jcondit@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (jeffery.r.condit) (02/27/91)
In article <Feb.17.21.52.46.1991.20428@athos.rutgers.edu>, henning@acsu.buffalo.edu (Karl scribe Henning) [Original Subject: Re: Why do the nations rage?] writes: >Be clear that forsaking god is in no way equivalent to (or even suggestive of) >moral blindness. In the middle of the garden were 1. the tree of life, and 2. the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And, the Lord God commanded the man, 1. "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but 2. you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." --Genesis 2:9b, 16, 17 [NIV]. I suggest, that from a Christian point-of-view, Mr. Henning is correct. Christians seek, not forsake, Jesus who is represented here by the tree of life ("I am the vine..." [John 15:1ff]; "I am the resurrection and the life..." [John 11:25]). The real issue is moral blindness. Because men and women have forsaken God, they are morally blind. This sounds like Romans 1:28. We must be careful with this one, because it is easy for Christians to accept, but it is a stumbling-block for others. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the Law. Christians are not to follow the law, and in that sense, Christians should be "morally blind." Compare Colossians 2:6-7a, "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him..." We don't lay the law on ourselves; similarly we must not lay it on others. If we follow Jesus, we proclaim him, not the law. Jeff