Religion II

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by hcap

If Jesus was among us as you claim the correct translation is, then why would anyone plant Jesus himself in their fields?

However if the kingdom of god/heaven is within us, each of us is responsible to "sow" his teachings in themselves.

You cannot sow the man or god, nor would anyone want to

Jesus isn't the seed. The Word of God is! But the "man" who planted it is Jesus.

[hcap]

Originally Posted by Mr
Expert on Judaism

Pure nonsense! You still haven't answered my question as to why no leaven was permitted in the households whatsoever. What did the prohibition of leaven in the Fest of the Unleavened Bread have to do with Israel leaving in haste.

Remembrance is the key here.

3.You shall not eat leaven with it; for seven days you shall eat with it matzoth, the bread of affliction, for in haste you went out of the land of Egypt, so that you shall remember the day when you went out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life..

The Complete Jewish Bible. Deuteronomy 16

You should really consult the Jewish literature not the rule books. I grew up in a Jewish house hold and although I rebelled initially against my literal minded Rabbis (literal-mindedness occurs in all religions), I realized this interpretation made sense.

[hcap]

Originally Posted by boxcar

Jesus isn't the seed. The Word of God is! But the "man" who planted it is Jesus.

I did say Jesus' teachings. or the kingdom of heaven/god should be planted, but you have told us many times "kingdom of God is in your midst." and not "kingdom of God is within you"

You have always claimed in your version the "kingdom of God is in your midst" meaning the kingdom is Jesus himself, not within.

So how does the mustard seed work as Jesus himself.

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

And of course you have twice as much troubles with

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Notice in both caes, a man and a women singularly

You have never said the Kingdom was Jesus being among you AND preaching god's word.

8
down vote
accepted


The Greek word in question, εντος, means 'inside' or 'within'.

Surprisingly, despite being a typical word in Greek, is used only twice in the New Testament: here in Luke 17.21, and over in Matthew 23.26, where it refers to the 'inside' of a cup.

Translating εντος as 'within' is more accurate, but also fits the context better; in this text, Jesus argues that the kingdom of God would not be manifest outwardly (17.20-21a) but internally (17.21b).

[hcap]

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you...uke 17:21, 20

Why would Jesus say "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation", if he was amidst them and standing right before them?

He could have pointed to himself. No the parable addresses more than the Pharisees. As I said, the kingdom was not manifested outwardly

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by hcap

Remembrance is the key here.



You should really consult the Jewish literature not the rule books. I grew up in a Jewish house hold and although I rebelled initially against my literal minded Rabbis (literal-mindedness occurs in all religions), I realized this interpretation made sense.

What part of the Exodus passages that I quoted are not part of the Jewish SCRIPTURES!?

And what "rule books" are you talking about?

Your interpretation makes no sense because it ignores the prohibition against possessing any leaven whatsoever in the household when the feast was first instituted in Egypt, then in the Promised Land when the Jews took possession of it.

[hcap]

Originally Posted by boxcar

Your interpretation makes no sense because it ignores the prohibition against possessing any leaven whatsoever in the household when the feast was first instituted in Egypt, then in the Promised Land when the Jews took possession of it.

If leavening is "evil" why can we eat leavened bread on other days of the year?

No your so-called absurd "interpretation" makes no sense and ignores what most Jews believe. Of course Rabbi boxcar has spoken.

MOST breads, foods that contain yeast, and foods with baking powder or baking soda therefore according to Rabbi Schmendrick, are works of the devil.

Btw, Schmendrick (שמענדריק) is Yiddish for an ineffectual, foolish, or contemptible person. In addition, according to Joys of Yiddish, another definition is "an apprentice schlemiel."

[hcap]

I assume a Rabbi as renowned as you is familiar with "schlemiel."?

Or should I spell it our for you?
סטשמוקק


I realize you might be getting confused O great Rabbi. So here is a quick rundown for the uninitiated.....

