Burnishing Bigotry - 3rd edition

Lucy #531: You then make the somewhat disturbing claim that, ―God expects [that we
not excuse the sins of others].‖ … Well if that is indeed the case, then He is not a perfectly
Loving God (period) … and if that is indeed the case then Jesus was wrong in Matthew 5:48
when he claimed that his heavenly Father‘s Love was complete & without condition or limit …
and if that is indeed the case then Jesus was wrong in John 5:22 when he claimed that God
judges no one (seeing as how His Love knows no fear, and therefore can levy no punishment; see 1
John 4:18) … and if that is indeed the case then Jesus was wrong in Matthew 18:21-22 when he
essentially (at least according to Finney) encouraged us to have a greater Love than God by telling
us to forgive others ―seventy times seven‖ (i.e. everyone always; completely and without end) …
and if that is indeed the case then Jesus was wrong in Luke 6:36 when he essentially (again, at
least according to Finney) instructed us to somehow show greater mercy to others than God does
… and if that is indeed the case then Jesus was wrong in Matthew 7:1-5 when he told us to not
judge the sins of others … and if that is indeed the case then Jesus was wrong in Matthew 23:25-
26 when he told us to avoid criticizing others until our own ―cups‖ were completely clean … and
if that is indeed the case then Jesus was wrong in John 8:7 when he quite clearly admonished the
Pharisees (adherents of the laws of Leviticus, no less) – and thereby us all as well – that they were to
not ―cast stones‖ upon the misdeeds of others until they themselves were completely
without sin … and if that is indeed the case then Jesus was wrong in John 7:24 when he
told us all to not judge others by their appearances or their behaviors, but rather to
evaluate them with ―correct & impartial [i.e. righteous] discernment‖!
Of course, Jesus doesn‘t have to be seen as wrong in any of these instances (or any others
even remotely similar thereto). For there is an alternative viewpoint available to us all – and that
viewpoint is that the Bible is right (specifically, the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospels), and
therefore that Finney – at least in this instance – is the one who is wrong.
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