{"id":12954,"date":"2020-06-11T05:02:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T05:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/?p=12954"},"modified":"2020-06-11T05:02:30","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T05:02:30","slug":"am-i-my-brothers-keeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/11\/am-i-my-brothers-keeper\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Am I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the Bible says (in the book of Nahum):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; He will never leave the guilty unpunished.&#8221;<\/p><cite>Nahum 1: 3<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A lot of people laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those people look around, and see riots, and fires, and hapless government leaders without solutions. They certainly do not see the guilty &#8211;if they actually believe there actually <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">are<\/span><\/em> any&#8211;punished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bible (in Genesis 4) tells us that Cain killed his brother, Abel. <em>Why did he do it<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The answer is there, in Genesis 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;Sin is crouching at the door&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><cite>Genesis 4:7<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What does that mean<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you believe the Genesis account is moral fiction, just mythology, as Jordan Peterson does, then <em>sin<\/em>&#8211;as a concept&#8211;becomes a nothing more than a metaphor for <em>chaos <\/em>(contrasting with <em>order<\/em>)<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the Bible (in the book of Ecclesiastes) says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;The hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><cite>Ecclesiastes 9:3<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, <em>sin <\/em>is the normative human condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is confirmed in the book of Jeremiah:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><cite>Jeremiah 17:9<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Racism is sin. Murder is sin. Rioting and looting are sin. Hating your brother is sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>How do we fix the human heart<\/em>?,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The book of Hebrews in the Bible was originally written to Jewish Christians, who knew the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, and it quotes from the 31st chapter of that book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant&#8230; not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant that they broke&#8230; For this is the covenant that I will make&#8230; I will put my law <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">within<\/span> them, and I <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">will write it on their hearts<\/span>. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><cite>Jeremiah 31:31-33<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, God will, through His Spirit&#8211;living within individual Christians&#8211;<em>empower<\/em> them to overcome sin, a feat that is otherwise impossible to humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The book of Romans says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cNone is righteous, no, not one&#8230; no one does good, not even one&#8230; By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><cite>Romans 3:10-20<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, the rioters in the streets are wasting their time. The people in Minneapolis who are disbanding their police force, they&#8217;ve got it all wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then what&#8217;s the answer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"984\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.comwp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sgt-York.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12955\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sgt-York.jpg 984w, https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sgt-York-400x293.jpg 400w, https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sgt-York-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sgt-York-768x562.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption>1941 movie, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034167\/\">Sergeant York<\/a>&#8220;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;On the way down the mountain trail, in the middle of a storm, Alvin (York) meets his God, in the form a lightening bolt, which melts his gun, and throws him from his mule. From that moment on, Alvin becomes a transformed man of faith, apologizing&#8230;for his former behavior&#8230; Under the leadership of the Pastor Rosier Pile (Walter Brennan) Alvin starts living his life according to Biblical teachings, growing his faith in God and His word.&#8221;<\/p><cite><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sgtyork.org\/movie\">Howard Hawks&#8217; &#8220;Sergeant York,&#8221; 1941<\/a><\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alvin York, medal-of-honor winner from World War I, is a real life example of a man who learned to be a contributing member of society by becoming a Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another example is Desmond Doss, a medal of honor recipient from World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"622\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.comwp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Doss-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12957\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Doss-1.png 622w, https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Doss-1-400x343.png 400w, https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Doss-1-300x258.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px\" \/><figcaption>Desmond Doss, hero of 2016&#8217;s &#8220;Hacksaw Ridge,&#8221; receiving medal-of-honor<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to People Magazine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p> &#8220;Doss\u2019s faith and courage were forged growing up in Lynchburg, Virginia&#8230; He was particularly intrigued by a illustration of the Sixth Commandment, showing Cain murdering his brother Abel.