Christians, Muslims, Jews....A Question About Love

[Deeje]

All Abrahamic faiths include the Law of Moses in their holy writings.....some comments in another thread prompted me to ask....do all follow the instruction from God given through Moses?

Deut 5:9, 10:
"I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (ESV or whatever translation you use.)

Deut 6:5
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

It is clear that "steadfast love" is what God gives to those who truly love him and keep his commandments. And God expects such steadfast love to be returned to him with no reservations or hesitation.

Lev 19:18:
"You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord."

The Jews understood this to mean that they could not take vengeance apart from the law or even hold a grudge against a brother. They were to love their neighbors as themselves. We all know that the "Golden Rule" is something we should all strive to uphold.....but how hard do we try to live up to it?

For Christians, Jesus was asked...."Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus confirmed that 'loving God with all we have' is the greatest commandment and the second was to love our neighbor as ourselves'. So nothing changed as far as God was concerned....this law applied to all who worship the God of Abraham. Still as binding now as it always was.

Fast forward to today. In the world we see all three of the Abrahamic faiths virtually at war with one another in various parts of the Middle East and now spilling over into other parts of the globe. In fact it would be safe to say that the three major Abrahamic religions are the worst offenders when it comes to fomenting wars and spilling blood. Yet if they were living up to the tenets of their own holy writings, we should see peace, not hatred and bloodshed. They can all point fingers at one another and say "well, he started it".....but is this an excuse? We are all supposedly "fellow worshippers" of the same God (Abraham's God) and we all have his laws to guide us, so why are we ignoring them? If God blesses those who are obedient to his commands, is this the reason why we see no blessings from God on the warmongers?

DNA testing has now confirmed that we are all virtual brothers under the skin. We are ONE race...the HUMAN race. Those who worship the God of Abraham are under obligation to keep God's law.

So the next obvious question is.....how do you make the hating stop when it goes back to Cain and Abel?
Brotherly love was lost so long ago and sin has produce hatred that is stronger than love. If humankind could love even half as well as they hate, we would not have such a wicked world to deal with. These heinous acts of hatred seen on a daily basis would cease offending what sensibilities we have left.

Can we claim even a personal victory by eradicating hatred from our hearts and embracing people of all nations as fellow humans and as deserving of life as anyone of us? Can we leave the judgments to God?

We have the precious truths from God's holy word to offer to all mankind.....but it seems that we too focused on our politics and racial and religious hatreds to "love" in the real sense of the word.

For Christians this goes even further, as Jesus said....."If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:20, 21)

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:43, 44)

We have even less excuse to hate or to kill. Are these just words? Or do we really believe them enough to put them into action?

 

[Godobeyer]

All Abrahamic faiths include the Law of Moses in their holy writings.....some comments in another thread prompted me to ask....do all follow the instruction from God given through Moses?

Deut 5:9, 10:
"I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (ESV or whatever translation you use.)

Deut 6:5
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

It is clear that "steadfast love" is what God gives to those who truly love him and keep his commandments. And God expects such steadfast love to be returned to him with no reservations or hesitation.

Lev 19:18:
"You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord."

The Jews understood this to mean that they could not take vengeance apart from the law or even hold a grudge against a brother. They were to love their neighbors as themselves. We all know that the "Golden Rule" is something we should all strive to uphold.....but how hard do we try to live up to it?

For Christians, Jesus was asked...."Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus confirmed that 'loving God with all we have' is the greatest commandment and the second was to love our neighbor as ourselves'. So nothing changed as far as God was concerned....this law applied to all who worship the God of Abraham. Still as binding now as it always was.

Fast forward to today. In the world we see all three of the Abrahamic faiths virtually at war with one another in various parts of the Middle East and now spilling over into other parts of the globe. In fact it would be safe to say that the three major Abrahamic religions are the worst offenders when it comes to fomenting wars and spilling blood. Yet if they were living up to the tenets of their own holy writings, we should see peace, not hatred and bloodshed. They can all point fingers at one another and say "well, he started it".....but is this an excuse? We are all supposedly "fellow worshippers" of the same God (Abraham's God) and we all have his laws to guide us, so why are we ignoring them? If God blesses those who are obedient to his commands, is this the reason why we see no blessings from God on the warmongers?

