Welcome to Gaia! ::

You're ignoring an important part of that passage: The entire beginning of the sentence.

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

The verse is clearly referring to the fact that Jesus' death on the cross justified us and made us not responsible to judgment for our sins. Unless you're suggesting that anything Jesus didn't mention Himself is not a sin? Bestiality is cool with you? Do you think God's okay with that, since Jesus didn't mention it?

Try this:

Matthew 5:17
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."

He fulfilled a) the symbolic laws (i.e. those concerning separation, cleanliness, etc, and had nothing to do with morality, but were very symbolic of His coming and of the set-apartness of the Jews to God), and b) the requirement of sacrifice for those who sinned. If it meant anything different, such as the suggestion that OT moral laws were cancelled, passages like Galatians 5:19-21, and the dozens of others like it, would be retarded and blasphemous.

You know why this is my opinion? Because it lines up with the rest of the New Testament, which holds us accountable, if not eternally responsible to moral transgressions and sins. Your "everything goes except for the few new laws Jesus laid down," view does not.

Galations 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But those things are okay if the "written code" was cancelled, right?


Romans 6:15
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

What sin? Only the four or five things Jesus mentioned? Jesus cancelled the law, but left us a few rules for the road? No. He didn't deliver us from our moral obedience. He delivered us from the consequence of our sins.

If you really think the moral law was deleted, you're going to have to chuck about 2/3 of the New Testament, since Paul, Peter, & Co. continually exhort Christians to avoid sin such as idolatry, covetousness, debauchery, and a whole bunch of other stuff Jesus didn't expand on.

~Gilwen

PS All verse emphasis mine, of course.

That can be arranged.

I fail to see how reading about a given sin is equivalent to actually engaging in said sin.

For example, people read murder mysteries all the time. Would you condemn them as murderers?

Or people read sometimes read books that have instances of idolatry in them, and in which the idolatry is not explicitly condemned (Gary Jennings' Aztec comes to mind). Would you call them idolaters?

Reading or writing about something is not, and never has been, equivalent to participating in it. End of story.

Now, apropos whether or not the magic in Harry Potter is witchcraft, I did a bit of research and found the following: One of the Hebrew words that is translated as 'witch' (or sometimes 'sorcerer', depending on the translation used) is M'khasephah, which means 'someone who malevolently uses spoken curses to hurt people'. Another word translated as 'witch', kashaph (used in Ex. 22:18 ), comes from the root word 'to whisper', which leads some scholars to believe that it relates to mediums. Perhaps because of this, witchcraft is also strongly identified with necromancy. Whether Galatians actually condemns witchcraft/sorcery is a bit open to interpretation as the word Pharmakeia can also be used to describe the malicious use of poisons. Make of this what you will.

Because it states that he buried the treasure again. Obviously, he didn't tell the owner. Or else he would have given it to the owner.

I just fail to see why it is evil and other things, such as, say, LoTR, Narnia, and, heck, THE BIBLE, which all have the same stuff as HP, aren't just as evil.

And as to my main point, AGAIN, please explain:

"at least a dozen Christians who are avid readers of Harry Potter, devoted to God, and sensitive to their consciences. If you can explain to them why the Holy Spirit wouldn't bring their transgression in reading HP to their attention, I would appreciate it."

So. Tell us. Why are you doing the Holy Spirit's job?

What verse says that if a work of literature does not openly condemn a sin, you are eternally responsible for that sin?

I've come to a conclusion. You must just be anti-reading.

That's hardly relevant, since you outright ignore the rest of his arguments, such as this: find a single verse that suggests that reading Harry Potter would be bad.

That is, find a verse that states that reading about a sin is, in itself, a sin.

So. Tell us. Why are you doing the Holy Spirit's job?

So, hot_wheels, what do you read? Because judging by your comments thus far, it doesn't sound like you read much at all.

It looks to me like he just dosnt read books that contain some witchcraft in them.

And maybe he dosnt like to read.