As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
As humans, we have a strong bias toward the practical. It makes sense. Even before the Fall, Adam was given responsibilities that required problem-solving, outcome-oriented, cause-and-effect thinking.
My first draft of this rejoinder mysteriously disappeared. Given our times, I should say the Woke Left did it, and if Trump had been put in office sooner, I’d still have my file.
No, let’s just go with, “the dog ate my homework.” So I am cranking out a new post. Apologies for the length. I won’t have time to edit it down.
“Of course, the effects of the fall on creation, people, and nations will never be wholly erased until Christ’s return. Until then, as Ecclesiastes observed, there is indeed a time to kill.” - Breakpoint
“There’s intense debate over practicalities in Trump’s plan regarding the money required and whether Congress will appropriate it, how to track down persons living here illegally…. Beyond calculations on what’s feasible or wise or popular, Christians are pondering what’s moral and immoral.” - Religion Unplugged
“Superficially, deporting 11 million illegal immigrants is justified. It is the law, and the government is ordained to uphold the law. Case closed? Maybe not.” - WORLD
“The Greek word for conscience appears in the New Testament thirty-one times, and it seems to have a two-fold dimension, as the medieval scholars argued. It involves the idea of accusing as well as the idea of excusing.” - R.C. Sproul
“Trueman is correct that moral sensibilities have profoundly shifted both within the church and without in recent decades. The church is generally ill-equipped even to begin formulating rationale to address the complex ethical questions it is confronted with.” - Mere Orthodoxy
“Profiting from the weakness and misfortune of others is no way to treat a neighbor.” - World
The term ἀδιάφορα (adiaphora), literally, matters that are to be viewed with indifference or that make no difference, does not appear in the Christian Scriptures and does not feature significantly in Christian Theology until the Reformation era. The term does, however, predate the Christian period by several centuries, being well-established in Greek philosophy/ethics. For instance,
“It may be that a given action—a particular search and destroy mission—is low on the necessity spectrum. On such occasions, if other values—such as force protection or noncombatant immunity, are sufficiently at risk then prudence might dictate standing down.” - Providence
Discussion