DNA testing has now confirmed that we are all virtual brothers under the skin. We are ONE race...the HUMAN race. Those who worship the God of Abraham are under obligation to keep God's law.

So the next obvious question is.....how do you make the hating stop when it goes back to Cain and Abel?
Brotherly love was lost so long ago and sin has produce hatred that is stronger than love. If humankind could love even half as well as they hate, we would not have such a wicked world to deal with. These heinous acts of hatred seen on a daily basis would cease offending what sensibilities we have left.

Can we claim even a personal victory by eradicating hatred from our hearts and embracing people of all nations as fellow humans and as deserving of life as anyone of us? Can we leave the judgments to God?

We have the precious truths from God's holy word to offer to all mankind.....but it seems that we too focused on our politics and racial and religious hatreds to "love" in the real sense of the word.

For Christians this goes even further, as Jesus said....."If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:20, 21)

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:43, 44)

We have even less excuse to hate or to kill. Are these just words? Or do we really believe them enough to put them into action?

Love in Islam is action doing good deeds ,especially to poor people,and orphans and avoid to do bad deeds .

I don't agree with concept of "love your enemy" it's like forcing the heart to be hypocrisy, How I should love someone kill my mother or rape my wife ...;etc ?


, I do agree with Quran when said forgive whom did bad to you ,God said too " doing good with someone hate you ,then you become love each other"

 

[jeager106]

I've always thought ALL humankind was related. How could it be any different?
I wish we ACTED like we were all related.

 

[arthra]

All Abrahamic faiths include the Law of Moses in their holy writings.....some comments in another thread prompted me to ask....do all follow the instruction from God given through Moses?

I think for Baha'is there is the recognition that the spiritual teachings of the Messengers of God are the same and essentially you have pointed this out by quoting Jesus in confirming the "two greatest commandments" above..

The laws and ordinances of the Messengers change from dispensation to dispensation as in the case of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is quoted as saying "You have heard.... but I say unto you" in Matthew 5th chapter.

 

[David1967]

All Abrahamic faiths include the Law of Moses in their holy writings.....some comments in another thread prompted me to ask....do all follow the instruction from God given through Moses?

Deut 5:9, 10:
"I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (ESV or whatever translation you use.)

Deut 6:5
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

It is clear that "steadfast love" is what God gives to those who truly love him and keep his commandments. And God expects such steadfast love to be returned to him with no reservations or hesitation.

Lev 19:18:
"You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord."

The Jews understood this to mean that they could not take vengeance apart from the law or even hold a grudge against a brother. They were to love their neighbors as themselves. We all know that the "Golden Rule" is something we should all strive to uphold.....but how hard do we try to live up to it?

For Christians, Jesus was asked...."Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus confirmed that 'loving God with all we have' is the greatest commandment and the second was to love our neighbor as ourselves'. So nothing changed as far as God was concerned....this law applied to all who worship the God of Abraham. Still as binding now as it always was.

Fast forward to today. In the world we see all three of the Abrahamic faiths virtually at war with one another in various parts of the Middle East and now spilling over into other parts of the globe. In fact it would be safe to say that the three major Abrahamic religions are the worst offenders when it comes to fomenting wars and spilling blood. Yet if they were living up to the tenets of their own holy writings, we should see peace, not hatred and bloodshed. They can all point fingers at one another and say "well, he started it".....but is this an excuse? We are all supposedly "fellow worshippers" of the same God (Abraham's God) and we all have his laws to guide us, so why are we ignoring them? If God blesses those who are obedient to his commands, is this the reason why we see no blessings from God on the warmongers?

DNA testing has now confirmed that we are all virtual brothers under the skin. We are ONE race...the HUMAN race. Those who worship the God of Abraham are under obligation to keep God's law.

So the next obvious question is.....how do you make the hating stop when it goes back to Cain and Abel?
Brotherly love was lost so long ago and sin has produce hatred that is stronger than love. If humankind could love even half as well as they hate, we would not have such a wicked world to deal with. These heinous acts of hatred seen on a daily basis would cease offending what sensibilities we have left.

Can we claim even a personal victory by eradicating hatred from our hearts and embracing people of all nations as fellow humans and as deserving of life as anyone of us? Can we leave the judgments to God?

