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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN: 2pt 0cm" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT size=4 face="Times New Roman">There are parts
of the world where such acts of heroism are still needed but most of us do not
have - nor would we much welcome - the opportunity to be such a witness to our
community. However, our faithfulness in the trials of normal life can also be
heroic: courage in facing terminal or long-term illness; loss of a cherished
relationship because it was at risk of becoming sinful; giving up a job because
it conflicts with faith - and so on.</FONT></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.wellsprings.org.uk/weekly_wellsprings/year_b/sunday_26.htm">http://www.wellsprings.org.uk/weekly_wellsprings/year_b/sunday_26.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn Turner</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Eternal punishment. Like it or not, it is a biblical concept,
albeit a late-blooming one. In the Old Testament, the afterlife is rarely spoken
of, and when it is, it is usually pictured as a shadowy, wraithlike
existence.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>For the dominant line of thought in the Old Testament, "Sheol
[the realm of the dead] cannot thank thee, death cannot praise thee; those who
go down to the pit cannot hope for thy faithfulness" (Isa. 38:18) The dead are
miserable, insubstantial shades, and it is better to be a living dog than a dead
lion (Eccles. 9:4).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>Only in the later books of the Old Testament, such as Daniel, do
we encounter the idea of a resurrection of the dead at the end of time, "some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."</FONT></P>
<P><A href="http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=987"><FONT
size=4>http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=987</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Joel Marcus, 2000</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Gathering the clan and resisting the outsiders is a popular
reaction against insecurity and fear. Identifying perceived enemies and
resisting them is a popular diversion used by nations and individuals. Ethnic
cleansing, heretic hunting and other methods of exclusion are deadly reactions
to fear and insecurity.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n25_v114/ai_19844883/"><FONT
size=4>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n25_v114/ai_19844883/</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Kenneth L. Carder, 1997</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4> It is almost universally recognized that Jesus’ drastic
language was his metaphorical way of expressing his hatred of sin. Yet it is
precisely the intention that lies behind his metaphor that gives us our problem.
For Jesus’ language in all its vigorous overstatement still reflects a sense of
divine fury over the failure of the divine purpose to work itself out in the
actions of human beings that does not compute with our urbane, 20th-century
middle-class liberal Christianity.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4> <A
href="http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=992">http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=992</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Ronald Goetz, 1986</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In the vivid expansion of this story found in 4 Maccabees,
Eleazar tells his tormentors, "I will not transgress the sacred oaths of my
ancestors concerning the keeping of the Law, not even if you gouge out my eyes
and burn my entrails" (4 Macc 5:30). So also in the case of the mother and her
seven sons. Because they refuse to </FONT><A
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM: #996633 0.07em solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent !important; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; COLOR: #996633 !important; FONT-SIZE: 100% !important; FONT-WEIGHT: normal !important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline !important; PADDING-TOP: 0px"
class=iAs
href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2004/04/Better-To-Pluck-Out-Your-Eye.aspx?p=2#"
target=_blank itxtdid="12301351"><FONT size=4>eat</FONT></A><FONT size=4> pork,
they too face torture and death. The first son has his tongue cut out and his
hands and feet cut off (2 Macc 7:4). His brother tells the tyrant Antiochus,
"Gladly, for the sake of God, we let our bodily members be mutilated" (4 Macc
10:20).<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">These Maccabean martyrs became
national heroes and symbols of commitment to the Jewish faith. By referring to
hands and feet being cut off and eyes being plucked out, Jesus may well have
intended to allude to these great heroes who suffered under Antiochus IV, rather
than abandon their religion and so set a poor example for others.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4> </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2004/04/Better-To-Pluck-Out-Your-Eye.aspx?p=2"><FONT
size=4>http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2004/04/Better-To-Pluck-Out-Your-Eye.aspx?p=2</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Craig A. Evans </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
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