The intellectual roots of "Wokeness."

What an awesome post!
I haven’t seen anyone pull out universality or the law of reciprocity on these boards before. Impressed I am.
As we can read on the board these principles are a bit stronger in some than in others. Love the references and how you managed to connect many cultures over time to say the same thing….treat people the way you wish to be treated.
In counseling, reciprocity may have referred to a therapist self-disclosing personal information so as to increase the likelihood that a client would do the same.
Nevertheless, cool post.

 

Well, the golden rule, which was taught by Jesus, is something I adhere to. I would challenge you on this point, however. If the shoe were on the other foot, and I was making absolute statements about the doctrines you adhere to or do not adhere to you would be calling foul.

Nonetheless, I do acknowledge the universality of God's moral law. The apostle Paul acknowledges it as well in the book of Romans. The universality of God's moral law is why murder is wrong in every culture. It is why lying is wrong in most cultures. It is why stealing is wrong in most cultures. And these are specific applications of the golden rule.

Paul explains this very well in the book of Romans. The fact that gentiles, those who didn't have the Hebrew scriptures, showed a knowledge of the moral law made them accountable to that moral law. John tells us in his epistle that sin is transgression of the law, which you have done quite a good job of showing that even non-Christians have a knowledge of that law. So, Paul's statement the wages of sin is death equally applies to non-Christians because non-Christians demonstrate their knowledge of God's moral law every single day, and yet they disobey the law of the God they know.

So, you have put your finger on something true, but that truth creates a major problem for you. A thief might acknowledge that stealing is wrong. However, the fact that the thief acknowledges that stealing is wrong, and yet he still transgressed the law actually only serves to increase his judgment. We give lesser judgements to those who don't have the mental capacity to know what they were doing, but you have made it very clear that the whole world knows the moral law of God, and yet we know that the whole world does not keep that law.

This is why your rejection of substitutionary atonement is insane. You uphold the moral law that will measure you and find you guilty on the day of judgment. Your own words that you know that law and broke it anyways will stand as a witness against you. And then you will be standing in front of Jesus, who could have made atonement for your sins if you had trusted Him to do so. But because you rejected that atonement you will earn the full wages of every transgression of the law that you uphold. You will understand the words of Paul, The law kills, very well. Eternally, you will only know Christ as judge and not as savior. That is all knowledge of the law gets you without Christ. To know the law, but never learn the lesson of the law that you need a perfect spotless sinless savior to atone for your sins leaves you in the same place as that of the Pharisees: guilty and condemned by the very law you claim to follow.

That doesn't have to be your fate. You don't have to live under condemnation because you have failed to perfectly uphold the laws, the teachings, the rules, and the principles you claim to follow. We are no different than Adam. The wages of sin is death. You could go to Christ for atonement right now. You could confess that you deserve the wages of sin because you have failed to live up to God's perfect holy standard. You could go before the throne of grace and plead for mercy and grace before you are summoned to the court room of God's justice. Jesus would cleanse you from your sins. By God's grace you still have time left on this earth to put your trust in the God-man Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, who lived a sinless life as a savior to atone for sins of any that would come to Him, but the hour is very late.

 

The only problem with the golden rule and every rule similar is the interpretation that everyone believes in moral action. Certainly the masochists and sadists have different views. I am reminded of the joke - the masochist says hit me, hit and the sadist says no. I could say the same for serial killers taking a liking to each other but I do wonder if the same pleasure would be derived if they were on the other end being killed by a serial killer.