We have the precious truths from God's holy word to offer to all mankind.....but it seems that we too focused on our politics and racial and religious hatreds to "love" in the real sense of the word.

For Christians this goes even further, as Jesus said....."If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:20, 21)

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:43, 44)

We have even less excuse to hate or to kill. Are these just words? Or do we really believe them enough to put them into action?

Outstanding Deeje. You have articulated that question very well.

 

[jeager106]

Outstanding Deeje. You have articulated that question very well.

I'll congratulate you on that post also!
Well said.

 

[David1967]

I'll congratulate you on that post also!
Well said.

Thank you Jeager. In answer to Deeje's question, I believe that God looks down in sadness at the violence that has been committed by the religions that name Him as their God against each other. I think that debating our faiths and our different understandings of God can be a useful and healthy thing that can hopefully bring us to a better understanding of Him whether we call Him Jehovah, Allah, or simply God, as well as a more compassionate understanding of each other. Perhaps Gods desire is that we search for and diligently seek to better understand the
awesome and mysterious greatness of our creator. But never in a spirit of self righteousness, or hatred for one another in His name. That to me is the challenge for us all, Christian, Muslim and Jew alike. Sadly over the last couple of millennium we have often failed. Hopefully we will do better.

 

[Tumah]

All Abrahamic faiths include the Law of Moses in their holy writings.....some comments in another thread prompted me to ask....do all follow the instruction from God given through Moses?

Deut 5:9, 10:
"I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (ESV or whatever translation you use.)

Deut 6:5
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

It is clear that "steadfast love" is what God gives to those who truly love him and keep his commandments. And God expects such steadfast love to be returned to him with no reservations or hesitation.

That's not clear at all considering the word there actually "kindness". "and does kindness to My loved ones to those that love Me and keeps My commandments."
Also, from the context of these verses, its clear that loving G-d comes before G-d doing kindness.

Lev 19:18:
"You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord."

The Jews understood this to mean that they could not take vengeance apart from the law or even hold a grudge against a brother. They were to love their neighbors as themselves. We all know that the "Golden Rule" is something we should all strive to uphold.....but how hard do we try to live up to it?

What does this have to do with Christians and Muslims?

For Christians, Jesus was asked...."Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus confirmed that 'loving God with all we have' is the greatest commandment and the second was to love our neighbor as ourselves'. So nothing changed as far as God was concerned....this law applied to all who worship the God of Abraham. Still as binding now as it always was.

The Torah was given to Jews, not non-Jews. These verses have nothing to do with you in any shape way or form. If you want to love other people, that's fine and all. But don't put your Christians reinterpretation onto others. "Jesus said so" means squat.

Fast forward to today. In the world we see all three of the Abrahamic faiths virtually at war with one another in various parts of the Middle East and now spilling over into other parts of the globe. In fact it would be safe to say that the three major Abrahamic religions are the worst offenders when it comes to fomenting wars and spilling blood. Yet if they were living up to the tenets of their own holy writings, we should see peace, not hatred and bloodshed. They can all point fingers at one another and say "well, he started it".....but is this an excuse? We are all supposedly "fellow worshippers" of the same God (Abraham's God) and we all have his laws to guide us, so why are we ignoring them? If God blesses those who are obedient to his commands, is this the reason why we see no blessings from God on the warmongers?

Speak for yourself.

DNA testing has now confirmed that we are all virtual brothers under the skin. We are ONE race...the HUMAN race. Those who worship the God of Abraham are under obligation to keep God's law.

DNA testing has no bearing on Jewish Law.

So the next obvious question is.....how do you make the hating stop when it goes back to Cain and Abel?
Brotherly love was lost so long ago and sin has produce hatred that is stronger than love. If humankind could love even half as well as they hate, we would not have such a wicked world to deal with. These heinous acts of hatred seen on a daily basis would cease offending what sensibilities we have left.

Can we claim even a personal victory by eradicating hatred from our hearts and embracing people of all nations as fellow humans and as deserving of life as anyone of us? Can we leave the judgments to God?

Goes back to Cain and Abel, what? Do you think murder is inherited or something???

We have the precious truths from God's holy word to offer to all mankind.....but it seems that we too focused on our politics and racial and religious hatreds to "love" in the real sense of the word.

