I would say.. let your trust in others be earned. Don't trust people in general until you get to know them.. is where I am at these days. We have created such an individualistic, self-serving society with a decrease in empathy and I would say a lack of shared values and ethics... why trust at all? Those days when I generally trust others before I seriously know them, for me, are gone. ..and even then, I have been surprised even after knowing folks for many years. It's tricky business.... with humans.. in our society at the time... So yes, Amen to this verse.
I've said before, and I will say it again- most times when I hear people arguing over leaders, it sounds like, no, the "house of Ceaser is best", no, the "house of Claudius is best"- either way, the Emperor is not God.
In his letters from prison, Bonhoeffer talks about how the upsurge of power of a person or institution captures people so much that they lose their ability for independent thinking. He names this phenomena folly (or stupidity) and notes that folly is more dangerous to the good than malice. It's not an intellectual issue, he qualifies. There are many smart people who succumb to folly. It seems to be a trance or seduction. To me, Bonhoeffer is describing a cult. This relates to some of the material in your book, "Reviving Old Scratch". I believe you used the term zeitgeist, which probably is a broader reality than a cult. Perhaps, certain zeitgeist conditions till the soil for cults, though. I don't know how else to understand the complete dismissal of the gospel, Jesus is Lord, for the embrace of human princes.
I would say.. let your trust in others be earned. Don't trust people in general until you get to know them.. is where I am at these days. We have created such an individualistic, self-serving society with a decrease in empathy and I would say a lack of shared values and ethics... why trust at all? Those days when I generally trust others before I seriously know them, for me, are gone. ..and even then, I have been surprised even after knowing folks for many years. It's tricky business.... with humans.. in our society at the time... So yes, Amen to this verse.
One. Hundred. Percent.
I've said before, and I will say it again- most times when I hear people arguing over leaders, it sounds like, no, the "house of Ceaser is best", no, the "house of Claudius is best"- either way, the Emperor is not God.
True!
Amen and Amen!
In his letters from prison, Bonhoeffer talks about how the upsurge of power of a person or institution captures people so much that they lose their ability for independent thinking. He names this phenomena folly (or stupidity) and notes that folly is more dangerous to the good than malice. It's not an intellectual issue, he qualifies. There are many smart people who succumb to folly. It seems to be a trance or seduction. To me, Bonhoeffer is describing a cult. This relates to some of the material in your book, "Reviving Old Scratch". I believe you used the term zeitgeist, which probably is a broader reality than a cult. Perhaps, certain zeitgeist conditions till the soil for cults, though. I don't know how else to understand the complete dismissal of the gospel, Jesus is Lord, for the embrace of human princes.