Ponderer
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Age: Going on 900
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Post by Ponderer on Feb 18, 2018 2:11:22 GMT
Did God test Abraham for obedience, or was it something else much less noble? We are told of Abraham's previous cowardly actions regarding Sarah, his wife. Was he actually being tested to reveal how upright the man really was? - and failed the test dismally? Nowhere in the account does it say that he passed.
What if he had refused?
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Ponderer
Junior Member
Posts: 62
Likes: 10
Politics: Balance
Religion: Open to all possibilities
Age: Going on 900
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Post by Ponderer on Feb 22, 2018 8:11:05 GMT
Fschmidt, you are right that fear is very important, perhaps more important than love. Cain knew no fear when he killed his brother and God did not apply an eye for an eye. God had simply responded to Cain's jealousy at God's favouritism for Abel by saying "If you do what is right will you not be accepted?" This is the first reference to doing right in the Bible. But of course man had to learn the consequences of doing wrong, and fear was the key.
But I say to both of you, that right is right and wrong is wrong; whereas obedience and disobedience can be right or wrong, depending on the circumstances. It took thousands of years for us to validate Nuremberg Principle IV which states: "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him". This principle could be paraphrased as follows: "It is not an acceptable excuse to say 'I was just following my superior's orders'".
Although not ratified until 1946, this principle is timeless, in that it was true even in Abraham's time.
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