Tuesday, October 12 2010

Is The Holy Bible "Hate Literature"?

The plain truth about what the Holy Bible, the Word of God, actually says, in both the Old and the New Testaments, about how all people are to behave toward all other people:

"^19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. ^19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. ^19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:16-18 KJV)

"^22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ^22:38 This is the first and great commandment. ^22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matthew 22:37-39 KJV)

"^13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ^13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13:9-10 KJV)

"^2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: ^2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors." (James 2:8-9 KJV)

The Holy Bible: "Live peaceably with all men"

There is not a single incident recorded in the Holy Bible (see our Holy Bible Reading Plan With Study Notes) of a true Christian hating or harming another human being or inciting others to do so. They, as we true Christians do today, live in peace with all others, while hoping and praying that others will come to love the Truth as we have - by means of our lawful right of the freedom to preach it to those who have the lawful right to freely hear it if they wish to do so (i.e. infringing upon anyone's right to preach the Holy Bible, exactly as it is written, is an infringement of the rights of all citizens).

"^12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. ^12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. ^12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

^12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. ^12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

^12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." (Romans 12:14-19 KJV)

When people repented of their sinful behaviour, whatever it was, as defined and stated by the LORD and as recorded in the Holy Bible, they were, and are, accepted as brothers and sisters of Christ. Note very carefully the backgrounds of the first Christians (and Christians ever since), all of whom were personally taught by Jesus Christ, whether in person, or by His recorded Word thereafter. They chose to become true Christians, after hearing the Word of God taught to them as a public service (the teaching of the Holy Bible was indeed the first "public service announcement") by repenting of their former lifestyles as "fornicators," "idolaters," "adulterers," "effeminate" and "abusers of themselves with mankind," "thieves," "covetous," "drunkards," "revilers" and "extortioners." The Holy Bible makes no distinction regarding the kind of sin.

"^6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, ^6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

^6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 KJV)

God does not "hate" sinners; God abhors sinful behaviour, whatever it is, as defined by Him, because of the harm that it does to those who are misguided and ensnared by it. Like any parent, God never left it up to His children to decide right or wrong. Our Father knows better than His "little children" - and is giving us time to become mature in behaviour by means of coming to understand, and then obeying, what He says is right. God is our Judge by Whom we will be saved, or condemned.

"^3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)

The greatest irony is that while hate absolutely does not come from the Holy Bible, it often does come from those who express hatred toward the Holy Bible because they hate the Sacred Truth that is written in it - and the correction and admonishment that it provides for the good of all people. Persecutors and prosecutors of those who teach and live by the Holy Bible are doing themselves and all of civilized society a grievous moral and intellectual injury by depriving themselves, and everyone else, of the right to know the Truth - the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. So help us God.

Fact Finder: What does "violence" mean in the Holy Bible?
See Violence

This Day In History, October 12

1285: 180 Jews were burned to death in Munich, Germany, after refusing to convert to Christianity (see Hate Jews?; also The Evil Of Racism).

1492: Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the New World, in the Bahamas, after a 33-day voyage from the Canary Islands. He claimed the islands for Spain.

1518: After proceedings began against him for heresy, 35 year old Martin Luther (see Luther's Protest) was summoned to the Diet at Augsburg. In the theological discussions that followed, Luther refused to recant his 95 Theses that he had posted on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg.

1576: Rudolf II, the king of Hungary and Bohemia, succeeded his father Maximillian II as Holy Roman emperor.

1702: In the War of The Spanish Succession, Admiral Rooke with 30 British ships defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Vigo Bay and seized 11 ships full of treasure.

1810: Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildurghausen. The festivities became an annual event and evolved into the present Oktoberfest festival of beer and bratwurst.

1928: The Graf Zeppelin became the first commercial dirigible to cross the Atlantic. The Zeppelin, named after its inventor, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, made more than 500 trans-Atlantic flights until it was retired in favor of the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg.

1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev pounded his desk at the United Nations with his shoe after becoming angry during a debate.

1963: Archaeological research digs began at Masada in Israel.

1964: The Soviet Union launched Voskhod-1 into orbit. It was the first spacecraft to carry a multiple crew.

1984: 5 people were killed when an IRA bomb exploded at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England, during the annual Conservative Party Conference.

1992: An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter Scale struck Cairo; 552 killed, nearly 10,000 injured. The epicenter was not far from the great pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.