Posted on by Abe Austin

Loving Your Enemy vs Renouncing Evil- Father Forgive Them

With my last two posts I’ve brought up scriptures that are commonly used to argue that disciples of Christ cannot judge wrong behavior, and explained why this interpretation is false. I will continue this pattern with today’s entry, where I examine the greatest act of non-judgment in all the scriptures. It is, of course, the moment where Christ was upon the cross, being executed for false charges, and asking Heavenly Father to forgive his killers. Luke 23:33-34:

33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

If Christ would forgive the people that did the greatest evil imaginable to him, then shouldn’t we excuse everyone else for anything that they ever do?

Well, no. That goes too far. And the reason why is that while Christ’s forgiveness was certainly magnanimous, it was not absolute. I believe there are two clear limitations on Christ’s forgiveness here.

  1. He was not seeking forgiveness for everyone. It seems clear in these two verses that the “them” he asked forgiveness for was the same “they” that “parted his raiment,” which would mean the Roman guards assigned to carry out his execution. There is nothing to suggest the Jesus was asking for forgiveness for the Pharisees that had called for his death on trumped up charges, knowing full well that they were condemning an innocent man, and of whom Christ said, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Christ was able to distinguish between the truly guilty, and those only guilty by association, and here he only asked forgiveness for the latter.
  2. He was not trying to have them forgiven for everything. Jesus was speaking specifically of his execution, which was carried out by these men only because it was assigned to them by their superiors to do so. He was beseeching for them in this matter where they “knew not what they did,” but that would not make them any less culpable for other sins, ones where they did know what they did. Before or after executing Christ, if any of these men should lie, or steal, or contradict their conscience in any way, they would still be on the hook for those actions.

Thus, this passage is an example of forgiving the ignorant when they are ignorant. It makes no assertions, however, about the knowingly guilty. Does this passage still have a lesson of love of forgiveness for followers of Christ? Of course! We should all aspire to similarly remove ourselves from our pain and recognize whether we have been wronged deliberately or ignorantly, and we should have the presence of mind to pardon those that are still learning. We should be gracious enough to give the benefit of the doubt as far as it can rationally be extended, though not so far that it becomes a farce.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 5:1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25, 28-29

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:

15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:

18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:

21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:

28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.

I mentioned yesterday that the biblical narrative will now focus on the line of Seth, and those that believe in God and follow His precepts. And here in chapter 5 we have the descendants of Seth listed out for eight generations. Genealogical lines like this are, of course, a big thing throughout the bible, and we will come across many more chapters just like this.

It is much less common today to so meticulously track one’s ancestral lines. Most of that information is readily available, due to the digitization of genealogical records, but I don’t believe I am unique in saying that I know the names of my parents and grandparents, but only a few names from the generations beyond. A lot of us don’t really know where we come.

When I have considered my unique traits, my strengths and my weaknesses, I have sometimes wondered if those qualities were inherited from somewhere down the line. I have also had moments of epiphany, where I realize how much the good things I enjoy are based upon the work of my forbearers, and not upon my own merits. I believe that by not being more familiar with my ancestry, I am somewhat limited in being able to even know myself. There are reasons for me being who I am that I am not aware of.