{"id":31520,"date":"2015-09-05T06:30:34","date_gmt":"2015-09-05T10:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=31520"},"modified":"2015-09-05T06:30:34","modified_gmt":"2015-09-05T10:30:34","slug":"do-as-jesus-says-not-as-he-does-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/do-as-jesus-says-not-as-he-does-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Do as Jesus Says, Not as He Does?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"bruce-gerencser-quote\"<\/p>\n

Bruce Gerencser<\/a> shared the above graphic, which another blogger made<\/a> from a quote of his. Bruce writes,\u00a0\u201cfor any Christian who happens to stumble upon my deep, dark, evil corner of the blogosphere, I\u2019d love to hear your explanation of Jesus saying, love your enemies, while God, the alter-ego of Jesus, tortures his enemies in hell. It seems the words of Jesus don\u2019t match the actions of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve suggested before (taking my cue from Rabbi Harold Kushner<\/a>)\u00a0that there are principles in the Bible<\/a> \u2013 such as treating others as we want to be treated \u2013 which are so lofty that even the Bible\u2019s authors fall short of them. Those of us who take the humanity of Jesus completely seriously can add Jesus\u00a0alongside them. But those who aren\u2019t prepared to do that can console themselves through the fact that\u00a0there is teaching attributed to Jesus in the New Testament which stems from other people. But whoever is responsible for it, whether Jesus or his earlier followers, Bruce is clearly correct: it is indeed inconsistent to say that God and\/or Jesus wants us to love and forgive our enemies, but is unwilling or unable to do the same.<\/p>\n

For this reason, I once suggested<\/a> that the final judgment \u2013 for those who think there will be such a thing \u2013 ought to be envisaged as Jesus gathering his (self-)righteous followers before him, surveying the rest of humankind, and saying to the Christians, \u201cWhichever of you is without sin, let him or her\u00a0be the first person to cast someone into eternal torment.\u201d<\/p>\n

When no one does so, presumably he would say, \u201cNeither do I condemn you. Go, enter into my rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bruce Gerencser shared the above graphic, which another blogger made from a quote of his. Bruce writes,\u00a0\u201cfor any Christian who happens to stumble upon my deep, dark, evil corner of the blogosphere, I\u2019d love to hear your explanation of Jesus saying, love your enemies, while God, the alter-ego of Jesus, tortures his enemies in hell. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":31521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,131,61],"tags":[1416,3066,3159,4044,4412,4510,5677,6741,9774,10047],"class_list":["post-31520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afterlife-theology","category-christianity-religion","category-morality","tag-bruce-gerencser","tag-enemies","tag-eternal-punishment","tag-golden-rule","tag-harold-kushner","tag-hell","tag-jesus","tag-love","tag-punishment","tag-reciprocity"],"yoast_head":"\nDo as Jesus Says, Not as He Does?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bruce Gerencser shared the above graphic, which another blogger made from a quote of his. 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