Before I begin a response to Ms. Patterson’s Nov. 15 article, I would like to say that I have respect for her as a person and, of course ,as a Christian. Christianity is something that must be sharpened with a sword, and as such always open to argument and disagreement.
With that out of the way, I must explain why I disagree with the aforementioned article. I do feel that the message espoused by the gospel is truly one of love, mercy and grace. One Bible verse that you chose to quote is the oft-quoted summary of the gospel in John 3:16-17. God gave his only son not to condemn this world but in order to save it through his redemptive power. Although English Bibles will translate the word kri,nh| as the equivalent “condemn,” this word goes in fact much deeper than that in the original Greek. It means that God gives up his power and his right to condemn those who comes to him. Jesus thus begins his earthly ministry in the gospel with a message of mercy, not of judgment. This is consistent with the message of the other gospels, as well. In Luke, Jesus begins his message not with judgment but with a proclamation of love and mercy. Luke 4:18-19 quotes Jesus as saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Again, he has come to proclaim the salvation of mankind, not to condemn it.
On the same subject, I have to disagree with a major crux of your argument. You state that, “We don’t want to hear about hell, we want to hear about love and mercy.” I agree with this statement, because love and mercy do follow the relative pattern of the Bible. A quick word search reveals this fact: the word “mercy” appears 246 times in the NRSV Bible, “love,” 586, “grace,” 127, and roots of the word “forgive” 149 times. On the other hand, the word “hell” appears 15 times, and the slight Hebrew equivalent “Sheol” 65 times (a slight equivalent because it means more a resting place of the dead than a place of eternal damnation). If you can say that mercy, love and other positive aspects of God still take a backseat to hell and condemnation, I feel you are not taking your Bible as a whole.
I also disagree with your distorted view of homosexuality in the New Testament. It is not my place to argue for or against the existence of homosexuals in the church as it would not be conducive to a small article, but I feel that I must correct one statement. Despite the Bible’s take on homosexuality, God never condemns the “effeminate” in the Bible. The word “malakoi” you are referring to means one who engages in the act of pedagogy or engages in sexual acts in worship to the gods of the Roman Pantheon. It does not refer to a male who is “effeminate” because he has a penchant for Seven jeans and proper skin care, or, as you would call them, someone with “broken wrists.”
I have not quoted something I heard someone else say. I have done this discernment on my own. I see God’s message as one of love and mercy. It gives me hope for renewal for this broken world through the redemptive power of his love. Hope, by the way, appears 187 times.
John Hodges is a senior religious studies major. He may be contacted at [email protected].
