RE: Four questions for Christians
July 4, 2013 at 5:31 am
(This post was last modified: July 4, 2013 at 5:41 am by Consilius.)
What about the conscious act of wanting another man's wife for oneself?
"Conscious" is a good word to describe thoughtcrime. It is more than straying onto an idea: it is a conscious desire to execute an action that you know is wrong.
Like I said, you know it when you see it.
The reason that Jesus even said this in the first place wasn't to chew out more people as sinners. He was dealing with the problem of adultery by eliminating it at its source. He solved a problem (adultery) by preaching against what caused it in the first place (lust), so that people on the road to adultery knew where they were headed before they got there, because outward actions don't always reflect who one is as a person.
He did the same with murder a few verses before:
"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' (good-for-nothing) is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." Matthew 5:22
"Conscious" is a good word to describe thoughtcrime. It is more than straying onto an idea: it is a conscious desire to execute an action that you know is wrong.
Like I said, you know it when you see it.
The reason that Jesus even said this in the first place wasn't to chew out more people as sinners. He was dealing with the problem of adultery by eliminating it at its source. He solved a problem (adultery) by preaching against what caused it in the first place (lust), so that people on the road to adultery knew where they were headed before they got there, because outward actions don't always reflect who one is as a person.
He did the same with murder a few verses before:
"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' (good-for-nothing) is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." Matthew 5:22
