Originally Posted by
jwtog
What are you implying here? I'm curious, what exactly are you trying to say with: using the old testament to opposed what Jesus pbuh came to teach?
What I am saying is Christ taught tolerance,
But he gave direct guidance on how you may find heaven through him.
The old rulers that spread Christianity through violence were not doing God's will through the teachings of Christ. You will see many times in the Old testament where God commands men to destroy idols, sack and destroy villages that practice Pagan worship, and the majority of this predates the time of Moses. There are many confusing passages in the OT, and I do sometimes wonder if there was any alteration in those books.
If God is a benevolent God,
than why use people as his hitmen? Either way, Christians abide by the Ten Commandments, as did Christ, but Christians follow the New Testament and what the lord Jesus came to teach.
Luke 9:52-56: "...they did not receive him...And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, You know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village."
John 4:7-27: "There came a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus said unto her, Give me a drink...Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, for I am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to thee, Give me a drink; thou would have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water...Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father...And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman..."
Romans 2:14-16"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another; In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel."
Bottom line is that any "Christian" that has spread Christianity through nations by force and committing murder or any other heinous deeds either didn't understand the scriptures, or they blatantly exploited the teachings to rule through oppression, and not truth.
