Quote:
Originally Posted by Bitsy  These things are very simple. |
You're right, it's not rocket science. It's a combination of philosophy, theology, history, philology, psychology and sociology that is required to truly understand its intended meaning and application.
Keith is absolutely right when he says that you must share a worldview for that particular quote to be applicable. It refers to the fact that we should all share a common view towards the good of man, and be working towards it together. Therefore every individual in a community that shares the common goal is no more important than his role in helping to achieve that. Everybody should be treated with respect because everybody has a part to play in achieving the common good. In that sense everybody is truly equal and nobody can be more successful than the success of the whole group.
The common goal is in fact twofold. It is to practically assist in the shared task of developing a prosperous and peaceful society whilst also worshipping the divine. It is a double standard of virtues, and one that we rejected in adopting our modern liberalist society. Liberalism does not recognise an objective morality and that is why we are all free to make up our own minds. Society is no longer a team, rather a collection of isoltaed individuals. Jesus' quotes can only be understood in terms of the culture which he was communicating with. To try to understand them as categorical imperatives is a mistake because that takes them entirely out of the context they were meant for.
Anyway, in this rejected classical scheme of thought, which Jesus was a part of, anybody who doesn't work towards the common good has simultaneously rejected themselves from God's kingdom in the religious sense AND the literal sense because they have separated themselves from their community.