THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605240061
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ISSUES OF FAITH
SOURCE: BETSY WRIGHT
LENGTH: 83 lines
Last Week's Issue of Faith: The Great Commission
This Week's Reader Responses:
From Joseph E. Wilburn of Tabernacle Baptist Church Ministries, Virginia Beach: ``While two early copies (aleph and B) do omit the last 12 verses of Mark, they are certainly not the testimony by which one can emphatically conclude verses nine through 12 do not belong in God's Word. In fact, of the so-called five great uncials (Greek and Latin manuscripts between A.D. 300 and 900), all but aleph and B include this long ending of Mark . . . You have been misled to believe that these two early copies conclusively deny that these verses ever existed in the original. These early copies, which you are referring to, date back only to the fourth century. We do have evidence which supports these 12 verses prior to aleph and B . . . Your assumption as to why these verses were omitted is a sad attempt at making a justification of your own view . . . .
From David E. Bussiere of Virginia Beach: ``When you mentioned that Mark 16:9-20 is not an original verse from the time of the Apostles, did you also know that Matthew 28:19 has raised a few eyebrows, too? . . . The baptism formula was changed. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia there is an acknowledgment that the formula was changed by the Church. Furthermore it states in Britannica Encyclopedia, `Baptism was changed from `name of Jesus' to the words Father, Son and Holy Ghost in the second century. In addition to those statements, Canney Encyclopedia of Religion (states) `baptism was always in `the name of Jesus' until the time of Justin Martyr (Second Century).' ''
From Barbara Sturgis of Nelsonia: ``I don't believe Christ set limits outside of faith which leads to repentance which leads to atonement, `at-one-ment' as Huston Smith writes in his book, `The Religions of Man.' Christ did not come to condemn man. He came to make him whole and right with God. It is when I face Christ that I condemn myself, look at myself in a different light. Because of Christ I want to change my life; I recognize my sin, my separation from him. I want to be with him so I repent and I become whole in Christ . . . When I travel the world, as Christ's disciple, I take with me faith, hope and love. I spread the word but I spread it with love, no limits but Christ's.''
From Harold Eason of Virginia Beach: ``I believe that the mandate that Jesus gave in the following Scripture, Matthew 28: 18-20, Luke 24:46-47, John 20:21, to spread the Gospel into all the world, is necessary because people are condemned already . . . In humanity's state of guilt, it needs to hear the positive redeeming truth of the Gospel . . . I believe that the Great Commission contains the foregone conclusion of the depravity of all the human race, and its remedy: the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of all condemned people who will turn to him in repentance and faith.''
From Dyan Wood of Zuni: ``The Gospel message is simple: Acts 16:31, `Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' If there were no consequences for not believing then we wouldn't need to be saved from anything. If we were perfect without sin then we wouldn't need a Savior, but since no one is perfect and we all do sin, we need that Savior and that Savior is Jesus Christ. The Bible is clear that there is a penalty for our sin and that penalty is `death,' eternal separation from God in hell. . . ''
From the Rev. Joel T. Luetke of Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church: ``We Christians love our Lord Jesus because he has rescued us from the damnation we deserve. Together with Jesus, we Christians love those who are headed for damnation unless they repent. So together with Jesus we announce God's judgment so that they may also repent and be rescued by the good news (Gospel) of forgiveness which Jesus established by his perfect life for all people, by his sacrificial death for all sins, and his physical resurrection from the dead . . . Where Christians have done harm to non-Christians, they are at fault, not Jesus. As St. Paul wrote, `If . . . if becomes evident that we (Christians) ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!'
``Jesus does not promote hatred when he tells us to teach people everything he has taught us, including, `He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters,' (Luke 11:23). Jesus does not promote hatred when he leads us to warn the sinner who needs to repent. . . ''
From Rabbi Israel Zoberman of Congregation Beth Chaverim of Virginia Beach: ``The blood-stained history of Christianity and Western civilization is a tragic reminder that a profoundly stirring spiritual message of love and sacrifice can go awry, turned into a weapon of prejudicial hate and wanton destructiveness.
``No longer ought we tolerate any religious doctrine with a triumphalist thrust which leaves no room for a different expression of the Divine . . . In an increasingly secular world, all religions have a golden opportunity as well as a sacred responsibility to work together toward the common good, proving faith's capacity to generate goodness in a contemporary society that will benefit from its unique potential to make a difference.'' by CNB