Quote:
Originally posted by Jynx
Check the Old Testament - many kings of Israel were told explicitly by god to destroy whole cities, killing everyone in them. if you wish a specific case, try one of the most famous - King David. according to the bible (books of samuel, i believe), he spent a goodly portion of his life at war in some way or another, and he is considered a hero, and almost certainly in heaven now.
so, my question is this: how can a man who lived by the old law so obviously break at least two of the major comandments (morder and adultery - he had lotsa wives and concubines) be in heaven?
btw, the above really is a serious question, and one i have yet to hear a good answer to.
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There is no heaven in the old testament. Sorry...but there isn't. And i won't tell you that smiting the amorites, or any of the other peoples who got smoted was an act comissioned by God. It's the unfortunate side effect of using a quasi-history as a holy text.
As for why anyone is accepted by God (I intentionally don't use the 'get to heaven' line), i would say that it is by grace, and grace alone. David lived a life with mistakes...but he also welcomed God's forgiveness when he realized he had done wrong. But why worry about David at all?
I've been told that we humans act as if we are competing for a limited amount of love. We don't beleive that if one person is forgiven, that we can be forgiven...that it is a zero sum game. and much of this has to do with the cosmology of the west-we all picture the world as Heaven, Hell and earth between them it seems; and so any thought on God is all tied up in the desire to avoid hell, even if we don't think it exists. David as an example subverts this point: he had no thought that he would be rewarded or punished in the afterlife, no matter WHAT he did. But he chose relationship with God, even if that path was difficult for him to follow, even if God had to send prophets to kick him and set him straight...not to earn heaven, but to have peace and joy on this earth.