User:Aldayne

 Conflict between faith and culture 

The conflict between faith and culture in the Old Testament, specifically the Pentateuch encapsulates a variety of instances that portray the thematic occurrence and relevance of faith. The evidence of faith or belief versus culture creates a dichotomy which invariably creates a scenario of choosing good over evil. Sometimes sincerity and good objectives are not enough to justify some of tempting situations and undoubtedly this result in conflict. Using the least amount of truth from the Bible, individuals may diminish the word of God and present it using their own cultural setting. For example, Moses was up on the Mount Sinai for weeks and no one heard from him or from God. Under pressure from the people Aaron makes an idol in the shape of one of the gods from Egypt, a calf. He then assigns the golden calf the title of being their deliverer, the God (elohim) that led the Israelites out of Egypt. Exodus 32:4 “…This is your god, O Israel that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”   They made feast day the next day and sacrificed to it.    The people celebrated- dancing and rejoicing around this visible representation of their God, attributing to him all that was done thus far. This idol that was not God was accepted as God for the sake of the people. The Lords response- they have corrupted themselves: ''“They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (''Exodus 32:8). The people lost faith in Moses and in God and resorted to pagan traditions of idolatry. The reason why they lost their faith is because they were not able to visualize their Saviour and thus their weak belief system overpowered what they had originally envisioned as being messianic.

Another instance of faith versus culture is in Genesis 22:1-2 ''“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”''

Abraham, the Father of faith, the "father of a multitude", had been walking with the Lord God for possibly fifty years or more at this time. He had gone through various tests and trials, each one strengthening his faith a little more; and he was about to face his toughest test yet. God was going to test and tempt him to show to himself and to the world how much he loved God and the evidence of his faith. The Lord knew how strong Abraham's faith was, and knew it would not be above what Abraham was able to endure, but would be an excellent lesson to us all. Abraham's faith was so strong by this point in his walk with the Lord that his faith did not falter - he trusted God, and obeyed. Abraham did not allow his faith to be swayed by the manifestations of cultural or social challenges. The challenge was indeed the greatest for Abraham but his strong faith and belief system allowed him to accept a task that regular individuals would be unable to tackle.

The story of Adam and Eve also denotes faith conflict as after being warned by God not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Eve also herself to be tempted by the serpent. She in turn inveigled Adam into partaking of the forbidden fruit. God had implored Adam in Genesis 2:16-17 however his faith was tempted along with Eve’s by the serpent and they suffered the consequences. "The Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die”. Gen. 2 v16-17.   They did not adhere to the instructions that were issued by God and thus a conflict of interest occurred and faith in God was overturned.     Adam and Eve listened to Satan, disguised as a serpent, who lied to them and told them: "'You will not surely die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”   Satan told Adam and Eve a lie. He contradicted God's Word and said it was okay to eat from the forbidden tree. The sin of Adam and Eve was disobeying God and doing what they wanted instead of listening to God. They listened to Satan and their own reasoning, thinking God was keeping something wonderful from them, which He was not. The erosion of faith principles in favour of a deceptive yet alluring culture gave rise to Original sin.