Who's "we" white man?

For Christians this goes even further, as Jesus said....."If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:20, 21)

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:43, 44)

We have even less excuse to hate or to kill. Are these just words? Or do we really believe them enough to put them into action?

No, we don't believe in them, because we are not Christians.

 

[DawudTalut]

........
We have even less excuse to hate or to kill. Are these just words? Or do we really believe them enough to put them into action?

Peace be on you.
IMO, Those who are at war and destroy peace, they do not actually care about religion or God. Their aims are material gains, geographic and natural resources. They use religion as cover.

 

[Deeje]

Love in Islam is action doing good deeds ,especially to poor people,and orphans and avoid to do bad deeds .

I guess most religions teach this...but do they practice it? If we all took care of our own, shared what we have with those who have nothing....who would be in poverty or need?

I don't agree with concept of "love your enemy" it's like forcing the heart to be hypocrisy, How I should love someone kill my mother or rape my wife ...;etc ?

To "love" an enemy is to "agape" them. This is not philea (brotherly love) or strorge ( family love)......Agape is love based on principle. It is to love in the sense of not hating someone who hates you, and doing no harm to those who wish harm to you. It means that instead of vengeance or retaliation, we are to forgive and conquer evil with good. It is the hardest love of all to show, but it proves that we are children of God.

I do agree with Quran when said forgive whom did bad to you ,God said too " doing good with someone hate you ,then you become love each other"

Is it too hard to forgive? Would God ask us to forgive someone who did bad to us if it was too difficult?

 

[Deeje]

n answer to Deeje's question, I believe that God looks down in sadness at the violence that has been committed by the religions that name Him as their God against each other. I think that debating our faiths and our different understandings of God can be a useful and healthy thing that can hopefully bring us to a better understanding of Him whether we call Him Jehovah, Allah, or simply God, as well as a more compassionate understanding of each other. Perhaps Gods desire is that we search for and diligently seek to better understand the awesome and mysterious greatness of our creator. But never in a spirit of self righteousness, or hatred for one another in His name. That to me is the challenge for us all, Christian, Muslim and Jew alike. Sadly over the last couple of millennium we have often failed. Hopefully we will do better.

I think "sad" would barely describe God's reaction to what he is seeing in the world at present....the atrocities that humans, made in his image, have perpetrated in his name, defy description. As humans living in a supposedly civilized age and with incredible advances in technology, we still can't get the basic fundamentals right. We can make war...but not peace. If we spent as much money on saving lives as we do on taking them, and if we shared our resources and wealth, there would be no poverty in the world.

Since we all descended from one man, we are all related. Every human is our brother or sister. As humans moved further and further away from God's standards, and more and more into ideas about other deities and false worship, his conduct kept sinking to new lows. We continue to sink, rather than to raise our standards.

The challenge it seems to me is to know what God says and simply do it. He has outlined everything we need to know in his word so there is no excuse for ignorance or disobedience.

When a nation goes to war (regardless of the reason) every human being has the opportunity to stand up and be counted as a "peacemaker" (Matthew 5:9)....refusing to be drawn into the conflict.
Today we all understand a "peacekeeper" to be someone in a uniform with an assault rifle. That is not a "peacemaker". Peace begins in the heart of man with love of God and neighbor.
We make peace by refusing to fight wars. No greedy or corrupt humans have the right to overstep the commands of God for political advantage and rob us of our peace.

 

[Deeje]

I think for Baha'is there is the recognition that the spiritual teachings of the Messengers of God are the same and essentially you have pointed this out by quoting Jesus in confirming the "two greatest commandments" above..

What is the difference between believing in something and actively upholding it? Recognizing a teaching and actively putting that teaching into practice are two entirely different things.

The laws and ordinances of the Messengers change from dispensation to dispensation as in the case of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is quoted as saying "You have heard.... but I say unto you" in Matthew 5th chapter.

Actually I take that to mean that Jesus was correcting the the teachings of the oral law, not the Law of Moses. When he said "but I say to you" he was reiterating the Law of Moses, the meaning of which was largely lost to the oral traditions.

