One of the most dangerous and harmful traditions among some Christians is their picking one Biblical passage out of context and interpreting it according to their own view, especially their own political view. This is what happened when Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended the government's horrendous act of pulling children out of their mother's arms by referring to Chapter 13 of St. Paul's letter to the Romans, in which Paul tells us to accept government authority because it has been established by God.
In doing this, Mr. Sessions disregards the entire New Testament which is alive with the infinite, self-giving, sacrificial love of Christ for all people, especially for the poor, sick and outcast.
What he said showed that his consciousness of the Bible and of Christ is as small as his politics. It does not extend to the parents and children he is persecuting and most certainly does not extend to Christ. Equally horrific, he is using the Bible to defend President Trump's decision to change the law to include the parents and children who are now being persecuted. To put it bluntly, Mr. Sessions' statement came directly out of hell.
At least we should be happy that he did not read from 1 Samuel 15:3, "Samuel, saying that he was speaking for the Lord, said to Saul, 'Go now, attack Amalek... kill men and women, children and infants..." This is a case of a leader of the people of God mistaking the people's own blood culture for the will of God. Thankfully, Saul disobeyed Samuel and spared the people of Amalek. Our politicians should not make similar mistakes against the people as Samuel made.
So knowing how to read the Bible is of maximum importance. The Bible is God's unfolding revelation of love to God's chosen people, and through them to the whole world. It is the story of the people's slowly unfolding understanding of God and God's love, and of their learning how to return God's love by living a life of gratitude, good will and love.
For Christians of course, the Bible story reaches its glorious fulfillment in the birth, life, teaching, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and in his sending his Spirit to all peoples throughout the world, so that all people of good will and love can return themselves to God in love.
It is God's all permeating love that we should see when we read the Bible. First, of course, we see the printed words. If we stop at this level of comprehension, we could say that the bible is a work of literature. That is a literal reading of the Bible that is open to misinterpretation in accord with our own biases and prejudices. To read the Bible correctly, we must look into the words and see God present and active in them with all of God's beautiful creative, healing and saving love.
For example, a literal reading of the Bible makes the following story impossible to understand. Jesus once asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter looked at Jesus and saw his human body and human soul, i.e., his "literal words." So he could have said, "You are Jesus, our Teacher." But Peter had a more sensitive consciousness. He looked deeper and saw who Jesus truly was. And he said, "You are the the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Mt. 16:16) That's how we should read the Bible.
The same is true when we look at people. At first we see their physical shape and form, i.e., their "literal" meaning. At this superficial level, we could see them as people whom we could use for our own benefit, or people whom we must compete with for financial dominance, or even people whom we could coldly disregard or even hate.
To Christians, the light of Christ is present, however dimly, even in the prejudiced, criminals and even terrorists. In them, Christ is being crucified anew. But in the poor, the displaced, the sick, vulnerable and outcast, the light of Christ shines very, very brightly. It is this light of Christ being crucified, the light to which Mr. Sessions and President Trump are so glibly blind. Finally, they loudly claim that such persecution is legal. I would like to remind both of them that the Holocaust was legal.
Sometimes it's hard to say, "God bless America!"
Comments: massimini7@gmail.com
In doing this, Mr. Sessions disregards the entire New Testament which is alive with the infinite, self-giving, sacrificial love of Christ for all people, especially for the poor, sick and outcast.
What he said showed that his consciousness of the Bible and of Christ is as small as his politics. It does not extend to the parents and children he is persecuting and most certainly does not extend to Christ. Equally horrific, he is using the Bible to defend President Trump's decision to change the law to include the parents and children who are now being persecuted. To put it bluntly, Mr. Sessions' statement came directly out of hell.
At least we should be happy that he did not read from 1 Samuel 15:3, "Samuel, saying that he was speaking for the Lord, said to Saul, 'Go now, attack Amalek... kill men and women, children and infants..." This is a case of a leader of the people of God mistaking the people's own blood culture for the will of God. Thankfully, Saul disobeyed Samuel and spared the people of Amalek. Our politicians should not make similar mistakes against the people as Samuel made.
So knowing how to read the Bible is of maximum importance. The Bible is God's unfolding revelation of love to God's chosen people, and through them to the whole world. It is the story of the people's slowly unfolding understanding of God and God's love, and of their learning how to return God's love by living a life of gratitude, good will and love.
For Christians of course, the Bible story reaches its glorious fulfillment in the birth, life, teaching, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and in his sending his Spirit to all peoples throughout the world, so that all people of good will and love can return themselves to God in love.
It is God's all permeating love that we should see when we read the Bible. First, of course, we see the printed words. If we stop at this level of comprehension, we could say that the bible is a work of literature. That is a literal reading of the Bible that is open to misinterpretation in accord with our own biases and prejudices. To read the Bible correctly, we must look into the words and see God present and active in them with all of God's beautiful creative, healing and saving love.
For example, a literal reading of the Bible makes the following story impossible to understand. Jesus once asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter looked at Jesus and saw his human body and human soul, i.e., his "literal words." So he could have said, "You are Jesus, our Teacher." But Peter had a more sensitive consciousness. He looked deeper and saw who Jesus truly was. And he said, "You are the the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Mt. 16:16) That's how we should read the Bible.
The same is true when we look at people. At first we see their physical shape and form, i.e., their "literal" meaning. At this superficial level, we could see them as people whom we could use for our own benefit, or people whom we must compete with for financial dominance, or even people whom we could coldly disregard or even hate.
To Christians, the light of Christ is present, however dimly, even in the prejudiced, criminals and even terrorists. In them, Christ is being crucified anew. But in the poor, the displaced, the sick, vulnerable and outcast, the light of Christ shines very, very brightly. It is this light of Christ being crucified, the light to which Mr. Sessions and President Trump are so glibly blind. Finally, they loudly claim that such persecution is legal. I would like to remind both of them that the Holocaust was legal.
Sometimes it's hard to say, "God bless America!"
Comments: massimini7@gmail.com
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