THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605100063
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Issues of Faith
SOURCE: Betsy Wright
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
Last Week's Issue of Faith: Judgment: God's judgment of us and our judgment of others.
This Week's Reader Responses:
From Charles McCoy: ``(In 1 Corinthians 5:12) Paul makes it plain that Christians can not pass judgment (e.g., pass sentence) on outsiders (unbelievers) since as he says in 1 Corinthians 5:13, `God alone sits in judgment of those who are outside . . . ' Then Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, what God's judgment of outsiders will be. It is this judgment that Christians need to share with non-Christians. In sharing this truth, it is not that we Christians are passing judgment on outsiders, but rather we are merely stating the facts of God's judgment as found in God's word. The response to this truth is between God and those with whom we share this truth.''
From David Smiley of Virginia Beach: ``(There is a) difference between `judging' others and the discrimination required of all of us. For strictly operational purposes, we must discern who is serving the cause of the Kingdom and who isn't. While we must not freely engage in damning everyone and everything eternally, we must discriminate in order to avoid wasting our spiritual and material resources, as Christians are now doing.
``If we do so we can make God's love felt on a wider plane. We need not agree with every other Christian about every last things to cooperate on matters of importance in which we are agreed . . . God judges the evangelized by a different standard than the un-evangelized. Those who've heard God's Word will be judged by its standards, but those who have never heard it will be judged by the standards they hold others to. That is, we'll be judged by what we know or understand about God's standards of righteousness. This is important because while yourself and others express discontent that God might not be fair in judgment, we can be assured that he will be just that. Consequently, those who know and do not obey may well face a harsher penalty than those who do not know and make no pretensions to spiritual wisdom . . . ''
From Peter J. Newman of Newport News: ``Your column (last week) went full cycle - from respecting the beliefs of others while following one's own beliefs (without trying to shove anything down anyone else's throat) to placing it all in balance with a quotation from the Rev. Joan Hedrich Wooten. After all, we need to show each other respect, courtesy and tolerance in all things, not only in religion.
``Rev. Wooten's statement, however, reflects the core of the problem: `. . term here is encouragement, especially how it may be interpreted by different people and what form each of us is convinced it should take. Encouragement, to some, does indeed revert right back to shoving their beliefs down the throats of the `unenlightened.' ''
From Margaret Burke of Virginia Beach: ``We are taught in Matthew 20, the Great Commission, which is to go teach, tell and make disciples. That was the commission to the disciples and it is our commission. Jesus said to do this. This is the most important thing . . . One of my children said years ago, sitting at my table and frowning, that `The Christian walk, having Jesus in my heart, is the best thing in my life and the worst thing. It's the best because it is the only peace and joy and my greatest blessing, but the sad part is some in the family won't believe this and that will break my heart.' That's quite profound for a child, don't you think?''
From Richard C. Mapp of Kitty Hawk, N.C.: ``Your piece (last week) was wonderful, however, there is a contradictory side to this article. That is, while it is on a very positive note, you are being judgmental in noting that, `The Rev. Joan Hedrich Wooten is one of those rare souls who truly walks in humility . . . ' Is this not also for God to judge?''
From Rabbi Israel Zoberman of Congregation Beth Chaverim, Virginia Beach: ``The traditional Jewish view that God judges us according to our deeds or lack of them, rests on the proposition that the ethical dimension is a unique and hallowed gift of primary significance for human conduct and experience.
``No wonder then that the High Holy Days, the most sacred period on the Jewish calendar, are dedicated to intense soul-searching and acts of repentance with the goal of improving one's moral standing.
``The heavenly gates of forgiveness are open, though, at all times, for God is ever eager to accept us in tempered judgment of love and compassion. All that is required of us is to make amends to those we wronged, returning to the divine core within us and rediscovering that holy compass called conscience.''
From Paul Erickson of Portsmouth: ``Nowhere in the New Testament do you find Christians living in heaven for eternity. After the Earth is destroyed at the end of the millennium there is a New Heaven and a New Earth - the New Jerusalem descends to Earth and Paradise is restored forever. Remember that Christians are resurrected as `spiritual bodies,' not spirits alone, just as Christ resurrected was flesh and bone, no blood. Anyway, (biblically) unread Christians believe they go to heaven forever and ever. Please read the last two chapters of Revelation. If anyone should be correct and speak truth, it should be Christians.''
Correction: The keen eyes of reader Charles McCoy caught an error in last week's column. I quoted some scripture from The Living Bible and called that text a ``translation.'' McCoy rightly pointed out that The Living Bible is not a translation, a Bible that has been translated - word for word - from copies of the original Hebrew or Greek works. According to the American Bible Society in New York, N.Y., The Living Bible is a contemporary version, or paraphrase, of those copies of original Hebrew or Greek works. It is not a paraphrase of another English translation (as many believe), nor is it considered as technically reliable as a word-for-word translation. To put it simply, I should have said, ``The Living Bible Version.'' by CNB