Posted on 07/25/2015 9:57:42 AM PDT by Salvation
August 2, 2015
Question: Jesus says, “I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” (Lk 5:32). But I thought the Scriptures said that no one is righteous and that to say we are without sin makes God a liar (1 Jn 1:8, 10). Why does Jesus imply that there are some who are righteous?— Steven Manning, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Answer: Jesus may be using the expression ironically, as if to say, “Well, since God is in the business of saving sinners, maybe you’d better get into that category if you seek his graces.” Thus, Jesus is not affirming necessarily that there is a category of human beings who are righteous in an unqualified way. As you said, that would be contrary to the word of God and common sense.
However, culturally speaking, the term “righteous” had another use at the time of Jesus. The “righteous” were pious Jews who carefully followed a body of law, some 613 precepts, which regulated not only moral life, but also a great deal of daily life. These precepts emphasized many external behaviors by mandating washings and other purifications, the manner in which one dressed, fast days, etc. Because of these externalities, the observers of this rather strict code often stood out, as Hasidic Jews do today. The Pharisees were certainly the most numerous of those identified in this manner.
The term “righteous” did not necessarily mean “sinless,” but when you start to call yourself “righteous” and those who do not follow your way “sinners,” something happens to your soul. A superiority begins to manifest, and matters that are not essential — such as certain ritual purifications or types of clothing — come to be seen as required. Thus, the Pharisees, by Jesus’ time, were often depicted in a cartoonish way as prideful, aware of everyone’s sins but their own, and legalistic. It is a sad display of the sins of the pious. There is beauty in their conformity to God’s law and an appealing orderliness to their life. But there is also a great ugliness in the pride that so easily mars what is good.
Thus, Jesus uses the terms “righteous” and “sinner” in the verse you cited in two senses. First as sociological division: strict observers of the law versus those who were less strict. But Jesus also uses the terms in more ironic sense when he pokes fun at the Pharisees’ objection that he cares for sinners.
http://www.spiritualworld.org/science/sin.htm
“Dr. Holmes always believed that a sin was a missing of the mark, which was the actual Anglo-Saxon meaning, used in archery when an arrow missed its target. Dr. Holmes stated, There is no sin, but there is a mistake; and there is no punishment, but a consequence.’”
“And these consequences are given from out of this one universal love, which guides and teaches us through our mistakes?” I questioned.
“Dr. Holmes said, God neither punishes nor rewards. Life is a blessing or a curse according to the use we make of it. We believe in a law that governs all things and all people. If we make mistakes, we suffer.”
I’m not familiar with the author you cite.
Ping to Msgr. Pope’s OSV column!
The person speaking is Rev. William Hornaday, a minister of the “Religious Science” or “Science of Mind” movement. The Dr. Holmes he quotes is Ernest S. Holmes, who founded this movement in the 1920s. Dr. Holmes was influenced by Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science.
Rev. William Hornaday is sometimes confused with Dr. William T. Hornaday, a zoologist and pioneer in wildlife conservation.
Dr. Hornaday was the minister at Founders Church of Religious Science in Los Angeles, one of Dr. Holmes’s closest associates, and onetime president of teh United Church of Religious Science.
Thank you. I was uncertain regarding whether to say it was a church. I should have read more closely, because it did say “Founders Church.” (Several children were screaming at me.)
is the the same reasoning then from luke 1:6 ?
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6They were** both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.**
7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
There are two more explanations, in addition to the two Msgr. Pope proposes.
3. The terms are used in a relative sense, not in absolute sense. “To the extent that someone is righteous, I am not calling him to repentance; but to the extent that someone is sinful, I do”.
4. Jesus points out logical inconsistency in the question He is answering. “I call people for repentance, therefore I am with those who need repentance”. The “righteous” here is a hypothetical category of people, not an actual one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.