In Yiddish and Judeo-English parlance, a schmuck is not haplessly inept like a schlemiel, an inveterate blunderer like a schlimazel or a pathetic sad sack like a schmendrik — all types one feels sorry for without being tempted to help them, since un-helpability is one of their salient traits. Nor is a schmuck quite the same as a jerk, because while the two have much in common, a schmuck is more dangerous and can cause serious damage, while a jerk is too ineffectual to do much harm. This makes “schmuck” a stronger term of opprobrium.

Read more: http://forward.com/culture/127941/et...hlimazels-and/

Btw, my years working running a shop in NYC.makes me think of Pendejo

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by hcap

I did say Jesus' teachings. or the kingdom of heaven/god should be planted, but you have told us many times "kingdom of God is in your midst." and not "kingdom of God is within you"

You have always claimed in your version the "kingdom of God is in your midst" meaning the kingdom is Jesus himself, not within.

You're misrepresenting what I have said. What I repeatedly stated is that the phrase "kingdom of God/Heaven" is often personified by Christ. In other words, Christ often referred to himself when using these phrases, which is exactly what he was doing in Lk 17:21 and in many other parts of the Gospels.

Secondly, Jesus taught different aspects of his kingdom through the use of parables, such as the Sower and the Mustard Seed, Pearl of Great Price, the parable of the Four Soils, parable of the Talents, parable of the Ten Minas, etc.

So how does the mustard seed work as Jesus himself.

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

And of course you have twice as much troubles with

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Notice in both caes, a man and a women singularly

You have never said the Kingdom was Jesus being among you AND preaching god's word.

8
down vote
accepted


The Greek word in question, εντος, means 'inside' or 'within'.

Surprisingly, despite being a typical word in Greek, is used only twice in the New Testament: here in Luke 17.21, and over in Matthew 23.26, where it refers to the 'inside' of a cup.

Translating εντος as 'within' is more accurate, but also fits the context better; in this text, Jesus argues that the kingdom of God would not be manifest outwardly (17.20-21a) but internally (17.21b).

What you're dishonestly doing is trying to conflate how two specific phrases are used with all the different parabolic teachings designed to instruct on specific and different aspects of Jesus' kingdom. So, for example, in the parable of the Mustard Seed, the Sower is Jesus. The Seed is the Word of God. And the "Field" is this world. In teaching this parable, Jesus is actually alluding to an OT prophet's teaching about sovereignty of God's decrees (Word). In other words, the "seed" (Word of God) was planted for a specific purpose and that purposes was fulfilled when sprouted to grow and become larger than all the plants and eventually mature into a Tree. Hear what Isaiah says about the Word of God:

Isa 55:10-11
10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth,
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
NASB

In this parable, the Word of God (again, the "seed") succeeded in fulfilling the Sower's purpose. The "seed" grew to become a great Tree (kingdom in this world).

But Jesus also alluded to another OT prophet in this parable by employing the metaphor of a Tree -- a Tree which represents His Kingdom. He alluded to a vision and prophecy in which another "tree" was used metaphorically -- again to signify a kingdom but someone else's. you can read the entire account in Daniel 4, but here I'm just going to quote the Daniel's interpretation of the vision to save space.

Dan 4:19-27
19 "Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.' Belteshazzar answered and said, 'My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries! 20 'The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth, 21 and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged — 22 it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth. 23 'And in that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, "Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him"; 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: 25 that you be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes. 26 'And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules. 27 'Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.'
NASB

And what is fascinating about Daniel's interpretation is that while the Tree is unmistakably referring to Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom (v.26), nonetheless at the beginning of the prophet's interpretation, he just as clearly said that "tree" represented Nebuchadnezzar himself (v.22)! What Daniel was doing was personifying the kingdom with the king, which is precisely what the writers of the Gospels often did with the phrase "Kingdom of God/Heaven" with Jesus.

