(M)What...
Illustration
(M)
What does it mean to be "pure"? What does it mean to be "children of God"? In John's first epistle, if being pure and worthy of our divine parentage means anything, it means love. We, who are loved by God and claim to love God in return, must, above all else, love our human brothers and sisters. John went so far as to call persons "liars" who claim to love God but are mean, uncaring, and selfish toward other human beings.
Adela Rogers St. John gives the following personality description in one of her novels: (Tell No Man, p. 218)
One of the few wicked human beings I'd ever met was a woman who called her icy meanness good, and broke her husband and children into a thousand pieces of self doubt and guilt.
"Icy meanness" hardly qualifies a person as pure or of the family of God. It is the exact opposite of the loving nature so emphasized and encouraged by John's Epistle!
- Campbell
What does it mean to be "pure"? What does it mean to be "children of God"? In John's first epistle, if being pure and worthy of our divine parentage means anything, it means love. We, who are loved by God and claim to love God in return, must, above all else, love our human brothers and sisters. John went so far as to call persons "liars" who claim to love God but are mean, uncaring, and selfish toward other human beings.
Adela Rogers St. John gives the following personality description in one of her novels: (Tell No Man, p. 218)
One of the few wicked human beings I'd ever met was a woman who called her icy meanness good, and broke her husband and children into a thousand pieces of self doubt and guilt.
"Icy meanness" hardly qualifies a person as pure or of the family of God. It is the exact opposite of the loving nature so emphasized and encouraged by John's Epistle!
- Campbell
