Hi Noel,

I have been thinking about your message concerning "A Parable On Forgiveness".  

My interpretation is that this is a tale of two Gods, one perceived by Abraham and one perceived by the stanger.

The God of the stranger is a "God of Love" who can forgive unconditionally all who see Him as such.

The God of Abraham is a God of "fear" who cannot forgive Abraham and must punish him for his "sin" but will end the punishment after a time if Abraham repents.

In my mind the forgiveness was not by Abraham's God, whose pardon was conditional but by the stranger's God.  Certainly Abraham did not practice any forgiveness since he acted out of fear of punishment.

This was the message of Jesus to the Jews in trying to change the perception of God from a "God of Fear" to a "God of Love".

Was this the interpretation you had intended?  I didn't see the tie in to Emerson's quote.

Tom 


Dear Thomas,

The point Ben Franklin meant to make was not about the stranger's different God, rather about Abraham's assumption that his own God demanded intolerance of others' religious practices. 

The virtue of religious tolerance is conveyed far less harshly in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:

“Sir, we ought to teach people that they are doing wrong in worshipping the images and pictures in the temple.”

“Do you think God does not know that he is being worshipped in the images and pictures?  If a worshipper should make a mistake, do you not think God will know his intent?” 

As for the Emerson quote: by excluding the stranger, Abraham excluded himself from God's good graces.

I once wrote a poem about how exclusion of others excludes oneself:

The walls I place between myself and others
have many textures:
self-pity,
busy-work,
saving the world,
cynicism,
the turn on,
and many more.

I build walls to keep out
criticism,
hurt,
disappointment, 
let-downs,
and the like –
yet all to no avail.
One day I discovered that my defenses,
meant to keep out others,
only keep me in.

I began to pound against my walls,
yet again to no avail,
for my understanding of walls was only half. 
I could not get out until I also understood
that my walls yield to me from the other side.

There is no getting out
without a letting in.