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"Shez" <shez@oldcity.f2s.com> wrote in message
news:$Npj+pAllAYCFwUw@oldcity.f2s.com...
>
> Mark 9-42
> And whosoever shall hurt one of these little ones, it would be if he put
> a milestone around his neck and threw himself into the ocean.
That's the verse I thought you meant in the first place, but then you
started rattling on about the "Suffer the little children" verse, which is
in an entirely different chapter and has nothing whatever to do with
"damming" anybody or committing any "unforgiveable" sins.
However, there is also nothing in this verse about "damming" anyone or that
hurting a child is unforgiveable either.
It seems your translation of the Mark 9:42 verse is a bit oversimplified.
Jesus was referring to Christian children in particular and to a particular
kind of hurt.
Mark uses a Greek term meaning "to stumble", and he uses the same term in
several subsequent verses, where he deals with leaving the path of Christian
salvation. This inclines most scholars to translate it as meaning a falling
away from the beliefs and practices of Christianity, not any form of
physical or emotional hurt.
From the King James version:
"And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it
is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were
cast into the sea."
From the English Standard version:
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would
be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were
thrown into the sea."
From the American Standard version:
"And whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to
stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his
neck, and he were cast into the sea."
And the Darby version:
"And whosoever shall be a snare to one of the little ones who believe [in
me], it were better for him if a millstone were hung about his neck, and he
cast into the sea."
Now, I don't blame you for being ignorant of the bible, since you don't know
doodly squat about its teachings. After all, you're a pagan who mostly
despises anything to do with Christianity, so nobody really expects you to
be conversant with biblical scholarship.
So, Jesus says that it's bad to influence any Christian child against
Christianity and anyone who does this is going to have a bad time of it,
when Jesus gets his hands on him. It does not address the issue of physical
or emotional abuse, does not prescribe any "damming" for it, and it doesn't
say that such an act as an unforgivable sin. However, if you want to
advocate life imprisonment for people who persuade children not to be
Christians, feel free to use this bible verse as your justification.
Now, let's deal with your claim that Jesus said that child molesting was an
unforgiveable sin.
Mark 3:28-29
Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and
blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness,
but is in danger of eternal damnation.
The same message is repeated in Matthew 12 and Luke 12. It's very clear.
Only blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin.
So, what about the argument that child molesting might somehow be
interpreted as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Does Jesus say anything
that might give us a clue about what he meant by it? It's simple. All we
have to do is read Mark 3 and see the verse in the context of the narrative.
In Mark 3, Jesus drops in on a synagogue and starts miraculously healing the
sick and lame and casting out "unclean spirits" and "devils". Now, the
synagogues resident scribes were not pleased with Jesus, since he was
definitely stealing their scene, so they started telling people, "He hath
Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils."
Here's what Jesus tells them (Mark 3:23-30).
"And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan
cast out Satan?
And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but
hath an end.
No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he
will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and
blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness,
but is in danger of eternal damnation.
Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."
So, what Jesus thought was unforgiveable was for people in postions of high
spiritual office to deliberately defame the power of the Holy Spirit as
diabolical and to use their exalted status in their religion to add
credibility to that false accusation. And that's it. Everything else is
forgiveable. Sexually molesting children isn't the same as a Christian
priest or scholar deceitfully misrepresenting a work of God as the work of a
devil. So child molesting isn't the same as blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit at all. According to Jesus, that is.
If only you could see how silly you look trying to spout bible verses you
barely know, much less understand.
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