it right and proper, for the sake of agape, to confront and confront boldly; it may be the only responsible thing to do to keep the "disease" or error from spreading and afflicting more souls!"
This is logical and all, but how is it consistent with Jesus's parable about the herd who left the 99 sheep to go look for the one who was lost. He sacrifies the safety of the group (they could be killed by animals or get lost themselves) to save the individual. Shouldn't Jesus describe the herd as doing wrong?

[Socrates]

Homie cites JPHolding's article:


"In such a scenario, not only is it right and proper, for the sake of agape, to confront and confront boldly; it may be the only responsible thing to do to keep the "disease" or error from spreading and afflicting more souls!"

Homie replies:This is logical and all, but how is it consistent with Jesus's parable about the herd who left the 99 sheep to go look for the one who was lost. He sacrifies the safety of the group (they could be killed by animals or get lost themselves) to save the individual. Shouldn't Jesus describe the herd as doing wrong?This is a different issue. Indeed it does show that the individual is precious. So there is a place to reach out to such people, i.e. genuine seekers who have lost their way. But here, the 99 sheep were already safe, and the lost sheep was the one in danger.

This contrasts with those wolves in sheep's clothing who really do endanger the 99 and the 1. Here, there are plenty of Biblical precedents for dealing harshly with the wolves to preserve the flock.

[Homie]

I read the parable and saw that they are in fact different issues.

[Merlin137]

There is no denying the fact that the Bible says in three different places to "Love your enemies......" (Matt.5:44; Lu. 6:27; and Lu. 6:35). I take that as a command which means that Jesus was serious about the issue and which in turn means the Trinity is serious about the issue. This is the fulfillment of the law (NT) as contrasted to OT law. Therefore I don't see that the law of the OT which involved God's judgment on pagan people as relevant to the issue. I think that the issue is these three NT verses and how these verses work out in our lives as Christians. The OT was not God's best for us, even though it is it important to our understanding of God and God's quest to fulfill the law through Jesus Christ who had been prophesied about for centuries.

The question remains, however, does that mean we are to love megalomaniacs, despots and tyrannical murderers like Adolf Hitler? Does "love your enemies" mean praying lovingly for people similar to Adolf Hitler and ignoring any confrontation at all? (Peace at all costs.) What if the US had not entered World War II and instead prayed that God would miraculously and lovingly change Hitler's heart?

I do believe in "loving my enemies" and "doing good to those that harm me" but that belief has not been put to the test in my life to any meaningful degree. Perhaps individuals such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemoller, Karl Barth, Elie Wiesel, Corrie Ten Boom and numerous other martyrs who suffered or died for their beliefs could answer these questions more appropriately.

I believe the world is our community if we are truly Christian in our motives toward others. That means that I need to love the Iraqis and Iranians as much as I love you as Christian brothers and sisters. Does that mean the war in Iraq is "God's will" and does "love your enemies" mean this confrontational war is right? Or is it wrong?

I didn't mean to open a bee's nest. But this issue is always such. In the meantime I will struggle with "war", whether it is right or wrong in certain times of turmoil. I will also continue my endeavor to "love my enemies" , pray for them and do good to them to the best of my ability.

:bunny:

[India]

Socrates:[/i]

In the case of the examples above, there was the whole world community at stake, because through the Jews the Messiah would come and bless all the nations (Genesis 12:3). The debauched paganism was always in danger of corrupting the Messianic People.


Case in point: Psalm 106:34-39 (http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=psalm+106:34-39&NIV_version=yes&language=english)



We should also note that Homie makes a false contrast between the Father and the Son. The OT frequently talks about God as longsuffering, patient, kind and merciful. While in the NT, the Son preaches on Judgment more than He does about Heaven. Truth is, both the Father and Son are perfectly loving and perfectly just.

"If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it." Ex 23:4-5

"'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself." Lev 19:18

[Exmo-Robertson]

My simple answer to that is that we are allowed to protect ourselves from those who would do harm to us. We are not allowed to seek revenge.