Friday, June 03, 2011

MEAN PEOPLE HAVE MEAN GODS

I came across this passage from Romans when I was reading Volume 2 of F. P. Lock's biography of Edmund Burke and I was struck not only by the hatred but also the capriciousness.
Romans 9:10-15
10 Nor is that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac. 11 Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's purpose of election might continue, 12 not by works but by his call) she was told, "The elder shall serve the younger." 13 As it is written, "I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau." 14 What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
The statement about Jacob & Esau comes from Malachi 1:1-3 (New Revised Standard version)
1 An oracle. The word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. 2 I have loved you, says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" Is not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but I have hated Esau; I have made his hill country a desolation and his heritage a desert for jackals.

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