Pick and Choose Laws

[Giaour]

Here you go shiloh,

Here is your chance to teach a couple of people who REALLY want to know the answers.

No debate just educate.

Hey, I need to write another poem soon.

[Guest shiloh357]

Ok,

tithing.

OT law-but current day Christians only follow PART of that law.

They give 10% to the church.

Where is the festival tithe?

Where is the poor tithe?

Where is the tithe for the levites ?

So when your dog has puppies do you give one of the ten puppies to the church?

Where is the tithe of your flocks and fields?

I think we need to understand that the laws God gave the children of Israel were orignally set up to run a Theocracy, and do not apply outside of that context. I think that unless these are examined in their original context and according to their original purposes, it is just going to be a confusing mess.

Not every law applied to every person. No one kept 613 laws in OT days. Not every commandment was universally applicable. Some commandments only applied to men, some only to women, some only to priests, some only if you if you had animals, some only if you had children, and so forth. If you want answers, then you will have to do a much more methodical study.

Which laws were the universal laws?

It would take my entire lifetime to decipher which laws were for whom.

So help a sister out here, please.

Are you saying that what I see as picking and choosing is actually missing the laws that were made for specific people only?

You need to understand that every passage in the Bible has address. Like an envelope that has the address of the sender, and the address on the receiver on the front. Every passage has a sender and an intended audience. It will not take you a lifetime to know. There are many good books and commentaries available today that have done the heavylifting for you.

Some commandments were only meant for national Israel, such as the pilgrimage three times a year by all hebrew males to Jerusalem. The sacrifices are another good example of commandments with limited application. Those that are universal are moral in nature such as not murdering, or stealing. It really is not hard at all.

[Scarletprayers]

Okay Shiloh, but what about the NT verses I was asking about?

[Giaour]

Shiloh,

so all of the letters from paul to the churches in ephisis,collosians.antioch are letters for them only and do not address us?

[TheoMike]

Actually, tithing was instituted during Abraham's time, long before Moses. And according to the NT, since Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law, if we are obedient to HIS teachings, we are obeying all the Law--that is, the Spirit of the Law.

[Guest shiloh357]

Shiloh, I'm with Gia, which ones should we take and use, I understand I'm asking allot of you here, but I would really like to know. And what about the NT verses brought up about a woman praying with her head uncovered, and long hair????

Well first you need to study the position the Corinthian beleivers were in, and what was going on to make such commandments necessary. In their particular situation, it was probably was better for women to have long hair. Please note that you do not find this commandment in any of the general epistles that were distributed all over the place to churches in the known world in that day. Paul wrote this to the Corinthians.

I think that having the ability to read everything all at once gives the false impression that everything in every letter is to be understood and applied universally.

In Greece, you had the Oracles of Delphi. You also had the shaven headed female prostitutes that accompanied this religion. When these women got saved and entered the church, it was better for their hair to be grown out and their heads to be covered until their hair was long enough. Sometimes it is simple as something like that. We try to make doctrines out of something that is not even doctrinal in nature.

In the Corinthian situation, it was probably less distracting for the new born again women to keep their heads covered and draw attention away from their sordid past. It also protected them from being looked down on, while also proving that they were serious about their new faith, and wanted to completely shed their old life.

[Guest man]

there is nothing shameful about a man having long hair. if that were so, God would be rather inconsistant, wouldn't he? a sin is always a sin. something hated by God is always hated by God. and yet God wanted samson to keep his hair long. no matter how many things samson did wrong in his life, he didn't lose favor with God until he CUT his hair.

'nature' teaching us that a man's hair should be short is NOT talking about biology... because men's hair has as much natural tendency to grow long as a woman's does. the context of the whole issue with men and long hair is about what was percieved as customary and normal in the culture in which they lived. paul was attempting to get the point across that christians should not go against the grain of society in a way that would become a stumbling block to others.

besides, what exactly constitutes "long", anyway? i don't recall any scripture defining 'long' or 'short'. is long considered to be below the collar or below the waist? it's all in the eye of the beholder.... it's all in the perception of the culture in which one lives.

same for the women wearing headcoverings.

No one said it was a sin.

Paul even said "if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God".

He said it was a dishonor for a man to have long hair.

A dishonor, not a sin.

[Giaour]

Shiloh, I'm with Gia, which ones should we take and use, I understand I'm asking allot of you here, but I would really like to know. And what about the NT verses brought up about a woman praying with her head uncovered, and long hair????

Well first you need to study the position the Corinthian beleivers were in, and what was going on to make such commandments necessary. In their particular situation, it was probably was better for women to have long hair. Please note that you do not find this commandment in any of the general epistles that were distributed all over the place to churches in the known world in that day. Paul wrote this to the Corinthians.

I think that having the ability to read everything all at once gives the false impression that everything in every letter is to be understood and applied universally.

In Greece, you had the Oracles of Delphi. You also had the shaven headed female prostitutes that accompanied this religion. When these women got saved and entered the church, it was better for their hair to be grown out and their heads to be covered until their hair was long enough. Sometimes it is simple as something like that. We try to make doctrines out of something that is not even doctrinal in nature.

In the Corinthian situation, it was probably less distracting for the new born again women to keep their heads covered and draw attention away from their sordid past. It also protected them from being looked down on, while also proving that they were serious about their new faith, and wanted to completely shed their old life.

Oracles of Delphi? How do you know that?

It isnt in the Bible, is it?

[Scarletprayers]

Okay Shiloh, that makes sense, I must admit I've never heard it explained that way, but it does make sense. What other "letters" have things that are written just for a specific circumstance that are used out of context today?

[Guest LadyC]

a dishonor. yes. because it was dishonorable in that culture. samson's hair CERTAINLY was not seen by GOD as dishonorable!

shiloh, feel free to weigh in on this one as well please.