Many
of the political and religious conflicts that we are engaged in now, and in the
past, have been promoted as battles against evil. Our beliefs about the origin
of evil define what evil is and explain why it happens. They influence the way we
live as individuals and a nation, and how we respond when “bad” things happen. For
Christians and Jews, the Bible plays an important role in understanding evil. What
the Bible actually says about the origin of evil, however, may be a surprise to
many of its readers. Read the complete article at – http://biblicalheritage.org/DTB/1113DTB_When_Man_Created_Evil.pdf
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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