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The Biblical Way to Care for the Poor
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Category Archives: Biblical Ethics and Policies
How to Forgive Adultery and Fornication
Sometimes the church can be self-righteous and condemn a sinner in the name of holiness, ignoring mercy. Or it can be permissive in the name of mercy, ignoring holiness.
What Does ‘Turn the Other Cheek’ Mean?
Does the verse allow violence to be done to Christians, without self-defense?
The Biblical Norm for Marriage
In the current confusion in society, we need clarity. The Bible still has wisdom to teach us, if we listen.
Revenge in the Old and New Testaments: Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth
Does the Old Testament demand literal retaliation for a wrong? Should an eye or a tooth be gouged or knocked out—physically? What about the teaching of Jesus? Does he raise our vision to a higher calling? How do we forgive a tort or a physical injury? How do we get compensated for damages?
The Biblical Case for Limited Government and Low Taxes
Liberalism, generally, favors a bigger government and higher taxes to pay for it, while conservatives advocate moving in the opposite direction: limited government and low taxes. What does the Bible say about this?
Will Breaking Moral Law Break America?
Is America experiencing inevitable decline? A nervous breakdown?
Slavery and Freedom in the Bible
Critics of the Bible forget that it also advocates liberty. It’s the Grand Arc of the Biblical Narrative, from Genesis to Revelation. Let’s see if we can discover universal truths from these historical, culture-bound slave laws.
A Misunderstood Biblical Command: “Don’t Judge!”
This is an easy-to-follow word study of key terms in the New Testament and a close look at Matthew 7:1-5. Let’s understand what it really means in context.
Does Torah Really Order Girl to Marry Her Rapist against Her Father’s Will?
Scripture: Deuteronomy 22:28-29 and Exodus 22:16-17. Is the titled question true? Or are there circumstances that clarify what was really going on? A parallel case in colonial Philadelphia is also included here.
7. Torah and Slavery: Marrying Captives of War
Scripture: Deut. 21:10-14. War was a fact of life in the ancient Near East. When a soldier whose army was victorious saw a woman he was attracted to, what could he do? The Torah regulates this cultural fact.
What the Bible Really Says about Abortion and Prenatal Life
Despite the confusion circulating over the web for years, the Bible unambiguously upholds the sanctity of prenatal life.
6. Torah and Slavery: Foreign Slaves
Scriptures: Lev. 25:44-46 and Deut. 23:15-16 (and Exod. 21:16, again, with its parallel Deut. 24:7). As we have observed in this series, slavery was a cultural fact of the ancient Near East. When an Israelite bought a foreign slave or a foreigner residing among them, what were his obligations to care for them and what rights did the slaves have? This post also has two parallel cases in colonial Virginia.
5. Torah and Slavery: Protecting Slave Women from Injustice
Scripture: Lev. 19:20-22. One OT scholar says that this law protected a slave woman when she was caught in the middle between three men.
4. Torah and Slavery: What Happened When Masters Punished Their Slaves?
Scriptures: Exod. 21:20-21, 26-27; Lev. 25:43, 46. There were two cultural (and unpleasant) facts in the ancient Near East, long before the Torah existed: (1) Masters hit their slaves to punish them, and (2) slaves had secondary status. How does the Torah intervene and regulate those two pre-existing facts? (I also include cases of a servant girl dying allegedly from a beating and a servant boy who was flogged for theft, in colonial Philadelphia.)
3. Torah and Slavery: Impoverished Father Sells His Daughter to Be a ‘Secondary Wife’
Scripture: Exod. 21:7-11. In a culture of arranged marriage and widespread poverty, fathers in the ancient Near East did this long before the Torah existed. Now the Torah has to intervene and tell the men what the daughter’s legal rights were. This post also looks at polygamy.
2. Torah and Slavery: Israelite Indentured Servants
Scriptures: Exod. 21:2-6; Lev. 25:39-42; Deut. 15:12-18. The Torah balances out fairness with generosity, yet it is still obviously situated in the ancient world–its own cultural context. It is always best to evaluate these ancient texts on their own terms and in their own times. Let’s see what we can discover. For comparison, this post includes the case of an indentured servant in colonial Philadelphia.
1. Torah and Slavery: Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar
Scripture to be studied: Gen. 16:1-4. Hagar was a handmaid to Abraham’s wife, Sarah. Critics claim that Abraham could have sex with Hagar whenever he wanted because she was a slave. This post also looks into polygamy. It also includes a case of a slave woman named Lucy and her three children in 1827-1828, South Carolina, America, just for a comparison.
Spiritual Sonograms: God Loves You and Your Baby
Whether you want your baby or not, God loves him or her, and he loves you. God can turn your Plan B into his Plan A, and make it better than your plans. Keep your baby, if you have an unplanned pregnancy.
‘Shady’ Interpretations of Constitutional Silence on Abortion
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled on Roe. V. Wade. How did Blackmun interpret the Constitution’s silence?
Five Myths about Marijuana and Society
These myths show up in a variety of channels in the media and elsewhere, notably pro-marijuana websites, which are eager to draw in more customers to the unhealthy habit, so the weed advocates as an industry can make more money.
Five Myths about Marijuana and You
These myths appear in college papers and online. The users are eager to believe they don’t have a problem, so they have invented an entire mythology about this plant. Here are only five myths and the arguments to explode the myths.
