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Old 06-24-2008, 03:59 AM
Solace Solace is offline
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Re: How do Christians possibly rationalize these things?

Sure "Our Father" doesn't limit the audience, but it doesn't set the audience either. So it doesn't automatically lend to the audience being completely open-ended. The Book of John also said, "For God so loved the world", which could easily be interpreted as better suggesting that everyone is equal in God's eyes than Jesus saying, "Our Father". But then, even that is only suggestive; after all, it only says he loved the world, not all the people in it.

Quote:
Believed who was unique? Didn't the Apostles preach throughout the known world, bringing the teachings of Jesus to many nations and many different people?
Well, it might have been Paul who coined the term "the Elect", but since his teachings found a rather widespread, receptive audience, it may be safe to say that a lot of early Christians thought of themselves that way. Now, that term, "the Elect", may be interpreted a good many ways, but it seems to suggest at least a certain amount of being different from other people.

I never said, nor did I even think it was insinuated, that the earliest Christians promoted brutality. I did make reference to Christian history, but that's a whole expanse of two thousand years. Christian teachings, like any teachings, often get left by the wayside when men of lesser character are left to determine the greater good.
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