In this vision of Nebuchadnezzar's tree, the birds of the air and the beasts of the field all flocked to the tree. The "tree" signified "food for all" -- for all the subjects of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. Likewise, in Jesus' parable the" birds" (God's saints) flock to the Tree because it is Life to them. Jesus likened his words to Life (Jn 6:33). And he also taught that "man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth" (Mat 4:4). This explains why the "birds" (saints) nested in the "tree" of Christ's kingdom which is to receive their spiritual nourishment and sustenance which enables them to persevere and grow in the Faith.

Next, there are over a dozen different problems with your interpretation of Lk 17:21. You are stubborn and don't want to learn. The three biggies are: It doesn't fit the context; the present verb tense "is" is all wrong since to have the kingdom within would also mean to have the Holy Spirit within but this didn't occur until the future time of Pentecost; and even if you were correct, the kingdom that you suppose was within the Pharisees was taken away from them in Matthew 21. Therefore, whatever the Pharisees supposedly had was very short lived!

Finally, "leaven" can be used in different ways. Context determines its metaphorical use.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by hcap

If leavening is "evil" why can we eat leavened bread on other days of the year?

No your so-called absurd "interpretation" makes no sense and ignores what most Jews believe. Of course Rabbi boxcar has spoken.

MOST breads, foods that contain yeast, and foods with baking powder or baking soda therefore according to Rabbi Schmendrick, are works of the devil.

Btw, Schmendrick (שמענדריק) is Yiddish for an ineffectual, foolish, or contemptible person. In addition, according to Joys of Yiddish, another definition is "an apprentice schlemiel."

The short answer is because of the biblically-sanctioned method of interpretation known as TYPOLOGY. The vast majority of the OT scriptures contain types, shadows or figures, as expressed by persons, places and events, that point to the true spiritual substance and antitype which is Christ. All the Feast days in the OT are types and shadows of Christ and teach about God's redemption in Christ.

By the way...only in the mind of a dyed-in-the-wool literalist like yourself would such a question occur. After all, does any Jewish feast day last all year? All the various feast days were designed to teach God's Old Covenant people valuable spiritual lessons in an eschatological scheme of redemptive history.

[boxcar]

Our resident wanna-be scholar of Judaism (Hcap) claims that the Kingdom of God/Heaven is an internal, invisible kingdom. While that has been true since Pentecost (the official inauguration and consecration of Christ's Church) and this spiritual, invisible, internal realm will continue until the Second Coming, this kind of kingdom was never taught by Christ. It became a prominent teaching after his Ascension.

Even at the Ascension, his disciples asked Him about the kingdom:

Acts 1:6-9
6 And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. "
NASB

One would think that since Jesus spent 40 days with his disciples after his resurrection that he would have educated them properly about the nature of the kingdom. But even at the Ascension, they were still looking for the physical, visible, tangible rule of their King. They wanted to know when the kingdom was coming! Now...Jesus did not correct, what would be their serious misconception about the nature of the kingdom (if Hcap and Light are right about their idea of the kingdom); instead Jesus corrected their misconception about when the kingdom would come! If the kingdom was already in them, as Jesus and Light claims, then why didn't Jesus take this last opportunity to finally straighten them out before he ascended to his Father? Why didn't Jesus tell his disciples what Hcap and Light alleges he told the Pharisees in Lk 17:21? But instead, he told them that it wasn't for them "to know the times or epochs which the Father has set by his own authority". In other words, it was for them to know WHEN to know the time of the restoration! A very, very strange answer if "when" was at the same they were asking the question! But the disciples were clearly looking for a future restoration and Jesus did not correct them on this point! He only told them (in a polite way) that the "when" of it all was not their business!

