Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."

Luke 14:26

 

"Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise)

Ephesians 6:2

 

The Claim: Jesus says to hate our family.

 

The Explanation: This is another case of taking a Bible verse out of context, so first things first is to put it back into context. In Luke 14:25-33 Jesus gives us 3 different scenarios, each of them illustrating the same point. The point Jesus is trying to make can be found in verse 33.

 

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33

 

What Jesus is saying is that we should place nothing above God. In relation to Luke 14:26, hate here isn't being used to mean the opposite of love, hate just means to love them less than you love God. This is consistent with the first commandment.

 

You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:3

 

Anything you love more than God is a violation of the first commandment. This is not a contradiction.