 

[Deeje]

That's not clear at all considering the word there actually "kindness". "and does kindness to My loved ones to those that love Me and keeps My commandments."
Also, from the context of these verses, its clear that loving G-d comes before G-d doing kindness.

What does this have to do with Christians and Muslims?

The Torah was given to Jews, not non-Jews. These verses have nothing to do with you in any shape way or form. If you want to love other people, that's fine and all. But don't put your Christians reinterpretation onto others. "Jesus said so" means squat.

Speak for yourself.

DNA testing has no bearing on Jewish Law.

Goes back to Cain and Abel, what? Do you think murder is inherited or something???

Who's "we" white man?

No, we don't believe in them, because we are not Christians.

I think we can see an example of why there is no peace between us. Such a lot of anger expressed here.....why?
What makes Jews think they are so special? Their history certainly does not attest to their obedience to God's laws. Perhaps if everyone learned to love their neighbors a little more they might see the blessings that God promised Abraham. Making peace is not something humans are very good at....especially when there seems to be a sense of superiority.

The Jews might have been given the Torah, but the promise made to Abraham was for the blessing of all the nations.

It isn't murder that is inherited, but the mindset of Cain in hating his brother.

DNA testing has revealed that we are all one race and therefore all responsible before God to uphold his laws.

God's blessing was promised to those who keep his laws......so who is doing that? Do you see the Jews of today as blessed? No one is blessed...not Jew....not Muslim....not Christian , because no one is truly obeying their Creator. They show that they do not love God because they cannot love their neighbors.

 

[Deeje]

Peace be on you.
IMO, Those who are at war and destroy peace, they do not actually care about religion or God. Their aims are material gains, geographic and natural resources. They use religion as cover.

I agree...many use religion as mask for hatred. Their motives are anything but godly.

 

[Tumah]

I think we can see an example of why there is no peace between us. Such a lot of anger expressed here.....why?

Because if you wanted to speak to different people's you should use universal language. Instead you chose to frame it under Christian theology. I'm not a Christian, and I do not care about your theology.

What makes Jews think they are so special? Their history certainly does not attest to their obedience to God's laws.

What does one have to do with the other. Because of our Patriarchs, G-d chose us as the nation among all the other nations to give His Torah to. After that, other nations decided to take it for themselves and thought they bound themselves to it, by tweaking some passages here and there. But not one of them or their ancestors stood at Mt. Sinai and heard G-d command it directly to them.

Perhaps if everyone learned to love their neighbors a little more they might see the blessings that God promised Abraham.

I am not commanded to love non-Jews. Living peacefully is of course an ideal and I could respect and agree with you had you framed it in that fashion. But as a command from G-d about how I should feel towards you? There is no such thing.

Making peace is not something humans are very good at....especially when there seems to be a sense of superiority.

Is that the defense mechanism you use? Because I think you are wrong it must be because of a sense of superiority I feel and not because I actually think that you're wrong?

The Jews might have been given the Torah, but the promise made to Abraham was for the blessing of all the nations.

It says that through Abraham the nations would be blessed. There is no indication that this promise applies to Abraham's children. Can you prove that this verse wasn't already fulfilled in Abraham's time?

It isn't murder that is inherited, but the mindset of Cain in hating his brother.

I love my brothers. And my sisters. And my whole extended family of Jews.
And as a descendant of Seth, its difficult to say that I would inherit something from Cain altogether.

DNA testing has revealed that we are all one race and therefore all responsible before God to uphold his laws.

Presumably this concept was already known to G-d when He chose the nation of Israel. And yet He still chose one group out of the whole race. So let's just assume that DNA wasn't relevant to G-d.

God's blessing was promised to those who keep his laws...

You mean, "Jews who keep His Laws".

...so who is doing that?

Me.

Do you see the Jews of today as blessed?

Yes!

No one is blessed...

Wrong.

not Jew..

Wrong.

..not Muslim..

Wrong.

..not Christian

Wrong.

because no one is truly obeying their Creator.

So start keeping the 7 Noahide Laws.

They show that they do not love God because they cannot love their neighbors.

There is no linkage between loving one's neighbor and loving G-d other than in a general way as with keeping all G-d's Laws. But of course non-Jews are not commanded to love G-d or one's neighbor. So that's not really relevant.

 

[Flankerl]

I think we can see an example of why there is no peace between us. Such a lot of anger expressed here.....why?