As stated previously, the Ascension of Christ (the Son of Man) was prophesied in Daniel 7 when it says that the Son of Man came UP to the Ancient of Days to receive a kingdom. Jesus in Luke 19 -- just two chapters later than chapter 17 -- gave the kingdom parable of the Ten Minas. And in this parable, Jesus, again, alludes to an OT prophecy -- this one in Daniel 7. And what is fascinating and very revealing about this parable is that Jesus gave to once again correct a misconception about WHEN the kingdom would come. Here are the opening words of the parable:

Luke 19:11-16
11 And while they were listening to these things, He went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, "A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. 13 "And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business with this until I come back.' 14 "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.' 15 "And it came about that when he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him in order that he might know what business they had done.
NASB

The "nobleman", of course, was Christ. The "distant country" is heaven. His departure to this "distant country" (also predicted in Daniel 7) was fulfilled in Acts 1. The nobleman's reason for going to this distant country was to receive a kingdom for himself. The return of the nobleman from this "distant country" is yet in the future and will be fulfilled at Christ's Second Coming.

Once again...since his listeners in Luke 19 were confused at when the kingdom would come, one would think that Jesus would have told them the same thing that he told the Pharisees two chapters earlier! Why didn't he tell his hearers that the kingdom was "within them"?

This parable, Daniel's prophecy in chapter 7 and the fulfillment of both in Acts 1 prove conclusively that Jesus' focus and thrust on all his kingdom teaching was on a visible, physical, tangible kingdom. Saints in this gospel age are in Christ's spiritual kingdom only because they are IN the King -- they are IN Christ by virtue of the indwelling Spirit of Christ. The Pharisees never had the Holy Spirit or Christ. The Pharisees in Luke 17 were never in Christ. Being IN Christ puts the His kingdom within all the saints of God.

[boxcar]

Much has been said about the weather and natural forces lately. Insofar as hurricanes go, there has been Harvey and now Irma and Jose plus a huge earthquake in Mexico. Someone said that "mother nature" must really be pissed off at us. But is "mother nature" the sovereign ruler of this universe?
Scripture is crystal clear on who is calling the shots in terms of the forces of nature, most especially when we consider that the entire creation is under God's curse ever since sin entered this world.

God controls:

The weather: Ex 9:29; Ps 135:6-7; Jer 10:13
The skies and rain: Ps 77:16-19
The wind: Mk 4:35-41; Jer 51:16
The entire universe that he sustains and upholds: Heb 1:3
The clouds: Job 37:11-12, 16
All lightning: Ps 18:14
All Nature over which he has all power: Job 26

[Actor]

Originally Posted by boxcar

Much has been said about the weather and natural forces lately. Insofar as hurricanes go, there has been Harvey and now Irma and Jose plus a huge earthquake in Mexico. Someone said that "mother nature" must really be pissed off at us. But is "mother nature" the sovereign ruler of this universe?
Scripture is crystal clear on who is calling the shots in terms of the forces of nature, most especially when we consider that the entire creation is under God's curse ever since sin entered this world.

God controls:

The weather: Ex 9:29; Ps 135:6-7; Jer 10:13
The skies and rain: Ps 77:16-19
The wind: Mk 4:35-41; Jer 51:16
The entire universe that he sustains and upholds: Heb 1:3
The clouds: Job 37:11-12, 16
All lightning: Ps 18:14
All Nature over which he has all power: Job 26

Speaking of the weather, are you evacuating swampland or are you going to stick it out? Either way, best of luck to you.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Actor

Speaking of the weather, are you evacuating swampland or are you going to stick it out? Either way, best of luck to you.

The only way they'd evacuate me is over my cold, dead body. But beside that, I don't live in that kind of zone -- I live just far enough west of the beach area to escape those kinds of orders. Also, it appears right now that this storm is going to go up the west coast and is, in fact, still heading due west as we speak. This is relatively good news for us, but there can be a big downside to that kind of news in that we'd be on the "dirty" side of the storm which, generally, tends to spawn more tornadoes than the "clean" side.

Anyway, thanks for your sentiments -- even though I don't believe there is any such thing as "luck".

