Skip to main content

Religious Tolerance in the Old and the New Testaments

© Domenic Marbaniang, January 10, 2008.

The Old Testament idea of religious nationalism is deeply based on God’s covenant relationship with the people of Israel. The nation of Israel is seen as existing because of God’s covenant with Abraham and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. Instances of religious intolerance find explanation in God’s relation to Israel as a husband’s to his wife. As infidelity in marriage is intolerable, so is infidelity in religion. The covenant relationship, however, required wilful commitment.

The New Testament, however, sees this in a different light. Religion is more an individual issue than a social one. The religious individual world is separated from the political world. Jesus differentiated between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God (Jn. 18: 36). The kingdom of this world is influenced by the god of this world, who is Satan (2 Cor. 4: 4). The world, therefore, is blind towards the gospel and is unable to recognize the lordship of Christ (1 Jn. 3:1). At the same time, political authority is to be understood as given by God Himself (Rom. 13:1, 2). This reiterates the revelation in Daniel that ‘the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.’ (Dan. 4: 17). There seems to be a paradox here. If God controls world politics then how does the devil bear the sceptre? The answer will be evident once the right meaning of ‘world’ is understood as sinful humanity (except in cases where it refers to the natural world). The devil rules over sinful humanity (Eph. 2:2) and wherever politics is pervaded by unjust laws or law enforcers, the sceptre of the devil is visible. However, the devil cannot supercede God in wisdom and power. Thus, the rule of devil is visible wherever falsehood and lawlessness exist. However, the rule of God as terror to evil works (Rom. 13: 3) is what makes justice possible in this world. Obviously, God’s use of rulers such as Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus against evil-infested kingdoms shows the overarching power of God over all political world. In the New Testament, the kingdom of Israel as a theocratic kingdom in this world is replaced by the more comprehensive concept of the kingdom of God. The obsession with national politics is consumed by the passion for the spiritual kingdom. The church of Christ is seen as transcending all national, ethnic, and linguistic barriers. As such, religious intolerance as a carnal and political practice is not admitted.

Further, the Bible makes it very clear that true spirituality is what God seeks (Jn. 4:23). This can only come from ones grasp of truth and wilful allegiance to it. This respects the freedom of conscience.

© Domenic Marbaniang, January 10, 2008.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Tale of Something, or Nothing, and God

In the beginning was God and nothing. Then, God created something out of nothing. But, soon that something forgot she was once a nothing. And, forgetting herself and God, she assumed herself to be everything. And, assuming herself to be everything, she died to everything else and God. After many days, when this something had run out of everything she got, She came to her senses and "Who am I? Where am I?" she thought. Then, she realized she was a nothing without her God, And so returned to her original place in God. In the end was God and something.

Reliability, Predictability, and Paul the Octopus

Paul the Octopus has recently become very famous after his predictions for Germany and Spain during the World Cup 2010 came right. The 100% accuracy tag distinguishes him from any other diviner who had attempted a prediction during the World Cup. There were responses and reactions from various people including sportsmen, statesmen, and mathematicians. Whatever, the use of Paul has demonstrated once again that mankind's search for an extra-temporal, psychic foresight has not quelled through the historical calendar returning a decade over this millennium. The question before us is can such predictions as those of Paul be counted on as reliable (in other words, can they be seriously taken as true)? The mathematicians have plumped for chance. It's all a matter of probability, they say ( BBC News ). However, the argument of chance in itself is weak. The mathematics of chance will calculate that the probability of Paul being right seven times out of seven is 1/128. But, the conclusi...

Father, You Are the Artist of Canvas and Paint - Poem

Father, You are the artist of canvas and paint, Color my life with your blue skies and rain, In places of sunshine and places of pain, Till I am a picture of Him. Chorus: Make me a portrait of Paint His love o’er my sin, Make Him ashine, like a light through Till I am a picture of Him Father, I am a canvas for you to create Capture the look of Your smile in my face, But when You paint problems, Lord fill with Your grace, Till I am a picture of Him. Father, You paint my future according to Your plan, I trust You though sometimes I don’t understand, The rainbow of reasons that flow from Your hands, Till I am a picture of Him. - Sigi Varghese (Shared by Thomas T. Varghese)