&#8221;<\/p><cite>&#8220;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/movies\/the-true-story-of-hacksaw-ridge-and-desmond-doss-the-medal-of-honor-winner-who-never-fired-a-shot\/\">The True Story of\u00a0Hacksaw Ridge\u00a0and Desmond Doss: the Medal of Honor Winner Who Never Fired a Shot<\/a><\/em>&#8220;<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The article goes on to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;Private Desmond Doss walked into the bloodiest battle of World War II\u2019s Pacific theater with nothing to protect himself save for his Bible and his faith in God&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><cite>&#8220;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/movies\/the-true-story-of-hacksaw-ridge-and-desmond-doss-the-medal-of-honor-winner-who-never-fired-a-shot\/\">The True Story of\u00a0Hacksaw Ridge\u00a0and Desmond Doss&#8230;<\/a>&#8220;<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And heroics still happen in Lynchburg, VA:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Prayer vigil happening in Lynchburg after protests turn violent\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/23eEis1zc4c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption><em><a href=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/an_webp\/23eEis1zc4c\/mqdefault_6s.webp?du=3000&amp;sqp=CL-H_PYF&amp;rs=AOn4CLBHJRoOrZa0a5FiAXI922Da99jNag\">Christians respond to racial strife in Lynchburg<\/a><\/em>, June 1, 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background has-medium-font-size has-yellow-background-color wp-block-paragraph\"><em>So what&#8217;s going on in Lynchburg, VA<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an effort to understand, we found a book about Jerry Falwell, Sr., the founder of both Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University (both in Lynchburg), whose son, Jerry Falwell, Jr., is currently being trashed on social media and being widely accused of racism. The book, titled, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jerry-Falwell-His-Life-Legacy\/dp\/B003D7JXTG\">Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy<\/a><\/em><\/span>, was written by Jerry Sr.&#8217;s  wife, Macel Falwell, in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the first chapter, she wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;When angry protestors at Harvard University asked Jerry (Senior) if he was a racist, he replied, &#8216;I <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">once<\/span> was.'&#8221;<\/p><cite><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jerry-Falwell-His-Life-Legacy\/dp\/B003D7JXTG\">Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy<\/a><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What did he mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later in the book she elaborates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;Jerry would realize that the Lord had been dealing with him about racism for years&#8230;  Finally, Jerry  realized that right was right and wrong was wrong, and he had to take a stand for what was right&#8230; He thought of the children in that Dominican Republic orphanage (<em>where he had once done some missionary work<\/em>), and the Christians he&#8217;d worked alongside in Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico&#8230; This day, he realized, had been coming for a long time&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><cite><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jerry-Falwell-His-Life-Legacy\/dp\/B003D7JXTG\">Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy<\/a><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And this is how seemingly beleaguered Jerry Falwell, Jr remembers his father:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;The day before he died, Dad dropped by my office and said, &#8216;Go with me up to the (<em>LU<\/em>) monogram on Liberty Mountain.&#8217; I was swamped with work and couldn&#8217;t  afford the time&#8230; Then I saw the look on his face. It was rare to see him so disappointed. &#8216;You know (<em>Jerry Jr said<\/em>), on second thought, I would love to go.&#8217;  We sat up on top of the mountain and talked to Liberty University students. It was one of Dad&#8217;s last gifts to me, and I will always cherish the memory.&#8221;<\/p><cite><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jerry-Falwell-His-Life-Legacy\/dp\/B003D7JXTG\">Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy<\/a><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hebrews 10:16 says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds&#8230;&#8221;<\/p><cite>Hebrews 10:16<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mrs. Falwell, in the book, was careful to point out the rough-and-tumble life that Jerry Falwell had known before God got ahold of him&#8211;<em>just like Alvin York.<\/em> She included all the tasty tidbits that so many people have used to try to destroy what has happened here in Lynchburg. But through it all, making a difference in the world&#8211;and doing what he thought God wanted him to do, is what this man was all about (in spite of his faults, in spite of his critics).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bible says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u00a0&#8220;Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as\u00a0<strong>righteousness<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p><cite>Romans 4:3<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And John Wesley (founder of Methodism, and largely credited with transforming nineteenth-century  England to such an extant that it was spared from the revolutions that were occurring all over Europe at that time) said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cGive me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><cite><em>from a letter in the Works of John Wesley<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wesley is often quoted as saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cDo all the good you can, by all the means you can,<br>In all the ways you can, in all the places you can,<br>At all the times you can, to all the people you can,<br>As long as ever you can.\u201d<\/p><cite>Attributed to John Wesley<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Those words certainly apply to Jerry Falwell&#8217;s life as well<\/span>. And just as Abraham&#8217;s, and Wesley&#8217;s legacy lived on for many generations, the same will be said about Falwell&#8217;s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This modern worship song could be said to express Falwell&#8217;s story well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Revival&amp;apos;s In The Air - Dante Bowe | Moment\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/74paKsNIolE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>&#8220;<em>Revival&#8217;s in the Air<\/em>&#8220;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the Bible says (in the book of Nahum): &#8220;The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; He will never leave the guilty unpunished.&#8221; Nahum 1: 3 A lot of people laugh. Those people look around, and see riots, and fires, and hapless government leaders without solutions. They certainly do not see the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/11\/am-i-my-brothers-keeper\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8220;Am I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u201d&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,42,24,54,39,56,53,40,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christianity","category-education","category-falwell","category-jordan-peterson","category-liberty","category-racism","category-truth","category-worldview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12954"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12964,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12954\/revisions\/12964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingaccuratelyeducation.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}