Judge not?

[HabemusFrancis]

This may belong in the moral theology category, and an admin is free to move it there.

We know our faith commands us not to “judge other people” or be “judgmental.” Yet what exactly is meant by this injunction?

I hate to say it, but it seems most everyone (myself included) judge circumstnaces, other people, and situations every day and all the time. Making judgements about things and people is in some ways an essential part of going through the world, of knowing up from down and right from wrong.

So often people judge others and rightly, find them to be deeply lacking in character.

The way I have understood this injunction is perhaps not to judge the merits of a persons soul, to not cast judgements or aspersion on other when their life/circumstances cannot be known? I myself am not sure though.

Can someone help me with this?

 

[LethalMouse]

Twofold:

You are not to Judge someone as God does. You can’t say well we don’t have to care for that guy ihe is 100% going to hell and irrelevant.

“Judge not or be judged first” feel free to judge, just know that in judgement you might wanna have your ducks in a row when it is your turn.

The quote was not “Judge not period” it is simply informing you of the caveats involved in doing so. Like he without sin cast the first stone… not “dont throw” but caveats

 

[fisherman_carl]

God expects us to use our good Judgment about people, behaviour, right and wrong, things, and situations. For instance you wouldn’t walk down a dark alley in a dangerous neighbourhood if you use good Judgment. Women need to use their Judgment about men and vice versa. What we can not judge is the state of someone’s soul. I heard Peter Kreeft once say not to judge yourself. If you judge yourself as doing well spiritually you are a Pharisee, and if you judge yourself as doing poorly then you are in despair. Either way is not good. Therefore, he says, let God be the judge. He is the only one qualified.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

In a nutshell, it is perfectly OK to judge peoples’ actions. We do it all the time; everything from the our legal system to sporting events.

What is not OK is to judge the individual as a person. That’s God’s job.

 

[HabemusFrancis]

God expects us to use our good Judgment about people, behaviour, right and wrong, things, and situations. For instance you wouldn’t walk down a dark alley in a dangerous neighbourhood if you use good Judgment. Women need to use their Judgment about men and vice versa. What we can not judge is the state of someone’s soul. I heard Peter Kreeft once say not to judge yourself. If you judge yourself as doing well spiritually you are a Pharisee, and if you judge yourself as doing poorly then you are in despair. Either way is not good. Therefore, he says, let God be the judge. He is the only one qualified.

Im not sure Mr. Kreeft is entirely correct. Isn’t there some sort of a medium between poor and well?

You can for instance judge if you are not following the faith or God’s commandments, and if you judge correctly, that can give an impetus to change/correct oneself instead of despair.

Likewise, you can judge your self “well enough” instead of well, if you have a regular prayer life and treat other people decently. Now there is always room for improvement, but I believe one can always give a “ball park figure” about your own spiritual state.

 

[LaetenturCaeli]

Just as we should forgive others in order for God to forgive us, so we should not condemn others if we do not want to be condemned by God.

Judging others involves imputing guilt to them, attempting to read their thoughts, their heart, and their standing before God. It also involves paying attention to their objective faults and attempting to understand their motivations for the purposes of looking down on them. It involves a certain pleasure in one’s own excellence as compared to what we think is a lack of excellence in another.

Our focus should be on removing the beam from our own eye, not telling our brother about the splinter in his.

Now, are we sometimes called to admonish our brother or sister? Are we called to help them understand that their behavior is sinful? Yes. But this needs to be done when necessary, and with the right attitude, not simply because we’re ultimately motivated by a desire to condemn which we’re simply cloaking in pious speech.

 

[kdbueno]

The radical proof of love is works.

 

[LittleFlower378]

Two ways not to judge:
1)Never judge evil as good or good as evil. Thats the judging the Book of James talkes about. Judging contraception as good would be a type of wrong judging.

2)Do not judge someone or something if you do not have a good amount or all of the information. If you see someone walk into a bar doesn’t necessarily mean they are a drunk.

It is permissible to judge actions and facts. For instance we can judge a politician who is pro abortion as being such.

There is much more to this but I Hope this helps.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

It’s okay to judge, but just be aware of that mote in your own eye.
(Judge not lest ye be judged)

But without judgment you are essentially brainless. We have to make judgments about nearly everything every day. Just don’t judge other people in a thoughtless or mean way.

 

[pianistclare]

It’s okay to judge, but just be aware of that mote in your own eye.
(Judge not lest ye be judged)

But without judgment you are essentially brainless. We have to make judgments about nearly everything every day. Just don’t judge other people in a thoughtless or mean way.

Yes. What Christine and Lost_Sheep have said.
We do make judgments constantly.
What we do not do is condemn.
Look up the biblical meaning of “judgment”.

 

[DaveBj]

Two ways not to judge:
1)Never judge evil as good or good as evil. Thats the judging the Book of James talkes about. Judging contraception as good would be a type of wrong judging.

2)Do not judge someone or something if you do not have a good amount or all of the information. If you see someone walk into a bar doesn’t necessarily mean they are a drunk.

It is permissible to judge actions and facts. For instance we can judge a politician who is pro abortion as being such.

There is much more to this but I Hope this helps.

