{"id":95117,"date":"2015-12-15T11:13:51","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T18:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=95117"},"modified":"2015-12-15T11:13:51","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T18:13:51","slug":"a-reader-writes-about-st-john-chrysostom-and-luke-2236-38","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/a-reader-writes-about-st-john-chrysostom-and-luke-2236-38.html","title":{"rendered":"A reader writes about St. John Chrysostom and Luke 22:36-38"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sez he:<\/p>\n

I found something you should find interesting on the abuse that Luke 22:36 has taken lately, a homily by St. John Chrysostom<\/a>.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t hold my breath that it will correct the error, since apparently people can\u2019t read the next verse or two to see that He\u2019s talking about fulfilling prophesy quite plainly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks! \u00a0Yeah, Jesus just is not giving us a proto-second amendment here. \u00a0It\u2019s just not what the passage is about. \u00a0You can find things like a natural right to self defense in Scripture (especially in the Old Testament) and the Church will eventually about four centuries later) start noodling that question. \u00a0But that is simply not what this passage is about. \u00a0Jesus is (as is his custom) speaking non-literally, and the proof of that is precisely that he rebukes Peter (\u201cENOUGH!\u201d) for taking him literally and, when Peter wields the sword in Gethsemane (for precisely the \u201cdefense of my and my loved ones\u201d so beloved by gun rights advocates), Jesus chews him out. \u00a0Then he goes on and tells Pilate that if his kingdom were off this world, his servants would be out in the streets fighting for him. \u00a0There\u2019s just no way to turn this passage into a proto-second amendment. \u00a0There are other passages that do the trick, but not this \u00a0one.<\/p>\n

The only other understanding I\u2019ve found of that verse is figurative, concerning the spiritual power of the Church and the temporal power of secular authorities who act in her behalf (cf. Unam Sanctam<\/em>).\u00a0 But of course, nobody asserting Luke 22:36 is some sort of proto-Second Amendment will ever offer a magisterial source supporting that interpretation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yup. \u00a0Another allegorical reading. The Fathers loved those.<\/p>\n

And while I have your eye \u2013<\/p>\n

I do own guns, and frankly I do disagree with your prescriptions on firearms (but strangely I don\u2019t feel the need to berate you for daring to find yourself in disagreement with me \u2026), but something is awfully sick in American gun culture.\u00a0 Intuitively I agree with you that doing nothing is not acceptable, and more guns surely will not fix a damn thing.\u00a0 Surely people don\u2019t actually want to live in a society where private citizens need<\/em>\u00a0a gun for their own protection, or where these mass murders become a frequent occurrence (if they\u2019re not already that).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m not sure what you think you disagree with me about. \u00a0You seem to me to be saying much of what I say. \u00a0I have a couple of modest ideas about things to attempt (make gun owning as regulated as car ownership and create smart tech so that guns can only be used by the authorized owner as avenues to explore). \u00a0But even these steps toward sanity are shouted down by the Gun Cult. \u00a0Which points to the real issue: namely that the Gun Cult refuses to acknowledge, that \u201cdoing nothing is not acceptable, and more guns surely will not fix a damn thing.\u201d \u00a0More than anything, that is the spiritual stronghold that exists in this country and, seeing that, you and I are in far more agreement than disagreement. \u00a0The fact is the Gun Cult in this country has made a fundamental spiritual choice: it would rather continue unabated the annual human sacrifice of 33,000 people, plus a mass shooting a day, plus two Sandy Hooks a year than take *any* action whatsoever that might hinder its idolatrous worship of the gun.<\/p>\n

That kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting. \u00a0It is, I am convinced, a demonic stronghold of fear, Mammon (for arms manufacturers), lies, and hypocrisy (especially for anti-abortion-but-not-prolife Christians who constitute the bulwark of the subculture, yet whose only response to Sandy Hook was the selfish and reflexive shout \u201cDon\u2019t touch my guns!\u201d with not a thought for how this scourge could be fought).<\/p>\n

In sum, if you are already thinking, \u201cWhat can we do to bring our slaughter rate down to that of the rest of the civilized world?\u201d you have have already crossed the only spiritual threshhold I\u2019ve been arguing for on this blog. \u00a0So welcome, chum!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sez he: I found something you should find interesting on the abuse that Luke 22:36 has taken lately, a homily by St. John Chrysostom.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t hold my breath that it will correct the error, since apparently people can\u2019t read the next verse or two to see that He\u2019s talking about fulfilling prophesy quite plainly. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[594],"class_list":["post-95117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gun-violence-is-a-prolife-issue-too"],"yoast_head":"\nA reader writes about St. John Chrysostom and Luke 22:36-38<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sez he: I found something you should find interesting on the abuse that Luke 22:36 has taken lately, a homily by St. John Chrysostom.\u00a0 I shouldn't hold my\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/a-reader-writes-about-st-john-chrysostom-and-luke-2236-38.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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