Hello CMF,
Last Sunday in Rains of Justice (5 of 6) we looked at the biblical idea of justice, how we should interpret imprecatory psalms, and how Kingdom justice is first and foremost about inner change, something the world and her politics can never bring. We learn this from Jesus.
In the following video, I wanted to elaborate on a comment I made in the sermon. I read a vengeful psalm and asked, "Are we reading the Bible or the Quran?"
I thought it would be a good idea to (1) admit that sounded a bit insensitive on my part, (2) explain what I was thinking when I said it, and (3) use it to talk further about the violence in both the Bible and the Quran. What, if anything, is so different about them?
As you might gather from the video, when you compare the violence in the Bible (OT) with the violent commands of Muhammad in the Quran, I think Christians can better see how Jesus rules out any sort of attempt to get at justice through violence and coercion in the name of God.
Have you ever heard someone claim that the Quran and the Bible are the same in their violence? The Bible does record violence in the history of Israel, but there are no commands by Jesus to do violence. When compared to Moses (Judaism) or Muhammad (Islam), how significant is that?
Thanks for reading and watching!
Pastor David