There is another thread about judging running on a different forum. In it the OP said that a Protestant criticized him for saying that “neck tattoos are stupid.” That statement can be used as an example of the difference between permissible and impermissible judging.

As I see it, the statement “neck tattoos are stupid” is a judgment of an action (altho it could perhaps be phrased a little more politely), and therefore is permissible.

On the other hand, the statement “people who get neck tattoos are stupid” is a condemnation of a person or persons. As such, and under the terms of the discussion above, it would be impermissible. (Unless one is prepared to be judged by the same standards – “for with what measure you measure out, so shall it be measured unto you.”

 

[RPRPsych]

In a nutshell, it is perfectly OK to judge peoples’ actions. We do it all the time; everything from the our legal system to sporting events.

What is not OK is to judge the individual as a person. That’s God’s job.

 

[Bookcat]

What does judging mean?

blog.adw.org/2010/06/correcti…rk-of-charity/

blog.adw.org/2009/11/fraterna…gotten-virtue/

catholic.com/quickquestions/is-it-judgmental-to-point-out-someones-error

How are we to help our brother? *(and he us) (from Pope Benedict XVI): vatican.va/holy_father/be…t-2012_en.html

(start second paragraph)

That being said - one gives also the “benefit of the doubt” and as the Catechism notes:

2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:

Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.280

scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a8.htm#IV

(I give that as a general aspect for us always to follow.)

Giving the benefit of the doubt though does not mean that one turns a blind eye or ignores what has been done or said.

And that does not mean though that one cannot or ought not judge in terms of your choices that being around the person is not the way to go etc. Done of course with love.

And yes pray and sacrifice *(as Our Lady of Fatima asked–for sinners)

 

[fisherman_carl]

Im not sure Mr. Kreeft is entirely correct. Isn’t there some sort of a medium between poor and well?

You can for instance judge if you are not following the faith or God’s commandments, and if you judge correctly, that can give an impetus to change/correct oneself instead of despair.

Likewise, you can judge your self “well enough” instead of well, if you have a regular prayer life and treat other people decently. Now there is always room for improvement, but I believe one can always give a “ball park figure” about your own spiritual state.

Peter Kreeft’s words seem radical and are difficult for us to follow because we always want to compare ourselves with others or with how we think we should be. Certainly, if we know we are in sin we should repent. But, to judge others or even our own souls is ultimately God’s job. This forces us to put our trust in the Lord rather than in ourselves or our own doings. It’s too easy to beat ourselves up on the one hand always thinking we are not good enough (I can easily fall into this camp) or to become complacent thinking we have it made on the other hand.

Here is what Scripture says about the issue of judging ourselves.

"But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. " (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)

I heard Mother Angelica say one time that God has a certain amount of holiness that he desires for each person to attain. We are all different. God doesn’t judge us all the same because he knows it is not an equal playing field.

Also, I should mention that Kreeft calls halfway between doing wel and poor as mediocre or lukewarm which he says is not good either.

 

[fisherman_carl]

Just as we should forgive others in order for God to forgive us, so we should not condemn others if we do not want to be condemned by God.

Judging others involves imputing guilt to them, attempting to read their thoughts, their heart, and their standing before God. It also involves paying attention to their objective faults and attempting to understand their motivations for the purposes of looking down on them. It involves a certain pleasure in one’s own excellence as compared to what we think is a lack of excellence in another.

Our focus should be on removing the beam from our own eye, not telling our brother about the splinter in his.

Now, are we sometimes called to admonish our brother or sister? Are we called to help them understand that their behavior is sinful? Yes. But this needs to be done when necessary, and with the right attitude, not simply because we’re ultimately motivated by a desire to condemn which we’re simply cloaking in pious speech.

Yes. There is nothing like Jesus saying that if you do not forgive others then neither will God forgive your sins, or saying that you will be judged according to how you judged others, to motivate one to change one’s thinking.

 

[inocente]

Can someone help me with this?

"Jesus declares that the person judging will be judged (v. 1) because judging assumes a divine prerogative; final judgment belongs to God alone, and those who seek to judge others now will answer then for usurping God’s position (see also 6:12-15).

Even if we knew people’s hearts, we could not evaluate degrees of personal guilt as if we understood all the genetic and social influences that combine with personal sinful choices in making some people more vulnerable to particular temptations (such as alcohol or spouse abuse) than others. Most important, Jesus warns us that even if we knew people’s hearts, we would be in no position to judge unless we had lived sinless lives, never needing God’s forgiveness (vv. 3-5; compare 6:12, 14-15).

Many people have ripped this passage out of context, however. Jesus warns us not to assume God’s prerogative to condemn the guilty; he is not warning us not to discern truth from error (see 7:15-23). Further, Jesus does not oppose offering correction, but only offering correction in the wrong spirit (v. 5; compare 18:15-17; Gal 6:1-5)."

• biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Matt/Do-Not-Judge-Others

 

[o_mlly]

… The way I have understood this injunction is perhaps not to judge the merits of a persons soul, to not cast judgements or aspersion on other when their life/circumstances cannot be known? I myself am not sure though.

Can someone help me with this?

Venerable Sheen taught that character comes from the will, not the intellect. To build character one ought to look for the best in others and the worst in self.