Re: "Good" (to Dave)
Ralph Nielsen (nielsen@uidaho.edu)
Sat, 12 Apr 1997 13:22:47 -0700
>> (DAVE 4/7) Ian: There you go again. How should one behave Ian? According
>> to what YOU say? You want values? Ok - devotion: Abraham to his God;
>
>(DAVE 4/11) Ian: You never answered my question here: how should one
>behave Ian? Is there some template for behaviour we should all abide by?
>Whose template?
>
>(Ian 4/8) Abraham's devotion to his god? Are you kidding? Do you mean to say
>that if I tied up my son (or grandson considering my age) and placed him
>on an
>altar, raised my knife, ready to plunge it into his heart when someone
>stopped
>me, I could claim that god told me to do it? Oh! Well, I'm not a religious
>person. I'm not a true christian. What if Jerry did it? Do you think he could
>pass for a true christian?
>
>(DAVE 4/11) Ian: You didn't argue his devotion, just an act of his, in a
>culture where this might have been looked at a little differently than here.
RALPH
So morality is just a matter of cultural differences, Dave? Maybe you would
like to tell us just who it was that told Abraham to kill his little son
Isaac.
DAVE
> I'm not sure the connection you all of sudden made to Abraham and being a
>Christian - can you explain it?
RALPH
For starters, Dave, read Matthew 1:1; 22:32; Mark 12:26; John 1:1-4;
Galatians 3:6-9; etc. I was always taught that God was the same, yesterday,
today, and forever. Now you come along and tell us that what God says and
does depends on the cultural setting.