Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
—Psalm 19:1, 7, 14
“You shall not murder.”
—Exodus 20:13
“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. ... You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
—Leviticus 19:18, 34
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
—Matthew 5:21-22
Gravity cannot be seen, but its existence is clear from its effects.
Although the consequences of gravity have been known from ancient times, it took the work of Isaac Newton to give us the beginnings of a clear understanding. Ancient and medieval thinkers thought the world—where humans live—was the center of the universe. And they assumed that the objects that moved through the sky—sun, moon, and stars—moved in perfect circles centered on the earth. Unfortunately, those ideas couldn't explain what was clearly visible in the motions of the planets. So the theory of epicycles was born, with circles on top of circles, progressive complications in an attempt to force facts to match ideas built on a flawed foundation.
Between 1616 and 1633, the religious leaders of Galileo's time persecuted him and eventually put him on trial for the supposedly "heretical" belief that the earth was not the center. Copernicus and others had seen bits and pieces of how orbits could be described, but Newton finally published in 1687 a full account of what we now call Newton's laws of motion, from which the relationships between gravity and orbits could finally be explained, with a level of accuracy that defied improvement until Einstein.
I'm not suggesting that Sir Isaac was divinely inspired, but using that little bit of scientific history as a parable for human misunderstanding of the Law of Moses.
Humans have always been tempted to put themselves—instead of God—at the center of things. But starting with that false assumption leads to more and more complicated rationalizations as they try to make sense of life. Some don't even try, but simply do what they want. Remember how the book of Judges ends?
I have heard some people try to contrast an "angry God" of the patriarchs and Moses with the meek and gentle Jesus of the gospels. But the Sermon on the Mound doesn't record Jesus saying "The Law told you that, but I'm telling you this." Instead, He taught, "You have heard... but I say..." He was deconstructing the false embellishments that had been placed on top of the Law, and the false practices by which some of the religious leaders of His day lived.
And those religious leaders didn't like it.
They criticized and pursued Jesus and finally used a trumped-up set of charges and a fake trial to send Him to His death. Defying the teachings of the very Law that they claimed to uphold. The very Law that He came to fulfill.
Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia that “the law was our guardian until Christ came”. And a school zone crossing guard has to impose rules on children that aren't needed after they have grown. But the principles are still there. John wrote in his first letter that “this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
Those who try to ignore the first three-fourths of the Bible fail to understand the gravity of their mistake.
So do those who still try to put humans at the center of the universe.
Gravity
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
—Psalm 19:1, 7, 14
“You shall not murder.”
—Exodus 20:13
“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. ... You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
—Leviticus 19:18, 34
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
—Matthew 5:21-22
Gravity cannot be seen, but its existence is clear from its effects.
Although the consequences of gravity have been known from ancient times, it took the work of Isaac Newton to give us the beginnings of a clear understanding. Ancient and medieval thinkers thought the world—where humans live—was the center of the universe. And they assumed that the objects that moved through the sky—sun, moon, and stars—moved in perfect circles centered on the earth. Unfortunately, those ideas couldn't explain what was clearly visible in the motions of the planets. So the theory of epicycles was born, with circles on top of circles, progressive complications in an attempt to force facts to match ideas built on a flawed foundation.
Between 1616 and 1633, the religious leaders of Galileo's time persecuted him and eventually put him on trial for the supposedly "heretical" belief that the earth was not the center. Copernicus and others had seen bits and pieces of how orbits could be described, but Newton finally published in 1687 a full account of what we now call Newton's laws of motion, from which the relationships between gravity and orbits could finally be explained, with a level of accuracy that defied improvement until Einstein.
I'm not suggesting that Sir Isaac was divinely inspired, but using that little bit of scientific history as a parable for human misunderstanding of the Law of Moses.
Humans have always been tempted to put themselves—instead of God—at the center of things. But starting with that false assumption leads to more and more complicated rationalizations as they try to make sense of life. Some don't even try, but simply do what they want. Remember how the book of Judges ends?
I have heard some people try to contrast an "angry God" of the patriarchs and Moses with the meek and gentle Jesus of the gospels. But the Sermon on the Mound doesn't record Jesus saying "The Law told you that, but I'm telling you this." Instead, He taught, "You have heard... but I say..." He was deconstructing the false embellishments that had been placed on top of the Law, and the false practices by which some of the religious leaders of His day lived.
And those religious leaders didn't like it.
They criticized and pursued Jesus and finally used a trumped-up set of charges and a fake trial to send Him to His death. Defying the teachings of the very Law that they claimed to uphold. The very Law that He came to fulfill.
Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia that “the law was our guardian until Christ came”. And a school zone crossing guard has to impose rules on children that aren't needed after they have grown. But the principles are still there. John wrote in his first letter that “this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
Those who try to ignore the first three-fourths of the Bible fail to understand the gravity of their mistake.
So do those who still try to put humans at the center of the universe.