I don’t know if I heard that, word for word, or came up with it myself. It is true either way.
Principles require mental engagement. Life is not simple. Conditions change. Serendipity is more than just a word from the 60's. “Drive safely” is a principle. “Speed limit of 55" is a rule. It is possible that in the rain and wind that 55 is not safe. The legalist will insist on driving 55 plus the 5 mph grace. The engaged driver will slow down.
We find this in politics. We find it in business. We find it in the church.
Take for instance the ban on murder. If you are quoting the King James Bible, like people tend to do even when they don’t know it, it comes out like this.
(Exodus 20:13 KJV) Thou shalt not kill.That sounds like a simple rule. The problem is that it would outlaw all war, capital punishment, self defense, and in extreme applications, a good steak. For you that might not be a problem. It is still not accurate.
Engage your mind. Does that make sense? Now dig a little deeper. What the modern translations say is different.
(Exodus 20:13 NAS77) "You shall not murder.Now we scratch our head and say, “That is a horse of another color.” In the Hebrew definition of this word it uses words like premeditated, murder and assassinate.
The law, the Bible in which many of our legal principles originate, and common sense have their rules but they are to be understood by the principles under them.
It is hard to be a thinking citizen. It is hard to be a real follower of Christ. It is easy to be a robot.
Happy thinking.
homo unius libri
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.