Dr Paul Allen

Bill Mounce In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 7:12, NIV). In other words, the underlying social ethic that runs throughout the Hebrew Scriptures with all its statutes and laws is this: when you think about what to say or do to another person, ask yourself what you would like that person to say or do to you. When you are talking about significant issues — theology, ethics, politics — how do you want the other person to behave? Do you want them to listen to you politely, with engagement, not necessarily agreeing but treating your ideas with respect? Or do you want them to shut you down, ignore what you are saying, and treat you with contempt and scorn? The answer to that question should determine how we treat the other person. Ten years ago, I was speaking with a younger person who didn’t agree with something I said. Her response was, “That offends me.” I wish I had ...

Vincent van Gogh, 1890. Kröller-Müller Museum. The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 7:12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (v. 12). Structurally, the Sermon on the Mount is divisible into three sections. Jesus  introduces the sermon in Matthew 5:1 –16, describing the characteristics of true discipleship while calling us to preserve society as the salt of the earth and to show others the Father as the light of the world. He gives final warnings to those who will not heed His teaching in the sermon’s conclusion in 7:13–29. The second section, or main body, of the Sermon on the Mount is very well-defined (5:17–7:12). In both 5:17 and 7:12, our Lord refers specifically to “the Law and the Prophets,” bracketing all of the material in between these verses and marking it off as a distinct portion of teaching. Biblical scholars call this an inclusio, ...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.” – Confucius Every religion and philosophy has a version of the Golden Rule . Until Christ showed up on the scene two thousand years ago, the rule was almost always expressed in the negative — do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you. It is, if you will allow, a very libertarian philosophy. We can do X, Y, or Z because they do not harm our neighbors. It is the embodiment of karma in today’s culture. We think that we should be allowed to do that which we please as long as we do not harm others. We think that if we do bad things to others, bad things will be visited on us. When bad things happen to us or someone else and we think the perpetrator has gotten away with it, the average person tends to think that at some point something bad will happen to the perpetrator. “ Karma ’s a bitch,” the saying goes. Either God will smite them or fate will i...

Matthew 7:12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” ( v. 12 ). Structurally, the Sermon on the Mount is divisible into three sections. Jesus introduces the sermon in Matthew 5:1–16 , describing the characteristics of true discipleship while calling us to preserve society as the salt of the earth and to show others the Father as the light of the world. He gives final warnings to those who will not heed His teaching in the sermon’s conclusion in 7:13–29 . The second section, or main body, of the Sermon on the Mount is very well-defined ( 5:17–7:12 ). In both 5:17 and 7:12 , our Lord refers specifically to “the Law and the Prophets,” bracketing all of the material in between these verses and marking it off as a distinct portion of teaching. Biblical scholars call this aninclusio, a literary device where the beginning and ending of a unit of teaching mirror one another. In between the brackets, a line of thought...

Postmodernism has raped and pillaged our nation’s sense of right and wrong , and we’ve become too intelligent, self-absorbed and complacent to acknowledge its path of destruction. The smart, the rich, the powerful tell us what our beliefs are, that there is no one truth, force-feeding us their self-destructive blueprint of morality that says anything goes ... and everyone’s been eating it up and asking for seconds. From the vantage point of primitive religion to the stuffy Oxford scholar, most everyone agrees morals were initially established to further the existence of humankind, the survival of the group. The Bible and Torah have maintained the Ten Commandments as a pretty good starting point. Hindus have sought to deny themselves as a measure of self-discipline while Buddhists have the Five Precepts , prohibiting killing, stealing, illicit sexual relations, wrong speech and drugs or alcohol. Friedrich Nietzsche did his share of tearing the issue apart in The Genealogy of Morals ,...

By Peter Hitchens   In their attempt to argue that effective and binding codes can be developed without a deity , atheists often mistake inferior codes - "common decency" - for absolute moral systems. The Golden Rule , or doing as you would be done by, is such a code. But the fact that men can arrive at the Golden Rule without religion does not mean that man can arrive at the Christian moral code without religion. Christianity requires much more, and above all does not expect to see charity returned. To love thy neighbour as thyself is a far greater and more complicated obligation, requiring a positive effort to seek the good of others, often in secret, sometimes at great cost and always without reward. Its most powerful expression is summed up in the words, " Great love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." It is striking that in his dismissal of a need for absolute theistic morality my late brother Christopher states tha...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Matthew 7:12 "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets " ( v. 12 ). Structurally, the Sermon on the Mount is divisible into three sections. Jesus introduces the sermon in Matthew 5:1-16 , describing the characteristics of true discipleship while calling us to preserve society as the salt of the earth and to show others the Father as the light of the world. He gives final warnings to those who will not heed His teaching in the sermon's conclusion in 7:13-29 . The second section, or main body, of the Sermon on the Mount is very well-defined ( 5:17-7:12 ). In both 5:17 and 7:12 , our Lord refers specifically to "the Law and the Prophets," bracketing all of the material in between these verses and marking it off as a distinct portion of teaching. Biblical scholars call this aninclusio , a literary device where the be...