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 Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 6:03 pm
2 Corinthians 6 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? This passage has come up a couple of times in some of our discussions so let's discuss. Is this a prohibition against dating/marrying non-Christians or is there some other meaning to this passage that is not being explored? Is there any observations or life experience that lead to your views?
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 6:19 pm
yeah... this is one of my peevey verses... You know I am bound to give my 2 cents on it...
But I am going to wait a little while on this one... mostly because I don't have much time to be on tonight...
... but also, I want to see how many people might take this in the common direction that peeves me... emotion_eyebrow
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:01 pm
I think at face value, many would take the first verse as saying no to even being friends with a non-Christian. However, I get the sense that it is actually talking about people who oppose Christ or the teachings of Christ as compared to not actually worshiping Christ. The term wickedness and the use of Belial jump out at me for that thought.
It also seems to be having you think about what you could learn from an unbeliever and what an unbeliever can learn from you. Or do you think that just because someone is an unbeliever, does that mean that some form of relationship with them could not be peaceful? It appears to be asking a lot of questions as to get to what you think Christ would say, what you yourself would be willing to abide with, what you yourself would be willing to share.
I could be completely wrong on both counts, so feel free to disregard if need be.
I would like to mention one last thing. Being the time of Christ, the Romans worshiped many different Gods, then one could easily see the author of the text trying to separate Christianity from the other belief system that persecuted them or what have you. The ending part about idols lead me to assume that they were being very specific on who they were talking about given the time period and the religion that was there too. Call the Roman Gods mere idols and one might think that the God of Abraham was that much more powerful or real.
I would rather go with my thoughts regarding the first two things I mentioned, but one can not rule out a historical smear aimed at those in power based upon historical accuracy. Or inaccuracy as the case might be but without time travel, one may never fully know.
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:43 pm
My take on the passage is that it's about idolatry and setting one's self to the same standards as non-believers, specifically the non-believers of the time. To "unequally yoke" is to set two different things as if the were the same. I guess the short and sweet would be "don't compare yourself to the non-believers, and don't think that following Christ is the same as following other gods." It appears to have nothing to do with having friendships, relationships, or marriages with non-Christians, as some would say, other than don't believe that the standards and expectations set for you are the same as theirs. That's just my two cents though.
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:27 am
Hmmm... if we were never to interact at all with others... then Christianity would have never had spread out as much as it did. So I would say it's just saying what as said above, God/Jesus worshipers > idol worshipers. But then again... being like Jesus is being humble... so we should never feel like we are superior to others... maybe that is it. A lot of the Romans thought they were better then the Jews... and that kind of thinking carried on through the Roman Christian Empire... So I would say that thinking you are better is wrong... but knowing GOD is superior, is right.
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:44 am
Qyp Hmmm... if we were never to interact at all with others... then Christianity would have never had spread out as much as it did. So I would say it's just saying what as said above, God/Jesus worshipers > idol worshipers. But then again... being like Jesus is being humble... so we should never feel like we are superior to others... maybe that is it. A lot of the Romans thought they were better then the Jews... and that kind of thinking carried on through the Roman Christian Empire... So I would say that thinking you are better is wrong... but knowing GOD is superior, is right. I wasn't trying to imply better and I'm sorry if I did. I literally mean different. In Christianity its about embracing and accepting shame where as in other religions its about avoiding shame. Early Christianity had an appeal to the outcasts and those considered shameful, like single women and slaves. Other religions at this time were about rejecting the outcast and the shamed. In those religions, if you were considered shameful, then you weren't worthy anything, least of all the gods attention.
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:22 am
rmcdra Qyp Hmmm... if we were never to interact at all with others... then Christianity would have never had spread out as much as it did. So I would say it's just saying what as said above, God/Jesus worshipers > idol worshipers. But then again... being like Jesus is being humble... so we should never feel like we are superior to others... maybe that is it. A lot of the Romans thought they were better then the Jews... and that kind of thinking carried on through the Roman Christian Empire... So I would say that thinking you are better is wrong... but knowing GOD is superior, is right. I wasn't trying to imply better and I'm sorry if I did. I literally mean different. In Christianity its about embracing and accepting shame where as in other religions its about avoiding shame. Early Christianity had an appeal to the outcasts and those considered shameful, like single women and slaves. Other religions at this time were about rejecting the outcast and the shamed. In those religions, if you were considered shameful, then you weren't worthy anything, least of all the gods attention. My thoughts got all mixed up >_<
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