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The Moral and Existential Teachings of the Bible

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The Moral and Existential Teachings of the Bible The Moral and Existential Teachings of the Bible Stephen Warren [email protected] Created in 2014, modified and uploaded 7/14/18 Part 1: Moral The Prophetic Cry 2 From Law to Love 10 Jesus Introduction: The Sermon on the Mount 17 Jesus 1: Universal Love 27 Jesus 2: Sacrifice and Perfection 30 Jesus 3: Priorities and Tactics 35 The Paul Tradition 40 The John Tradition 48 James 51 Peter 53 Acts 54 Part 2: Existential God is... 55 Meaning and Purpose 57 Faith 63 Struggle and Enlightenment 67 Part 3: Background and Analysis Immorality in the Bible 71 Problems for Dogmatists 74 Old Testament Development 76 New Testament Development 81 Sermon on the Plain 82 Q Development 88 Original Q 90 James and Q 93 Thomas and Common Sayings 96 Christian Creed Development 100 Books 104 Resources 105 Note: The King James Version is used throughout. Parallel passages are marked (also...). Related passages are marked (see...). Books in the Roman Catholic Bible but not the Protestant Bible are marked [Ap] for apocrypha, and the Douay- Rheims Version is used. References to the Gospel of Thomas from the Nag Hammadi Library are marked [NH]. 1 The Prophetic Cry The cry of the prophets is the cry against injustice. It’s the cry of the oppressed, the persecuted, the marginalized, the poor, the humiliated, the despised, the wretched. The prophet condemns the masters of the world and fights for the slaves. The prophet’s job is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted, to bring down the mighty and lift the lowly. Deliver the poor; Ye Are gods; All Are children of most High Psalm 82 (see Jn 10:30-38, Is 41:23) 1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; He judgeth among the gods. 2 How long will ye judge unjustly, And accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. 3 Defend the poor and fatherless: Do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the poor and needy: Rid them out of the hand of the wicked. 5 They know not, neither will they understand; They walk on in darkness: All the foundations of the earth are out of course. 6 I have said, Ye are gods; And all of you are children of the most High. 7 But ye shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes. 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: For thou shalt inherit all nations. Moses: Love the Stranger, For You Were Strangers Leviticus 19,23 (see Dt 10:19) 19:10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God… 14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. 15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour… 17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 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… 33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. 34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. 23:22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God. The Jubilee Leviticus 25 (see Dt 15, Neh 5, Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 11:27-29, 2 Cor 8) 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed… 17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God… 23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me… 35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. 36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. 37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. 2 Open Your Hands Wide Deuteronomy 15 15:7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: 8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth . 9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying , The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. 10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. 11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying , Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land… 15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day. Justice Deuteronomy 1,16 (see Lev 19:15 above) 1:17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. 16:19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. Samuel: Mighty Brought Low, Afflicted Lifted Up 1 Samuel 2 (also Is 2:10-21) 2:4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. 6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory. 2 Samuel 1,22 (Samuel dies in 1 Sam 25:1. The rest of 1 Sam and all of 2 Sam are attributed to Nathan and Gad.) 1:19…How are the mighty fallen! 21... the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away 27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished! 22:28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. 29 For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness. 30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. 31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. 32 For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God? 33 God is my strength and power: 3 and he maketh my way perfect. Micaiah: Despised Truth-Teller 1 Kings 22 (see 2 Chr 18; Is 30:10; Jer 20:7-8; 26; 37:15; Am 5:10; Jn 8:42-47) (see Wisdom [Ap] 4:18) 22:7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him? 8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.
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