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<DIV>Rev. Ev, you may be right, since each person is entitled to read Scripture
for themselves. That is why <EM>only </EM>those who <EM>choose </EM>to be,
remain under the authority of the Pope and the Magisterium. But you are relying
on one English translation which is different from many others (e.g., the King
James Version). With all due respect to John Wesley, he too could be wrong, or
taken out of context. I don't really believe what Jesus or Isaiah said needs to
be "explained" into a more limited meaning than the plain text. Incidentally,
the same passage says that Jesus was <EM>reading </EM>from the scroll of Isaiah,
so any distinction between what Isaiah wrote and what Jesus said is an error in
transcription or translation. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>He came to open the doors of the PRISON and bring liberty to the CAPTIVES.
At minimum, that calls for those who claim or try to follow Jesus to have more
compassion for those among our number who for one reason or another spend some
part of their life in prison. (They are not a separate class or species of
people, although their behavior may at the present time be undesirable or
dangerous. They are, according to Jesus, "the least of these my brethren".) Yes,
there is Matthew 25:31 -- to end of chapter. If you do not visit "the least of
these my brethren" in prison (he definitely means prison there) then you are in
significant danger of never making it into heaven, no matter how sincere your
profession of faith. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>No, I don't claim to judge anyone, I am merely pointing out that throwing
those in jail to the wolves and smugly saying they deserve it does not exactly
measure up to what Jesus said. Maybe it is not practical or feasible for a
nation, or a county, to live up to what Jesus said, but it IS what he said.
Christians might at least be expected to try to mitigate even the <EM>necessary
</EM>actions of the <EM>state</EM>, by trying to act <EM>individually </EM>in a
manner more like what Jesus said. (And even without Jesus, most of it is also
what Isaiah said. After all, there are millions of people in the world who
accept the authority of Isaiah, but do not believe that Isaiah was talking about
Yeshua ben Yosef at all.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 12:10:43 EDT <A
href="mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net">gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net</A> writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px">
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT color=#800080 face=Heather lang=0 size=2
PTSIZE="10">Isaiah the prophet said <U>prison</U> in Isaiah 61:1. Jesus
said in Luke 4:18: ... "to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (19) to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord." The meaning of
prison pertains to the opening of the eyes.
<BR><BR></FONT><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 size=2
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" PTSIZE="10" FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
BACK="#ffffff">The prophet describes first, who Christ is, and then what are
his offices. Liberty - This appertains to Christ's kingly office, whereby he
proclaims liberty from the dominion of sin, and from the fear of hell.
(taken from Wesley's Explanatory Notes on Is. 61:1) </FONT><FONT
color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 size=3 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"
PTSIZE="12" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" BACK="#ffffff"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT
color=#800080 face=Heather lang=0 size=2 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"
PTSIZE="10" BACK="#ffffff">So yes, Jesus did come to open <U>spiritua</U>l
prison doors and set the captives free - (the captives being us) through
His redemptive work done at Calvary. <BR><BR>As for those who break the
existing laws of the land today and have to serve time for it, the prison
doors will be <U>physically</U> opened when the sentence is
served. </FONT><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 size=3
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" PTSIZE="12" FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
BACK="#ffffff"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT color=#800080 face=Heather lang=0 size=2
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" PTSIZE="10" BACK="#ffffff">God bless you
abundantly today and always!<BR><BR>"Rev. Ev"</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
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