Open Letter To Christians

[Redbeard The Pink]

Actually it doesn't all you need to 'fix' your broken understanding of these verses is context.

In your first cherry picked group of scripture Jesus is speaking about Forgiveness. In the 2nd Jesus specifically speaking about the Holy Spirit. Two different principles two different approaches.

It only seems contradictory if one blindly assumes Jesus is speak about how to get wishes granted.

You apologists kick that word "context" around like a magic, argument-disrupting rugby ball. I do not think it means what you think it means.


For one thing, my first example is in context. The relevant verse is 19, and the other verses provide background for what's being talked about. Scholars understand this passage to be (among other things) about the strength of prayer in numbers. It is consistently interpreted this way by christian laymen and scholars alike, and to claim it should not be read that way is an argumentative tactic and not representative of the meaning of the text.


That second example has not a damn thing to do with the holy spirit. Here it is again, this time in the context of ALL of chapter 7:

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Judging Others
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
True and False Prophets
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
True and False Disciples
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

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That's pretty much just a straight run of parables. Here's my breakdown of the meaning of each one:

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The first is the warning not to judge unless you want to be judged, which includes the parable of the Speck and the Log. This parable is generally taken to mean that before you approach another about sin in his life, you must first make sure you yourself are blameless before god so your judgement won't be clouded or called into question. If you think it means something about the holy spirit, prove it.


The second passage is the Ask, Seek, Knock section. Jesus repeats twice that if they ask/seek/knock in his name it will be given/found/opened. He then goes on to say that just as the listeners, "who are evil," know how to give their children bread and fish instead of stones and snakes, so too will their father in heaven give them all good things.


The next passage is the one about narrow and wide gates. This parable is pretty straightforward; Jesus is saying that he is the only way to god, and that the way he calls them to is not easy. Just remember...the wide gate goes to hell.


Next we have the warning about false prophets being like wolves in sheep's clothing and about the fact that some people who thought they had the whole christianity thing right will still go to hell (which is kind of fucked up, if you think about it...oh wait...).


Finally, we have the parable of the wise and foolish builders, who built their houses on rock and sand, respectively. Storms and floods came, the house on the rock did not fall, the house on sand did. Scholars take this passage to mean that a life built on godliness will stand firm, but a life built on worldliness will crumble. The truth is that life crumbles either way, and people use gods in a failed attempt at comfort

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So yeah...none of that actually has much of anything to do with the holy spirit, and the verse in question is pretty much talking about how to get your wishes granted, just like the one in the first example.


I'm also amused by the cherry-picking accusation, since you're not in jail for throwing rocks at adulterers or anything.


Besides, if god has this divine plan and has predetermined the outcome of all situations according to this plan for his greater glory because he works in mysterious ways, then what the fuck do our prayers matter? It sounds like he's gonna do pretty much the same thing regardless of what we ask. On the other hand, if prayer has any impact on outcomes, why isn't there any evidence of that?


Prayer is like a self-inflicted combination of hypnosis and fortune telling that operates on confirmation bias and anecdotal experience to convince a person they can control their life by talking to the ceiling and maybe killing a goat...or some gays...