[Actor]

“What she wrote was ‘I don’t want to live in a world where those with power impose their evil intent on the masses and not face any type of consequence. Without God people can easily escape human justice… You realize pedophiles are immoral and there are pedophiles who escape from human justice and therefore it’s good to know that God’s justice is eventually going to get them.’ And this becomes the basis of why she believes. And so here is my response.

“The kind of world you want to live in has no bearing on what kind of world you do live it. If this is your principle objection to world views that don’t include some cosmic justice in them, if you’ll forgive the condescending remark, you really don’t understand what you’re talking about. Life isn’t fair and the desire for justice that you express is one of the key foundations of most every religion. We’re all aware that sometimes good goes unrewarded and evil goes unpunished, and so some justice seekers invent a security blanket to insure that they aren’t mired in depression. It allows them to avoid facing the harshness of an indifferent reality, whether it’s heaven and hell or karma dictating infinite rebirth it serves the same purpose. Some of us prefer to actually face reality. Some of us realize that there’s no good reason to believe that the universe is anything other than indifferent to our existence and our perceptions of good and evil. Some of us realize that dealing with reality on reality’s terms is the only way to make any improvements in the situation.

“Life isn’t fair. And that’s actually comforting if you think about it. If life were fair that would imply that you actually deserve the bad things that happen to you and those who benefit from evil deeds are similarly deserving. The realization that there’s no reason to expect justice is what insures that we take steps to impose justice. The realization that good isn’t always rewarded is what drives us to reward it when we see it. The realization that evil isn’t always punished is what drives us to work together as a cooperative society to deal with our problems collectively and individually in a way that encourages real change and that hopefully minimizes harmful actions. Realizing that justice isn’t guaranteed allows us to appreciate it when it happens and work toward insuring it on a more regular basis.

“Your particular God concepted [sic] view of justice represents the height of irresponsibility and injustice. Your chosen religion has us born as reprobates, guilty before we’ve taken a single breath, responsible for things we’ve never done. It offers instant, undeserved forgiveness for the most horrible of crimes and punishes people, whose only crime is disbelief, forever. It advocates slavery, denigrates women, curses homosexuals, orders the stoning of unruly children, sanctions wars of extermination, condones human sacrifices, poisons every mind it touches. It includes only one unforgivable crime, disbelief. Is that just? Justice you so admire is no such thing. It is divine edict. It is arbitrary, capricious and ultimately unjust and immoral.

“Yes, I realize that there are pedophiles out there who have escaped our flawed justice system. Do you realize that your system says that they’re all eligible for an eternal paradise? How does that address your objection? Under the rules of Christianity the pedophile who escapes justice here can also escape your ultimate justice. Under the rules of Christianity he may live forever in paradise while someone who spent their entire life doing good, helping others, and contributing in a generally positive way to the one and only life we’re sure to get, ultimately is judged unworthy of that reward. Don’t kid yourself. You haven’t accepted a cosmic sense of justice that alleviates the problem. You’ve accepted one that alleviates the problem for you. It is a selfish justification that shows no regard for real matters of justice. It is the height of arrogance and your desire to feel special because somebody up there thinks you’re special. Well, according to the paradigm you advocate He thinks anyone willing to worship him is special, with no regard to justice or character.

“Go read Romans. No one makes this point clearer than Paul. The law was established with full knowledge that no one would be able to fulfill it. It was established to demonstrate this inability and damn us further. And then a loophole was established to let some people through regardless of their standing with the law. Your religion has made you a slave. It has made you uncaring. It has made you support immorality and injustice while claiming that arbitrary edicts and loopholes count as either. It is a reprehensible lie that poisons the mind and prevents you from understanding reality. When the scales drop away from your eyes, as they have for many of us, we’ll be here and you’ll realize that you’re not alone and not to blame.”

-- Matt Dillahunty

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Actor

“What she wrote was ‘I don’t want to live in a world where those with power impose their evil intent on the masses and not face any type of consequence. Without God people can easily escape human justice… You realize pedophiles are immoral and there are pedophiles who escape from human justice and therefore it’s good to know that God’s justice is eventually going to get them.’ And this becomes the basis of why she believes. And so here is my response.

