Loving Our Enemies

  • Thread starter Thread starter jbettin
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jbettin

Guest
A book I’m reading (Rabbi Joseph Tulushkin’s Love Your Neighbor As Yourself) has brought up some interesting things to ponder, and I thought I’d throw them out here and see what this group thinks.

Jesus told us very clearly to love our enemies. (Matt 5:44, Luke 6:27, 6:35) However, Scripture also describes certain men as “evil men” (e.g. 2 Sam 23:6) , and says that we should hate evil (e.g. Rom 12:9).

So, the two questions I have are:
  1. Can we say that there are men who are intrinsically evil? It seems to me that there’s no other way to describe the likes of Kim Jong-il, Mao, Stalin, Hitler, and Saddam, as well as plenty of men who are evil on a smaller scale, like the wife-beater or child-abuser. Or the abortionist! That’s not to say that those monsters aren’t ever kind to anyone; rather, the good they do is insignificant relative to the evil.
  2. How does the command to love our enemies change if those enemies are truly evil men? It’s one thing to treat someone kindly, knowing that they’re, say, constantly gossiping about you. But what does loving your enemy mean with respect to the drug dealer next door? It seems to me that one first needs to love the evil man’s innocent victims, and do whatever it takes to stop the evil, which could potentially include killing the evil man. It also seems to me that it could never be morally acceptable to have a friendship with an evil man.
Tulushkin proposes Confuscius’ way of thinking. When he was asked “What do you think of repaying evil with kindness?”, Confucius replied “Then what are you going to repay kindness with? Repay kindness with kindness, but repay evil with justice.” How does that square with Jesus’ command to love our enemies?
 
Men are not evil. Men do evil things. Hitler was not evil personified. He was a man who did a whole lot of evil. We hate the evil while we love the man. Loving does not mean liking, and loving does not mean necessarily having a friendship with, but we must pray for their souls and ask God to change their hearts and minds, and actions, so that they stop doing evil things.

We do treat evil with justice, but we can love someone, even as we lock them in prison for life.
 
We are to Love like Jesus loves.

What earthly Father would hate his Son if he were a bank robber… No, Dad would continue to love his son. That does not condone the sin… In fact a loving Dad would call the police and have the boy arrested.
 
Will_B said:
We are to Love like Jesus loves.

What earthly Father would hate his Son if he were a bank robber… No, Dad would continue to love his son. That does not condone the sin… In fact a loving Dad would call the police and have the boy arrested.
Click to expand...
I don’t believe that the majority of fathers out their would (“hate”) their son if he had committed the crime of bank robbery. Sure it would behoove the father knowing that his son did rob a bank, but “hate” seems an awfully strong reaction. Perhaps some fathers would turn their son into authorities. But if a father did not turn his law breaking son in, is it really fair to judge the father for not taking such a course of action. The laws of justice with mankind are far different than our merciful God whose supreme justice outscores any justice in a human court of law. Of course no one condones bank robbery which is a sin that breaks one of God’s Commandments.
 
That makes sense to me, and was indeed where my thoughts were heading. One problem was that I’m definitely no theologian, so I think I used the word “intrinsically” incorrectly. Let me see if I can clarify more accurately:

If someone were “intrinsically” evil, that would mean that he was actually created evil. Which no man is, because we were all created in God’s image and likeness. However, if someone uses his free will to DO evil, then he’d be morally evil, and we need to do whatever is necessary to protect others from him. Besides which, if he’s doing evil, he’s also separating himself from God, possibly forever. Therefore, “loving” our enemy means stopping him from doing evil.

Is that correct?
Farley4334 said:
Men are not evil. Men do evil things. Hitler was not evil personified. He was a man who did a whole lot of evil. We hate the evil while we love the man. Loving does not mean liking, and loving does not mean necessarily having a friendship with, but we must pray for their souls and ask God to change their hearts and minds, and actions, so that they stop doing evil things.

We do treat evil with justice, but we can love someone, even as we lock them in prison for life.
Click to expand...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top