Saturday, June 9, 2012

HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Foretold Discussion of Verse Seven - Part A


 
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Since I get such a kick, still, out of blathering on about this stuff, I'm continuing on with the discussion of HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Foretold !!

Verse Seven – Part A
  

 

 Verse 7   

7Jesus answered him, “It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' c"
-c-  7 Deuteronomy 6:16
from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Four, New International Version

 
 
 
 Verse 7    

  / 7One answered him, “ For ' whoever is not against us is for us . 'b  / She continued,
 “ ' Fear the Lord you God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in his name.
  / Do not follow other gods, the gods of the people around you;
  / for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous god,
  / and her anger will burn against you and she will destroy you from the face of the land. 
  / Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Mass . . .ah ! ' c “
 
-b-  7 Mark 9:40  ;-c-  7 Deuteronomy 6:13-16
 
from the text of the animation HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Foretold
written by R David Foster
 
 Verse 7 Discussion  - part A    


 Finally, now we come to it – Jesus' answer to the devil's temptation to throw himself down!   “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  What is the issue here?  Is it whether to humble oneself, or is it about testing, testing God?

 Jesus did allow himself to be humbled – thrown down and executed.  The difference in this case would have been that jumping off the highest point on the temple would only be a test, rather than actually accomplishing something. This is the temptation – to test God's love, forgiveness, and forbearance.
 
 The best example I have, of the stupidity of testing, is my grade ten Ancient and Medieval History class.  We frequently had true and false tests with really stupid questions that put me off of history almost altogether!  The best example of such stupid questions is this   - “Socrates asked too many questions – True or False?”  Think about that . .. . Socrates was executed for corrupting the youth by asking questions, so he did ask too many questions, but then again, his questioning is the foundation of western philosophy!  This question is both true and false, and depends on the context to determine one answer over the other.  Testing is dubious.

 Furthermore, even in science, the whole idea of cause and effect can only be proven if one can control the entire environment, in every whole possible, every context, to determine whether one set of circumstances will precipitate a specific different set of circumstances.  And then to apply it, one can only be certain of the outcome if the circumstances are identical to those determined in the testing environment.  Having said that, if observation provides a whole or a part that illuminates a situation, then it informs, but again, unless one is aware of all of the whole and all of the parts, one cannot predict accurately.  Just ask a weather forecaster!  Testing can illuminate, but fails to prove anything.

 In the novel  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , the case is made that it can be proven that nothing exists.  I do not disagree with this, but what is the point?  If nothing exists, than what good is that argument?  At that point I stopped reading that novel.  It may be a fact that gravity exists, but for something to fall it must have been elevated by something other than gravity, so even gravity has limits.  Anything elevating does not disprove gravity, and likewise gravity does not disprove elevation.

 And the Scientific Method cannot be the way one lives their life, because everything fails sooner or later, as one observes, hypothesises, tests, observes, hypothesises, and on and on.  Sooner or later one will loose their faith in everything, as everything fails eventually, and at this point one should realize that the Scientific Method itself has failed!  And so goes testing with it.  At this point, one begins to enter the realm of faith and spirituality, and if one avoids magic, religion begins to have meaning.  This is why testing God is irrelevant and misleading at best.
 
 But there is more to this quote than just the line in this chapter of Matthew.  In the animation text I have quoted Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses thirteen to sixteen, rather than just verse sixteen, as in verse seven of the fourth chapter of Matthew.  But first, lets look at the female spouse's response.
 
Whoever is not against us is for us .
 The female spouse's response to the male spouse's question “Why do we need this honour?”, is to quote Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Mark, chapter nine, verse forty, where Jesus says “whoever is not against us is for us.”  Elsewhere Jesus professes that whoever does not gather with him scatters, but in this quote from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is responding to the disciples scolding others for casting out demons in Jesus' name, and he tells them to allow others to practice what Jesus is putting forward.

 To the female spouse, one could benefit from an honour even if one is to change the source of that honour.  This is like President John F. Kennedy, who was elected by Americans, and then proceeded to try to change Americans.  Then again, he was assassinated, so it may be a weak example.
 
 Once again, there is a disconnect, as the female spouse sees things one way, and the male spouse sees things alternatively.  Both ways are valid, but it remains to be seen what action will prevail.  I urge that it is better to work together, considering what the other spouse will do, and acting accordingly. This is teamwork, and when the whole and the part work together amazing things can happen.  Joy reigns, like a sports car on a winding mountain road! 

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Thursday, May 31st, 2012

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