Lately, for honors and intercultural studies, I have stopped carrying my class notebook and started taking notes in my personal notebook instead. I like the questions these authors are raising, that you are raising, that we are raising—on all sides. They must be addressed from every angle, but as Schuler reminded me in British Literature today: stay as close to the text as possible. I think it is important to understand the background, but going back to what Talmage has said as well, we must encounter the text. In a sense, I believe the two go hand in hand, and maybe I am starting to get the hang of it.

Now, I am going to share some of my notes from my personal book, which makes me a little uncomfortable, but Will already touched on some of what my notes entail. So…

In terns if killing an unjust ruler, if one is a believer, one must remember that this life is indeed not the end for all humans. There is a Heaven, and there is a Hell. Will did mention this a bit in class. Now, that in mind, it is easy for one to remember that this is not the end for oneself if one is found in Christ. Switching tenses, you know where you are going. However, you do not know where this unjust ruler is going. You can assume. But, who are you—nay, who are we—that we could choose to take this life from him without opportunity to be known by and to know Christ? True, Hitler took many a life without considering this, but do you believe that Hitler was in Christ? I do not, for fruit was lacking in his life. Therefore, I cannot hold him to the mindset that has been given me as a result of Christ in me. Yes, he is held accountable for his actions as we are all to be held accountable, but not by me personally—by my Judge who judges all justly. The law is written on our hearts so that none can stand blameless before God but Christ. Mallory mentioned the mother hen instinct in her to protect her friends in Russia, and that is a given. She is right. The instinct is there as it should be. I believe that is truly compassion.

Brad brought up a man coming into the classroom with a knife, and asked Will how he would react. This reminded me of a simple measure I take each time I go to the local WalMart on my own; I carry an open knife in my right hand by my side, just in case. I have heard story after story of women being attacked and/or raped when returning to their vehicles, and I refuse to be one of those statistics if I can help it. I will be honest with you all, if someone should attack me in the parking lot, I will not think twice in using that knife as self-defense. However, my intent in that situation is not based on “eye for an eye”, my intent is purely preserving my own life. When it comes to knives, you have to be pretty accurate and/or repetitive to take a life by it. In that situation, I do not think I would stab at my attacker repeatedly because at some point I am going to run back for the store for help. I would hope none of you would expect me to stand there and say to my attacker, “Yes, sir. You can rape me.” But consider the fact that this situation is requires immediate attention with little opportunity for rational thought. It runs purely on instinct and adrenaline. I believe that with a transformed heart and the Spirit of God in me, the Spirit would not allow me to go as far as killing my attacker. In the case of the unjust ruler, your immediate reaction is emotional (and it absolutely should be). But how close are you going to get to your unjust ruler as an individual? Slim to none, I would say. There is time for thought and rational decision making to determine how you, as an individual, are going to handle the injustice.

What can you do about it? What does Christ’s example tell you to do about it? With that, what are you going to do about it? I am personally reminded of Talmage’s father in prayer. Christ was in prayer to the point of his sweat turning blood. John 6 tells us He knew from the beginning who would betray Him. Christ suffered the greatest injustice of all by human standards, but He suffered for the sake of His Father’s glory.

I don’t really know where to go from here. My thoughts on this are still incomplete, but I wanted to share this with you all. It is simply food for thought.

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