JohnH wrote: ↑Sun Jan 18, 2026 6:10 am
The OT explicitly says not to marry foreign women and harshly condemns it.
But Christians are no longer foreigners to one another. A non-Christian belongs to another kingdom.
This is a basic tenet of New Testament teaching. The people of God are no longer an ethnic group, but those who are one holy nation that believes in Jesus.
JohnH wrote: ↑Sun Jan 18, 2026 6:10 am
The OT explicitly says not to marry foreign women and harshly condemns it.
But Christians are no longer foreigners to one another. A non-Christian belongs to another kingdom.
This is a basic tenet of New Testament teaching. The people of God are no longer an ethnic group, but those who are one holy nation that believes in Jesus.
Okay, so we can ignore all the OT verses about foreigners then!
1. Are we discussing the topic? Good.
2. Are we going around and around in a fight? Let's stop doing that.
3. Is there some serious wrongdoing or relational injury? Let's address that, probably not in public and certainly not for show.
JohnH wrote: ↑Sun Jan 18, 2026 6:10 am
The OT explicitly says not to marry foreign women and harshly condemns it.
But Christians are no longer foreigners to one another. A non-Christian belongs to another kingdom.
This is a basic tenet of New Testament teaching. The people of God are no longer an ethnic group, but those who are one holy nation that believes in Jesus.
Okay, so we can ignore all the OT verses about foreigners then!
Did you marry an Australian, or did you marry a foreigner?
JohnH wrote: ↑Sun Jan 18, 2026 6:10 am
The OT explicitly says not to marry foreign women and harshly condemns it.
But Christians are no longer foreigners to one another. A non-Christian belongs to another kingdom.
This is a basic tenet of New Testament teaching. The people of God are no longer an ethnic group, but those who are one holy nation that believes in Jesus.
Okay, so we can ignore all the OT verses about foreigners then!
For marriage, it means fellow Christians.
Look at Jesus' answer to "Who is my neighbor?" The despised foreigner is the example Jesus gave.
Jesus did not teach that we need to limit who we love, but to expand the set.
The entire "Protecting the Vulnerable" thread seems to have been moved to Politics.
I really do think this is a central theme in Scripture. Is it possible to have that discussion outside of the Politics Forum? Currently, there is no way to continue discussing the scriptural heart of that thread.
Perhaps only particularly political posts should be moved to Politics, so we can discuss what Scripture says in the open forum?
1 x
1. Are we discussing the topic? Good.
2. Are we going around and around in a fight? Let's stop doing that.
3. Is there some serious wrongdoing or relational injury? Let's address that, probably not in public and certainly not for show.
MattY wrote: ↑Tue Jan 20, 2026 1:16 pm
I dislike threads outside of Current Events and Politics being hijacked by current events and politics. We ought to be able to discuss biblical teachings or theological principles that affect how we see and react to current events and politics without explicitly bringing in the current events and politics that people might want to argue about. And then head over to Current Events or Politics sections to discuss how the principles discussed here ought to affect those things in that section. Even if a comment touches on current events or politics implicitly, one should be mature enough not to bring up other biblical or political issues in a Tu Quoque or Whataboutism fallacy. Save that for another thread, another section.
MattY wrote: ↑Tue Jan 20, 2026 1:16 pm
I dislike threads outside of Current Events and Politics being hijacked by current events and politics. We ought to be able to discuss biblical teachings or theological principles that affect how we see and react to current events and politics without explicitly bringing in the current events and politics that people might want to argue about. And then head over to Current Events or Politics sections to discuss how the principles discussed here ought to affect those things in that section. Even if a comment touches on current events or politics implicitly, one should be mature enough not to bring up other biblical or political issues in a Tu Quoque or Whataboutism fallacy. Save that for another thread, another section.
Getting back on topic, the OT ordered the Israelites to annihilate foreign men, capture their women for concubines or second wives, and take their children and servants as slaves. I really don’t get the strong interest in using the OT as guidance at all on how to interact with “foreigners”.
Wife: the New Testament said plenty about it, so we don’t really need the old testament to support it. That said, all the commands for loving your neighbor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. were for individuals and not governments. I mean, in an ideal world, they would do that too, but we no longer live in a God sanctioned theocracy and that’s part of the reason that the two kingdoms can’t really mix.
Now I think agood way for a Christian to act out New Testament principles would be to share the gospel and reach out to people, regardless of nationality or any other differences. We are supposed to go to all nations, and if some of them come to us, it just gives some extra opportunities that maybe we wouldn’t get otherwise. There’s plenty of food banks around here that don’t require ID, and there’s no real reason to deprive anyone of food or necessities that were collected by donation.
If we can let people know that we love them, it gives us an opportunity to speak into their lives. Otherwise, correction without connection is rejection.
