With regard to Chuck Mann’s letter, Jesus didn’t say anything against a woman becoming a bricklayer or a toolpusher, either, or a governor, or mayor or president (Oct. 13).
There are a lot of things he didn’t say. He didn’t say anything about abortion. But that is not a mandate to do those things.
The Apostle Paul did speak pretty clearly about women being silent in the church and about women not teaching men, etc., but those passages are passé in some Baptist theology. (We are far behind the Methodists, Presbyterians, etc., but maybe we will catch up and be as successful and forward thinking as they.)
I love women for their intellect, leadership and skills, and they can do a lot of things better than we men, but I really think Paul knew what he was talking about.
God bless us all as we seek to find what is his way.
Charles Downey
Conroe
Declare the ‘can’t do’s’
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If there ever was any doubt as to whom I would be voting for in the general election, it’s letters from people like Charles Reed (Oct. 27) that convince me to vote Republican.
I agree with the author of “Christian ‘brand’ is turning off younger generation” (Oct. 27) that more love needs to be expressed. But to me, a clear indication the youth are not being reached is evidenced in the photo of the youth minister that accompanied the article. I get the message by his gestures and bare feet that “the way to reach the youth is to be like them.”
What youth need more now than ever is a mature adult figure to look up to. They already have “buddies and friends.” Along with love, they need to know that “the wages of sin is death,” and if they should die in their present spiritual condition, they will spend an eternity in hell. That’s reality.
Maybe in the past we have put too much emphasis on the “thou shalt not’s,” but they do need to know there are some “can’t do’s.” Unfortunately, we have become so fearful that if we offend one they won’t come back.
F.A. Taylor
Kempner
Good Thursday
It is untenable to say our Lord was crucified on a Friday (Aug. 18, Sept. 29).
“Good Friday,” a long-revered tradition, does not appear anywhere in the Bible. It is incorrect, and it accounts for only two days and two nights despite the explicit prediction by Jesus about his time in the tomb—“three days and three nights.” He invoked the sign of Jonah for emphasis, making it one of his most specific temporal utterances. The only day that precedes Sunday by three days and three nights is Thursday, and blessed be the words of our Lord! When an ancient rabbi or a modern scholar opines, “The portion of an Onah is as the whole of it,” that is erroneous. Three plus three does not equal two plus two.
The crucifixion preceded a sunset that began the first day of Passover. It was a “Special Sabbath” (see John 19:31). The Pharisees could not attend Jesus’ trial, not yet having attended Seder. Jewish scholars tell me the first day of Passover is and always has been observed exactly as any other Sabbath, and can be any day of the week. When it occurs on Friday, there is a “double Sabbath”—two Sabbaths back to back, sunset Thursday until sunset Saturday.
Ergo, behold Sunday morning, three days and three nights after redemption on Thursday! True today, just as during Jesus’ ministry. He was a Jew, a teacher in synagogue. This is simply the one and only way we can parse correctly this teaching of Jesus!
Val Borum
Fort Worth
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