No idea m8, no idea at all.

What makes Jews think they are so special?

Christians who question this are probably illiterate. Which is very sad and doesn't have to be this way.

Their history certainly does not attest to their obedience to God's laws.

Yeah we are really bad. These here are the good guys.

Perhaps if everyone learned to love their neighbors a little more they might see the blessings that God promised Abraham. Making peace is not something humans are very good at....especially when there seems to be a sense of superiority.

So you Christians burned us alive/murdered/raped/enslaved/...........................................................................for centuries and now we are the ones who are the problem to making peace?

Yeah sure why not.

 

[Godobeyer]

I guess most religions teach this...but do they practice it? If we all took care of our own, shared what we have with those who have nothing....who would be in poverty or need?

Some practice some not.

To "love" an enemy is to "agape" them. This is not philea (brotherly love) or strorge ( family love)......Agape is love based on principle. It is to love in the sense of not hating someone who hates you, and doing no harm to those who wish harm to you. It means that instead of vengeance or retaliation, we are to forgive and conquer evil with good. It is the hardest love of all to show, but it proves that we are children of God.

Ok that me how we are children of God ?
My father is human ,God is my Creator.

Is it too hard to forgive? Would God ask us to forgive someone who did bad to us if it was too difficult?

God call us to forgive,but He let it as a personal choice, to forgive or not. (not obligation)

 

[arthra]

It is clear that "steadfast love" is what God gives to those who truly love him and keep his commandments. And God expects such steadfast love to be returned to him with no reservations or hesitation.

There are four kinds of love delineated by Abdul-Baha as follows and I think they apply here:

There are four kinds of love.

The first is the love that flows from God to man; it consists of the inexhaustible graces, the Divine effulgence and heavenly illumination. Through this love the world of being receives life. Through this love man is endowed with physical existence, until, through the breath of the Holy Spirit -- this same love -- he receives eternal life and becomes the image of the Living God. This love is the origin of all the love in the world of creation.

58.5
The second is the love that flows from man to God. This is faith, attraction to the Divine, enkindlement, progress, entrance into the Kingdom of God, receiving the Bounties of God, illumination with the lights of the Kingdom. This love is the origin of all philanthropy; this love causes the hearts of men to reflect the rays of the Sun of Reality.

58.6
The third is the love of God towards the Self or Identity of God. This is the transfiguration of His Beauty, the reflection of Himself in the mirror of His Creation. This is the reality of love, the Ancient Love, the Eternal Love. Through one ray of this Love all other love exists.

58.7
The fourth is the love of man for man. The love which exists between the hearts of believers is prompted by the ideal of the unity of spirits....

(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 182)

 

[Deeje]

Because if you wanted to speak to different people's you should use universal language. Instead you chose to frame it under Christian theology. I'm not a Christian, and I do not care about your theology.

Jesus was Jewish and taught from the Torah. Just because the proud Jewish leaders of the day rejected his teachings, didn't make him a false Messiah. We as Christians are supposed to be worshipping the same God who chose the nation of Israel as his people. But why did he choose them? As you said it was because of the Patriarchs...Abraham, and through his family line the promise was carried to Isaac and then to Jacob...his twelve sons became heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. We all know that and we know about the law God gave to his people, but it wasn't because they were in any way superior....he wanted one nation to single out so that he could demonstrate his guidance and wisdom by the fact that they obeyed his laws.....he did not make a covenant with any other nation, yet Israel failed time after time. It is hardly a history to be proud of. Though there were individuals who were faithful and obedient, the nation as a whole never lived up to their end of the agreement. (Ex 19:3-8)

What does one have to do with the other. Because of our Patriarchs, G-d chose us as the nation among all the other nations to give His Torah to. After that, other nations decided to take it for themselves and thought they bound themselves to it, by tweaking some passages here and there. But not one of them or their ancestors stood at Mt. Sinai and heard G-d command it directly to them.

