> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ...
> That Christ demanded that. He told a story; he is not the king in the > story. I'm not so sure about that; I think he is the king in the story. But what is quite clear is that Christ did not describe himself a king in the worldly, literal sense of that title, so it would be inconsistent, to say the least, to assume that the rest of the parable is to be taken literally. It is typical for language to use metaphors of killing, destroying, etc., to describe a battle of words, not physical weapons, so such a metaphor would be relatively ordinary. If Christ had meant for people to literally kill his enemies, then to be consistent in the context of this story, he would have also been arguing that his kingdom is of this earth. Of course, he said just the opposite. I tend to think it is arrogance for anyone to presume that they know exactly what this parable implies. Whether we believe in God or not, I think it's a mistake to claim to know what God's exact will and intentions would have us do in the concrete, here and now (even if our claim starts with "if there were a god...). All we can do is our best, knowing we'll miss the mark periodically, perhaps often. Nick _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
