From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!ihnp4!ihuxr!lew
Newsgroups: net.flame
Title: Christian mercy vs. Roman law
Article-I.D.: ihuxr.310
Posted: Thu Jan 27 17:35:59 1983
Received: Sun Jan 30 10:07:03 1983
Reply-To: lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.)

Consider the following excerpt from Acts (25:13-22) (New English Version)

After an interval of some days King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at
Caesara on a courtesy visit to Festus. They spent several days there,
and during this time Festus laid Paul's case before the king. 'We have
a man', he said, 'left in custody by Felix; and when I was in Jerusalem
the chief priests and elders of the Jews laid an information against
him, demanding his condemnation. I answered them, "It is not Roman
practice to hand over any accused man bdfore he is confronted with his
accusers and given an opportunity of answering the charge." ... '

------

This is just one part of a long legal odyssey in which Paul (the man
in custody referred to) takes full advantage of his rights as a Roman
citizen. Contrast this with Paul's summary judgment of a fellow Christian
described in his First letter to the Corinthians (5:1-5)

I actually hear reports of sexual immorality among you, immorality
such as even pagans do not tolerate: the union of a man with his
father's wife. And you can still be proud of yourselves! You ought
to have gone into mourning; a man who has done such a deed should
have been rooted out of your company. For my part, though I am absent
in body, I am present in spirit, and my judgement upon the man who did this
thing is already given, as if I were indeed present: you all being
assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I with you in spirit,
with the power of our Lord Jesus over us, this man is consigned to
Satan for the destruction of the body, so that his spirit may be
saved on the Day of the Lord.

-------

How this destruction was accomplished is left to our imaginations. There
shortly follows an admonition not to entrust disputes to "the pagan
law-courts", since "... if the world is to come before you for judgement,
are you incompetent to deal with these trifling cases?"


Lew Mammel, Jr. ihuxr!lew