(January 1, 2012 at 5:51 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:(January 1, 2012 at 5:42 pm)Godschild Wrote: Since we do not live in desert camps and the toilet has it's place in our homes God knows we are smart enough to know this commandment only applies to those who might live in a similar situation as the Israelites did at that time.
That certainly makes sense.
Though it does also raise a question: which of the other commandments are inapplicable to modern age non-desert dwellers, and how do we know that your god is OK with it?
Furthermore, absent divine instruction applicable to our own living situation, how are we to know what we are supposed to be doing?
For example, is there anyone we should smite? There aren't many Canaanites around here, to be sure.
The point of this being - if non-Israelite humans are smart enough to figure out for themselves what laws and sanitary practices are needed for good living, why would the Isrealites need such instruction? Were they too stupid to figure it out? Or were the laws not from god, but were those very things that the Isrealites figured out for themselves and wrote into law?
Christ said, "love thy enemies," this does not mean in any way that we can not defend ourselves, we should however aid those who hate us, when they are in need. America does this better than any nation I know. God expects use to use the brains he gave us to determine the old laws that do and do not apply, it should be done through discussion with others to see how they may or may not apply. Paul under authority of Christ showed us that the Jewish food laws do not apply to Gentiles. So we are to use our brains to discern and not to abuse the laws of God.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