“The kind of world you want to live in has no bearing on what kind of world you do live it. If this is your principle objection to world views that don’t include some cosmic justice in them, if you’ll forgive the condescending remark, you really don’t understand what you’re talking about. Life isn’t fair and the desire for justice that you express is one of the key foundations of most every religion. We’re all aware that sometimes good goes unrewarded and evil goes unpunished, and so some justice seekers invent a security blanket to insure that they aren’t mired in depression. It allows them to avoid facing the harshness of an indifferent reality, whether it’s heaven and hell or karma dictating infinite rebirth it serves the same purpose. Some of us prefer to actually face reality. Some of us realize that there’s no good reason to believe that the universe is anything other than indifferent to our existence and our perceptions of good and evil. Some of us realize that dealing with reality on reality’s terms is the only way to make any improvements in the situation.

“Life isn’t fair. And that’s actually comforting if you think about it. If life were fair that would imply that you actually deserve the bad things that happen to you and those who benefit from evil deeds are similarly deserving. The realization that there’s no reason to expect justice is what insures that we take steps to impose justice. The realization that good isn’t always rewarded is what drives us to reward it when we see it. The realization that evil isn’t always punished is what drives us to work together as a cooperative society to deal with our problems collectively and individually in a way that encourages real change and that hopefully minimizes harmful actions. Realizing that justice isn’t guaranteed allows us to appreciate it when it happens and work toward insuring it on a more regular basis.

“Your particular God concepted [sic] view of justice represents the height of irresponsibility and injustice. Your chosen religion has us born as reprobates, guilty before we’ve taken a single breath, responsible for things we’ve never done. It offers instant, undeserved forgiveness for the most horrible of crimes and punishes people, whose only crime is disbelief, forever. It advocates slavery, denigrates women, curses homosexuals, orders the stoning of unruly children, sanctions wars of extermination, condones human sacrifices, poisons every mind it touches. It includes only one unforgivable crime, disbelief. Is that just? Justice you so admire is no such thing. It is divine edict. It is arbitrary, capricious and ultimately unjust and immoral.

“Yes, I realize that there are pedophiles out there who have escaped our flawed justice system. Do you realize that your system says that they’re all eligible for an eternal paradise? How does that address your objection? Under the rules of Christianity the pedophile who escapes justice here can also escape your ultimate justice. Under the rules of Christianity he may live forever in paradise while someone who spent their entire life doing good, helping others, and contributing in a generally positive way to the one and only life we’re sure to get, ultimately is judged unworthy of that reward. Don’t kid yourself. You haven’t accepted a cosmic sense of justice that alleviates the problem. You’ve accepted one that alleviates the problem for you. It is a selfish justification that shows no regard for real matters of justice. It is the height of arrogance and your desire to feel special because somebody up there thinks you’re special. Well, according to the paradigm you advocate He thinks anyone willing to worship him is special, with no regard to justice or character.

“Go read Romans. No one makes this point clearer than Paul. The law was established with full knowledge that no one would be able to fulfill it. It was established to demonstrate this inability and damn us further. And then a loophole was established to let some people through regardless of their standing with the law. Your religion has made you a slave. It has made you uncaring. It has made you support immorality and injustice while claiming that arbitrary edicts and loopholes count as either. It is a reprehensible lie that poisons the mind and prevents you from understanding reality. When the scales drop away from your eyes, as they have for many of us, we’ll be here and you’ll realize that you’re not alone and not to blame.”

-- Matt Dillahunty

There was no "loophole" established. What was established was God's infinitely righteous justice and unfailing love since God in Christ fulfilled his own law in two ways: By keeping it perfectly and also fulfilling the law's penalty requirements for all sinners who trust in Christ in their salvation from the power, from the penalty and ultimately from the presence of all sin for all eternity.