[Vision2020] Reply to Metzler & Mix on imprecatory prayer

[Paul Rumelhart]

Taro Tanaka wrote:

>So there we have it: imprecatory prayer offered by people, and answered by 
>God, in the very model of Christian worship given to us by the Greek 
>scriptures. And it is a model for us, because Jesus Himself taught us, "Thy 
>will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven." Worship is the Christian's 
>warfare, and imprecatory prayers are part of our arsenal. If that causes you 
>to stumble as a Christian, I shall be praying for God to work in your heart 
>with His Holy Spirit so that you will be able to mature to accept the 
>entirety of His truth.
>  
>

Isn't there a place, deep down in your heart, that knows that asking God 
to smite someone for you is no different than doing it yourself?  
Doesn't that part of you whisper to you that such behavior is wrong?

I'm not a biblical scholar, and have no real wish to be.  It's a 
mishmash of history, violence, ideas outmoded by time, and the 
occasional piece of really beautiful advice.  Perhaps you should treat 
it as a test: find the portions that you actually think and feel are 
right - and follow those.

Just my two cents.

Paul