Vanderhoven7
It seems that Jesus' God is not only concerned with acts of murder, gluttony and adultery but also with what prompts them. Very wise indeed.
Here are the bible verses in their entire context.
Let’s assess what Jesus was actually teaching to see if they were---------- “Wise Indeed”
(Matthew 5:27-29) “You heard that it was said: ‘You must not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that everyone who keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her HAS ALREADY COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH HER IN HIS HEART.
Notice that Jesus said that a person who keeps looking at a women so as to have a passion for her, ---HAS ALREADY COMMITTED ADULTERY!!!!!
What was the penalty for Adultery according to the LAW.
Leviticus 20:10 ‘A man might have physical relations with his neighbor’s wife. If he does, both the man and the woman are guilty of adultery. So they must be put to death.
So death was the penalty for adultery according to the LAW.
What was the NEW PENALTY Jesus instituted for just LOOKING at a women with passion?
Jesus made it clear----Matthew 5:29 For it is better for you to lose one of your members THAN FOR YOU WHOLE BODY TO BE PITCHED INTO GEHENNA!
When those listening to Jesus heard this speech of being tossed into GEHENNA, what kind of imagery do you think came into their mind.
Here’s a littler reminder.
NWT (Mark 9:47, 48) it is finer for you to enter one-eyed into the kingdom of God than with two eyes to be pitched into ----GE.HEN’ NA WHERE THEIR MAGGOT DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT PUT OUT.
KJ VERSION It is better for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, TO BE CAST INTO HELL FIRE.
DARBY VERSION rather than having two eyes TO BE CAST INTO THE HELL OF FIRE.
YLT VERSION better for thee one-eyed to enter into the reign of God, than having two eyes, TO BE CAST TO THE GEHENNA OF THE FIRE
No where does it say this was a parable or illustration like Watchtower claims. The context shows Jesus was talking literally.
Why is such extreme punishment required for a “THOUGHT CRIME’?
Ask any reasonably person what is better----to be put to death or to be cast into an everlasting fire?
And by the way, the majority of Christians on the earth, (about 2 billion) interpret this Gehenna-Hell Fire as being EVERLASTING OR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT—not death like jws interpret the verse.
What was Jesus’s solution to this problem of looking at a women with passion? This is what he recommended.
If, now, your right eye is making you stumble, TEAR IT OUT AND THROW IT AWAY AWAY FROM YOU.
Was anyone exempt from tearing their eye out? ------Not according to the bible.
Ecclesiastes 7:20
Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who always does good and WHO NEVER SINS.
If you honestly believe that it was ONLY Jesus, 2000 years ago that came up with the idea that committing adultery with another man’s wife was wrong, then I don’t know what to say. Most people know that Homo Sapiens have been around for over 200,000 years, and in order to survive and get along, it made sense to not infringe on another man’s wife. That would only cause war and death. By respecting people's property, humans have survived this long.
If anything, an Omniscient God who knows Everything, would know better than to create an intense desire for humans to procreate. A God that knows Everything and can do Anything would be able to create humans with a system where once a man finds a mate, something inside his brain would click and stop any desire for any other women as his sex object.
There are literally tons of animals that have this mechanism built into them, ------why couldn’t the Creator do like wise with humans? And these animals still have free will to do as they please.
Love birds, Old field Mice, Atlantic Puffins, Coyotes, Seahorses, Dik-diks, Bald Eagles, Albatrosses, Beavers, Gibbons, Barn Owls, Sandhill Cranes, Geese, Prairie Voles, Swans, Titi Monkeys, Pigeons, Monk Parakeets, Grey Wolves, Black Vultures:----- are just a few we studied in school. I could go on and list about a hundred more animals who have a built in mechanism in their brain that shuts all interest in other mates once they choose their mate for life and still keep their free will.
So why didn’t God do the same thing with humans?
Does he enjoy seeing them live with fear and guilt from the moment they are born to the day they die?
Or—is it possible that this fear found in the bible and attributed to Jesus was an “IDEA” created later by the writers of the Gospels, to Create an Imaginary Illness-- so they could sell an Imaginary Cure, and keep the masses under their control, siphoning as much money and life as possible from the gullible?
It’s no different that how the Watchtower instill fears in it’s members to keep them under their control.
No Paradise Earth if you celebrate holidays, Take Blood, Obey the Governing Body even if it does not make sense----------------etc. Any sin including a (thought Crime) must be reported to the Elders, so you can get ‘Spiritual Help’