[27] "You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.'
[28] But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
[29] If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
[30] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Not to mention that “adultery in his heart” is essentially thought-crime, which I personally find rather unchill and not based.
No, what he’s saying is that since all actions start with a thought (for example, one does not just commit adultery; there’s a period of “I wouldn’t mind a bit of that”), it can be helpful to consider the thought as bad as the action for the purpose of weeding that behaviour out of our lives. Not that the thought is as bad as the action, because clearly it isn’t. Continuing with the example: when we find ourselves thinking like that, it is at that point we should catch ourselves and think about something else instead. Attempting to stop yourself just before you rip her knickers off is unlikely to be quite as successful.
Similarly 29 and 30 are not suggestions of actual self-mutilation. Your eye cannot cause you to sin; it is exaggeration for the sake of making the point. You see something, you think about it, then you act on that thought. But if the act is sinful then we should attempt to stop the act at the earliest possible point.
Thoughtcrime requires crime, which is when punishment is in the control of cops. Jesus says that righteousness should only be self-enforced or God-enforced
Damn I didn’t know Jesus was chill like that
Counter point: literally the next two verses
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.Not to mention that “adultery in his heart” is essentially thought-crime, which I personally find rather unchill and not based.
No, what he’s saying is that since all actions start with a thought (for example, one does not just commit adultery; there’s a period of “I wouldn’t mind a bit of that”), it can be helpful to consider the thought as bad as the action for the purpose of weeding that behaviour out of our lives. Not that the thought is as bad as the action, because clearly it isn’t. Continuing with the example: when we find ourselves thinking like that, it is at that point we should catch ourselves and think about something else instead. Attempting to stop yourself just before you rip her knickers off is unlikely to be quite as successful.
Similarly 29 and 30 are not suggestions of actual self-mutilation. Your eye cannot cause you to sin; it is exaggeration for the sake of making the point. You see something, you think about it, then you act on that thought. But if the act is sinful then we should attempt to stop the act at the earliest possible point.
Thoughtcrime requires crime, which is when punishment is in the control of cops. Jesus says that righteousness should only be self-enforced or God-enforced