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Anger
"Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment."
Matthew 5.22 King James Version
I had always wanted to preach a sermon series on the Seven Deadly Sins. I finally did it, and it was a good experience. I learned a lot. The readings I did about each of the sins reminded me that while situations change, human nature does not.
I was also reminded how culture and cultural norms influence Biblical translation. Take, for instance anger. Jesus was hard on anger - very hard. In the Sermon on the Mount, he puts it in the same category as murder. That may seem too strong until you consider the consequences of anger in people's lives; anger causes murder, fuels terrorists , provokes torture, and destroys families. Jesus was clear, "Whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment."
Read that verse again - note that it is different from the verse printed at the top. The reason? A medieval scholar named Erasmus wanted to justify certain forms of anger so much that he was willing to change the words of Jesus to do it. So, he inserted "without a cause" into Matthew 5.22. The problem is who determines what is 'justified'. I do! And that is the problem - I can justify all manner of anger for alleged or real slights.
Maybe someday I will preach a sermon series on "The Seven Original Sins" as We Justify Them. Or maybe not.
In faith,
Pastor Tim
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