I am not the one that made the claim that Thomas was taking the Lord's name in vain.
OH, so you're not the person who said this?
If someone startles you and you respond, "My God," are you calling that person God or are you expressing suprise?
my God
An exclamation of surprise, alarm, dismay, annoyance, or exasperation.
my God
An interjection denoting shock, distress, or surprise. |
???
Using God's name as an interjection is, by definition, taking God's name in vain, which is, by definition, blasphemy.
Therefore, you made the claim that Thomas blasphemed God's name, not once, but in fact TWICE in a row, by uttering "My Lord and my God."
Thomas never even said the Lord's name in any of the sentences that the Bible records Thomas' words.
How dumb can you be?
And Thomas answered and said to Him, “
My Lord and my God!” - John 20:28
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John20:28&version=NKJV
Both "Lord" and "God" are God's names.
Or do you think that by "Lord" I'm just referring to Jesus, and not referring to God, when I even quoted Exodus 20:7 to point out where God forbids people using His name in vain? Because if you do, then you must apparently think it's possible to blaspheme other beings besides God... :dunce:
Oh, I remember now! There WAS a third possibility (So you were right earlier when you accused me of a false dichotomy. I apologize for being so forgetful!) The first is that Thomas was calling Jesus his Lord and his God, the second is that Thomas was blaspheming God by using His name as an interjection (taking the Lord's name in vain), and the third and final possibility is that Thomas was wrongly calling Jesus God his Lord and His God.
The first fits the context, and the second two should have, if Jesus had any credibility whatsoever, caused Jesus to rebuke Thomas for his blasphemy.
Jesus was either lying, a lunatic, or He was LORD. Either of the first two would instantly disqualify Him as trustworthy.
Yes, I made that point as well.
I don't think that, I think you misunderstand Thomas' words
I understand what he said perfectly, because I don't ignore the context of what he said in favor of what I believe.
You, on the other hand, don't understand your position well enough to know what it is that you're actually saying, that or you're being willfully ignorant of the truth.
What you claim is that Thomas blasphemed God because he was "surprised" or "shocked" when he touched Christ's wounds.
That's what you claim when you say he used God's name as an interjection.
To readdress this:
If someone startles you and you respond, "My God," are you calling that person God or are you expressing suprise?
If you if someone uses God's name casually like that, it's called blasphemy, because it is using His name in vain.