Saturday, December 05, 2015

Judge not?

“Judge not, lest you be judged”- Matt 7:1-2


This verse is the favorite Bible verse of non-Christians, to fend of criticism for violating Christian standards of conduct.

When we talk about judging, we are talking about the claim that a person deserve something bad for doing something bad. Unless we are charged with the job of assigning criminal punishment, then we have to recognize that we lack knowledge of people's circumstances to know what someone deserves. On the other hand, I don't think that anti-judging mandate makes it impossible for us to say that certain types of actions are morally wrong. We could use the same reasoning for theft, or murder, or adultery, for example, and argue that we can't judge people who do those things.

See here. 

1 comment:

planks length said...

The people who use that verse as a weapon never seem to know its second half: "For with the judgment you pronounce you will [yourself] be judged."

Personally, I want to be judged harshly if I lie, steal, dishonor my parents, commit unjustifiable violence, cheat on my spouse or fornicate, or am consumed with envy (covetousness), blaspheme, or fail to "love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind." I am my own greatest critic when I fail to live up to the commandments, and no one judges me more harshly than I do myself.

I expect (and earnestly pray) that the Lord will not tolerate or allow the least shred of such failings in myself to survive my time in Purgatory, no matter the cost.