Matthew, 10:

34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

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"Nothing is true. Everything is permitted." - Hassan-i-Saba

Are you trying to demonstrate your ignorance of something Jesus said out of context, or do you just not understand what Jesus meant?

Read the Beatitudes and compare it with the rest.

Matthew 5:3-12

3 ¶ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 ¶ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 ¶ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 ¶ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 ¶ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 ¶ Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 ¶ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 ¶ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 ¶ Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Also........

Luke 6:20-26

20 ¶ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 ¶ Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

22 ¶ Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

24 ¶ But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

25 ¶ Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

26 ¶ Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
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CONCLUSIONS:

THIS IS HIS ORDER TO CHRISTIANS !!!!!! Not his own actions in Matthew 10:34 !!!

Simple He gave orders and he explained HIS OWN actions not to be copied by his followers!!!!!

Before touting your ignorance, read the ENTIRE Bible COVER TO COVER instead of lazily reading a few passages that fit your worldview. After that, you will never be able to offer one example of Jesus contradicting Himself. I could try to explain Matthew 10:34-39 to you, but doing so would be like casting pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).

Before touting your ignorance, read the ENTIRE Bible COVER TO COVER instead of lazily reading a few passages that fit your worldview. After that, you will never be able to offer one example of Jesus contradicting Himself. I could try to explain Matthew 10:34-39 to you, but doing so would be like casting pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).[/quote]
Why ever do you think that Jesus said any of the things attributed to him? The synoptic gospels were written well after the man's death and sprang from a variety of followers. Some thought him a wise man, some a holy man and some a god. You seem to have a very clear idea of who Jesus was and what he said with nothing more than faith in your particular interpretation to offer as evidence.

Or maybe you just can't explain it.

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It's the difference between suicide and slow capitulation... - Jim Morrison

Sam and Apotropoxy,

WRONG! I did not present my world-view into the argument! I presented and provided evidence from the viewpoint of a Christian!

Matthew 10:34 is about Jesus being the SOLE Judge! Many parts of the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus himself is in control and the only one to throw people into Hellfire(or Bottomless Pit).

In comparison with the other parts we could all see that Jesus according to the narrations of the Gospels ordered his followers to do certain things WHILE it is clear that he is the final PUNISHER to those who do not follow his orders.

HOWEVER, if you believe that Matthew 10:34 has to be followed(and understood that a "Christian" replaces Jesus as Judge) it would then contradict the rest of this Gospel !!! It would be a USURPTION of Jesus' authority.

Christians would then have to decide to follow his BEATITUDES or Matthew 10:34 and the verses connected with it ???

It is either a contradiction OR the comparison with the rest demands that Christians would have to wait until he returns to exact Justice(only by Jesus himself).

By the way, Matthew 10:34 is about Jesus ........NOT his followers !!!

Again:

When was "I am" used ??? Yes, in the Book of Exodus directed to Moses.

The writer of the Book of Matthew was simply repeating a theme from the book of Exodus! Therefore, the whole point of this verse and passage was to tell the Christians to be patient while being persecuted by the Romans! They expected another type of miracle like the parting of the Red Sea!!! Otherwords, only the power of God(Jesus to them) would be able to defeat the Romans.

The writers of the Gospels and PAUL were competing with the WRITERS of the BOOKS of the MACCABEES at that time period.

The writers of the Books of the MACCABEES also were awaiting the MESSIAH. As we all know, JEWS do not accept Jesus as the Messiah. However, the MACCABEES are more historically accurate and is free from exagerations. The GOSPELS in comparison was filled with a propagandized version of the life of Jesus which was directed towards Non-Jews or the Non-Jewish followers of Jesus. I suspect that Paul was the main contributor for this exagerated and propagandized version of Jesus life. Now I will present the Islamic world-view:

The Muslims believe that Jesus was/is a Prophet and the Messiah of the Jews. We believe in the Jewish meaning of the Messiah given to Jesus. Otherwords, that Jesus is a Human being who was taken to heaven alive like Prophet Eli'jah and Enoch. He will return unlike Eli'jah(please read Malachi 3:6 and observe the destruction of the second Temple to understand that Eli'jah will not return). Jesus will rule with the Muslims and then die and then the Judgement will come.

Muslims do not believe in the "rapture" and the "divinity" of Jesus. Both of these concepts derive from Pagan sources. The Jewish Talmud contain a debate between Christians and the Jewish Rabbis on the issue of "rapture" which the Jewish Rabbis provided evidence against it! And ofcourse there is also clear evidence against Jesus divinity.

Hasan

There is no clear evidence on any side of these issues. That is why we call it religion. "Clear evidence" is typically someone pointing at a book and saying "It says so right here." It's more like a game than science of any kind, though not entirely unlike Webster's dictionary. If they wanted to, they could slowly change the English language one obscure word at a time. But I have no better source. Still I would not even consider Webster's input clear evidence, but merely a tool to make up for my laziness and lack of time and resources to figure out the truth empirically (that and it's words, so who cares that much?). I think using scripture for evidence is the same thing. Moslems, Jews, and Christians can argue all they want about interpretation. None of them can show me any "clear evidence", nor can they show one another.

You could read the Koine Greek and Latin for "evidence". However, the English version(KJV) is clear. Here is repost from another thread:


Let me also add a correction:

It should be Malachi 4:5-6 .........Not Malachi 3:6.

I also the right spelling of EXAGGERATED!

Sorry Hasan, I wasn’t paying attention - thought your reply was from Ladylazarus and that she was saying these passages make Jesus’ words seem contradictory. I now see the point you were making and Christians do believe when Jesus returns, He will judge the earth. As far as the divinity of Jesus is concerned, right now I don’t have the energy to argue, so will just say that I disagree with you.