Martin Luther King, Birmingham, Nonviolent Protests v Bombs and Brutality
Civil Rights

Martin Luther King, Birmingham, Nonviolent Protests v Bombs and Brutality, Biography Chapter 7

In September 1963, a black church in Birmingham was dynamited, killing four young girls and injuring several dozen others. Addressing the nation on television, President Kennedy proclaimed, “This nation is committed to a course of domestic justice and tranquility.” “If these cruel and tragic events can awaken that city and state, if they can awaken this entire nation,” “then it is not too late for all concerned to unite in steps toward peaceful progress before more lives are lost.” But no whites attended the funeral services of these four young black girls. […]

Loving God in Deuteronomy, and a Gentile’s Defense of Judaism, Part 2
Judaism

Loving God in Deuteronomy, and a Gentile’s Defense of Judaism, Part 2

When studying the rabbinical commentaries on Deuteronomy, I was struck by the number of times the commandment to Love God was repeated in various forms, including the commandment to Fear God, which is roughly equivalent, so I decided to count them, there are about twenty repetitions. This was surprising to me as a Christian, for as St Paul exhorts, “the letter” of the law “kills, but the Spirit gives life.” […]

Medieval Jewish and Christian Commentators, My Gentile Defense of Judaism, Part 1
Judaism

Medieval Jewish and Christian Commentators, My Gentile Defense of Judaism, Part 1

At roughly the time of Jesus, an inquirer requested of both Rabbi Shammai and Rabbi Hillel, “Convert me to Judaism on condition that you will teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.” Shammai pushed the man away with the building rod he was holding. Undeterred, the man then came before Hillel with the same request. Hillel responded, “That which is hateful unto you, do not do unto your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Now, go and study.” […]

Martin Luther, Do Not Steal, Lutheran Catechisms, and German Peasants' Revolt
Command 7 Do Not Steal

Martin Luther, Do Not Steal, Lutheran Catechisms, and German Peasants’ Revolt

Luther concludes by restating the positive and negative forms of the commandment, noting that tolerating theft by others by doing nothing also is a moral violation. “On one hand, we are forbidden to do our neighbor any injury or wrong in any way imaginable, whether by damaging, withholding, or interfering with his possession and property. We are not even to consent to or permit such a thing but are rather to avert and prevent it. On the other hand, we are commanded to promote and further our neighbor’s interests, and when he suffers want, we are to help, share, and lend to both friends and foes.” […]

Q & A on Topic: Why Did You Leave Your Religion?
Biblical Interpretation

Q & A on Topic: Why Did You Leave Your Religion?

To the ancients who lived in a warrior culture, Stoic philosophy is very appealing. The Stoics don’t ask the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Instead, they admit that good and bad things happen to everyone, that the rain falls on both the bad and the good. Bad things happen to good people, that is part of life. The real question is: How can God help us endure and prevail over our suffering? […]

Decalogue: Do Not Slander, Catholic Catechism 2465-2503, and St Thomas Aquinas
Command 8 Do Not Bear False Witness

Decalogue: Do Not Slander, Catholic Catechism and St Thomas Aquinas CCC 2465-2503

The Eight Commandment in the Catholic Catechism exhorts, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Many people shorten this commandment to, You shall not lie, and although lying is usually sinful, this is a shallow understanding of this commandment. The positive form of the commandment is we should guard the reputation of our neighbor, it is possible to slander someone while speaking the truth about them. Gossip can be harmful whether it is truthful or not. […]

Book Reviews and Miscellaneous

Book and DVD Reviews on the Ten Commandments, or Decalogue

These are book reviews on the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments. Our first sources are the Lutheran and Catholic Catechisms, they discuss each of the Ten Commandments. Pope Benedict, aka Cardinal Ratzinger when footnotes for the sources used in the Catechism between the eastern and western church fathers, which means that this is an excellent study program for the writings of the Church Fathers for both the Catholic and Orthodox religious traditions. […]

Command 8 Do Not Bear False Witness

Do Not Slander: Church Fathers and Preachers, and Catholic Catechism, CCC 2464

The Church Fathers focus on our love for our neighbor when contemplating this commandment.  St Gregory Palamas in our English translation renders the commandment as, “You shall not accuse anyone falsely.”  We are warned that if we accuse anyone falsely, we may “become like the devil, who falsely accused God to Eve and was cursed by God.  Rather, we should conceal our neighbor’s offense, unless by so doing others may be injured; and in this way we will imitate not Ham, but Shem and Japeth, and so like them receive the blessing.”
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Command 8 Do Not Bear False Witness

St John Climacus in Ladder of Divine Ascent on Slander, Talkativeness, and Lying, Steps 10, 11 and 12

Many people think that one of the Ten Commandments prohibits us from lying, but that is a shallow understanding of the commandment.  Actually, the Ten Commandments urges us not to bear false witness against our neighbor.  Not only are we forbidden to slander our neighbor, but we are also urged to guard his reputation.  We slander our neighbor even when we tell the truth in a hurtful manner. […]

AntiSemitism

Our Reflections on Morality, Philosophy, and History: Ancient and Modern Classics

To a Stoic Philosopher, the question of Theodicy, or why God permits bad things to happen to good people, why God permits suffering, is simply absurd. The fact is, we do suffer, we will face injustices, we will suffer illnesses and death, and the rain falls on both the good man and the bad man. God will not shield us from suffering and injustice, but God will provide us with the strength to endure the challenges of this life. […]