Hi Mark,
<Why didnt he supply the answers in a fashion that would create less controversy, less hatred, and even less warfare?>
His Word is written intentionally this way. If a person is pure of heart and a seeker of truth, then the Scripture yields its truth, simplicity and power. If otherwise, a person seeks only the justification of himself, he finds the Scripture unyielding and even controversial.
The one central issue upon which Christian faith stands or falls is in the bodily, immortal resurrection of Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor. 15: 14-19). If that didn't really happen, then our (Christian) faith is empty and even pitiful. Think of it, He is the only person to ever defy death. His followers met cruel deaths in defense of this fact. Two thousand years later, their message produces the same effect on believers as it did when it was first preached. And, that message thrives in spite of being surrounded with the same animosity that Jesus Himself was executed for. How could anything of man's design have this kind of singularity or power? No, it is not of man but of God!
Stan
|