Twelve Health Risks from Smoking Marijuana
Big Tobacco? Get ready for Big Marijuana! Please don’t smoke it. The health risks are too great.
Right and Wrong Ways to Protest
These images lay out the right and wrong ways.
Brief Overview of Divorce and Remarriage in New Testament
Let’s look at the key verses in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 1 Corinthians. It is a review for my own introductory education. Call it “Divorce and Remarriage 101.”
Is America Doomed?
After election 2022, the titled question is still valid. I normally write on the Bible and theology nowadays, but occasionally I still include a cultural and social article from a biblical point of view. There is hope but only in God.
Matt. 7:21-23: “I Never Knew You, Depart from Me!”
These verses are very sobering. What do they mean in your life and mine?
Matt. 5:28 and Adultery in the Heart
Matt. 5:28 has been misused over and over again. What does it mean in its textual and OT contexts?
An Evil Counterfeit to the Jesus Revolution
I lived through the second half of Jesus Revolution of the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. What is happening today is an evil knockoff.
Deconstructing Gender Differences
The left! Sexual nihilism. Anything goes or nothing goes. So what? Who cares? In that spirit, I don’t know anymore what’s worse: shouting “fire!” in a crowded theater or “confused boy!” in a crowded girls’ locker room (said a clever radio host).
Does Book of Acts Teach Modern Communism or Socialism?
Some say yes. What are the historical and social context of three key passages?
How to Rescue America with These Images
Lies and exaggerations and distortions flow through the web and media and harm our society. They must be countered. If not, America will decline–at first slowly, and now rapidly–by moral rot. I also offer some biblical truths. You may certainly copy the images and post them in social media.
Should I Wash a Black Man’s Feet to Atone for Historic Racism?
I tell my story: Not my racism, but my ancestors owned slaves. Most importantly, what do the Scriptures say about atonement?
So What’s Wrong with Socialism, Anyway?
Have you ever heard a student or young adult ask it today? It’s still going strong in Europe and numerous countries around the globe. What if Leftists were to rebrand their ideology and hide it under a current political party in American politics? Therefore, it’s important to take a closer look at it.
Three Reasons Why People Are Whipped Up into Violent, Frenzied Mobs
This issue ranges much more widely than just the current events in 2020 America. We can learn from Scripture any time when it speaks to our nature and satanic lies.
Is It Just to Deploy National Guard to Stop Mayhem?
That is, is it the morally right thing to do? That question goes beyond current events in America in 2020. What is the government allowed to do, if it intends to restore peace and order? What does the Bible say?
Should Christians Fight or Flee Persecution?
What if the Church is targeted for persecution by the government or by large groups of extremists, but the government does not come to the aid of Christians? For example, rioting Muslims in Nigeria or Sudan attack churches on a wide scale. Can Christians defend themselves, because the State does not come to their aid?
Should the State ‘Turn the Other Cheek’?
I have often heard confused uses of “turn the other cheek.” The saying seems so imbalanced and out of touch with reality, as it circulates around the world, out of context and isolated.
The Law Teaches Virtue and Restrains Vice
Several years ago, my city installed cameras at various intersections, and I got caught three times. I “miraculously” became an awesome driver!
Do Christians Have to ‘Keep’ the Ten Commandments?
Do we ignore the Old Law so we can be free to live as we wish in the New Covenant? What about Christian Sabbath keeping? What does the Bible really say?
Muslim-Christian Marriage: Friendly Advice to Christians
Should you take the plunge? I remember hearing an interview on the radio with a Muslim, a few years ago.
Another Fatal Flaw in ‘Death Roe’
Roe v. Wade (1973) is important to Americans. However, let’s expose one more weakness in it. Then it might cease being so important because it was so badly argued.
What Is Moral Law?
It is sometimes called natural law. Can reason and the conscience perceive it? What does the Bible say?
Don’t Legalize Recreational or Medical Marijuana
–“We will use [medical marijuana] as a red herring to give marijuana a good name”–
Keith Stroup in 1979, then head of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) (qtd. in Sabet 55)
Truth over Feelings? The Battle for America’s Mind
What is the root or basis of the battle? Knowing that answer can make us wise about the tactics of the left.
‘Fatal’ Flaws in ‘Death Roe’
They are certainly fatal for the babies. Roe v. Wade (1973) needs to be critiqued yet again, since it is so crucial.
Deconstructing Roe v. Wade
One of the few benefits of deconstruction is that it takes down overwrought orthodoxy. Roe v. Wade has achieved a divine status, like a textual god. But it’s possible to expose its feet of clay.
1. The Kingdom of God: Was Jesus a Pacifist?
To answer that question, we must separate the Kingdom of God from the Kingdom of Caesar. Part One in a four-part series.
2. The Gospels: Was Jesus a Pacifist?
To answer that question, we look at four episodes in the Gospels: John the Baptist and some soldiers; Jesus and a centurion; an apparent command to use a sword against a disciple’s family; and two swords during Jesus’ arrest.
3. Were the Early Christians Pacifists?
Did they pick up swords to stop the persecution and control nonconformists?
4. Can Christians Join the Military or Police Force?
The question is really asking whether they can kill in the name of the law or the Constitution.
Works Cited
Here is a list of the principal works referenced or used at this site. More will be added as time goes on, so please check back.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 