As covenant breakers, God was under no obligation to even keep Israel in existence....after the incident with the golden calf, he wanted to "put an end to them" (Ex 32:7-10).
The covenant was a legally binding agreement and they willingly entered into it.....but breaking the conditions of the covenant made it invalid. Yet God stuck to it because of his promise to Abraham and true to his word, he produced the Messiah. Israel's non acceptance of the one who came into the world, not to start a new religion, but to clean up the old one, in no way negates his role. Whether he is accepted or not by the people of the world, will not alter the course of history. Prophesy is written and nothing can stop what God has purposed.

If Jews could just see that the humble carpenter was the one sent to save them and make them a "royal priesthood and a holy nation" they could be brothers with Christ's disciples.
When I speak of Christ's disciples, I am not speaking about those who wear a Christian label but do nothing to follow Christ's teachings, I am talking about those who truly believe in the law of Love and put it into practice in their everyday lives. God knows whether we are his servants or not simply by our attitude and actions. He hates hypocrites.

I am not commanded to love non-Jews. Living peacefully is of course an ideal and I could respect and agree with you had you framed it in that fashion. But as a command from G-d about how I should feel towards you? There is no such thing.

Who is your neighbor?

It says that through Abraham the nations would be blessed. There is no indication that this promise applies to Abraham's children. Can you prove that this verse wasn't already fulfilled in Abraham's time?

"I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Gen 12:3)

"inasmuch as Avraham is sure to become a great and strong nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by him? (Gen 18:18)

Are "all the families of the earth" Jewish?

I love my brothers. And my sisters. And my whole extended family of Jews.
And as a descendant of Seth, its difficult to say that I would inherit something from Cain altogether.

What do you believe happened in the garden of Eden to warrant the prophesy in Gen 3:15?

Since Seth is the son of Adam, he inherited exactly the same genetics as his brothers. What do you believe "sin" is?

Presumably this concept was already known to G-d when He chose the nation of Israel. And yet He still chose one group out of the whole race. So let's just assume that DNA wasn't relevant to G-d.

How can DNA be irrelevant to the Creator of all men? He is the one who used DNA to form the race that descended from Adam. We all are descendants of Adam through Noah, since all other humans perished in the global deluge.

You mean, "Jews who keep His Laws".

So you are telling me that you keep all the laws of God perfectly? Really?

I asked you if you see the Jews of today as blessed? and you answered "yes".

Can you tell me what those blessings might be? I don't see Israel untouched by the scourge of war and hatred. Those who obeyed God were to be blessed with peace...where is it?Jews don't have it...Muslims don't have it.....and neither do those who call themselves Christians. It isn't what we call ourselves or what nation we were born into....God is looking for what is in the heart. We will all be judged on who we are, not just how we performed. (1 Sam 16:7)

So start keeping the 7 Noahide Laws.

1. Do Not Deny God
2. Do Not Blaspheme God
3. Do Not Murder
4. Do Not Engage in Incestuous, Adulterous or Homosexual Relationships.
5. Do Not Steal
6. Do Not Eat of a Live Animal
7. Establish Courts/Legal System to Ensure Law Obedience

I do keep the Noahide laws....do you? I have no problem with any of them.

There is no linkage between loving one's neighbor and loving G-d other than in a general way as with keeping all G-d's Laws. But of course non-Jews are not commanded to love G-d or one's neighbor. So that's not really relevant.

Since Christians are commanded by Christ to uphold the "two greatest commandments" in the law of Moses...i.e. to love God with all we have in us and to love our neighbors as ourselves, and he said that on these two commands, the law and the prophets hang, then we are obligated to love our neighbors regardless of what nationality they are.

Everyone is our neighbor. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all felt that way, instead of the way it is now?...all carved up and fighting over who owns what bit of dirt or the resources underneath it?

The earth belongs to God...all of it....and his command to Adam and Eve in the garden was to "fill the earth and subdue it"....what do you think would have happened if they had simply obeyed God's instruction?

 

[Deeje]

Some practice some not.

How does God feel about that?

Ok that me how we are children of God ?
My father is human ,God is my Creator.

You don't think that we can be God's children? He is our Father....the one who caused each of us to be born.
If Angels can be called "sons of God" why can't we? We are his creation too...made in his image.

Christians are taught that God is their Father. Is this not a concept in Islam?

God call us to forgive,but He let it as a personal choice, to forgive or not. (not obligation)

Is there a penalty for making the wrong choice? Naturally God wants us to be as forgiving as he is....doesn't he?