The Narrow Path Ministries

Am I the only one that sees a trend in society (it seems in overdrive in the last year) that if you do not accept someone's behavior, your "judgemental"?

Relatives of mine are seemingly browbeating Christians, including me, by just saying, "judgemental" and moving forward.

They use the "...judge not, lest ye be judged..." but they only quote the first two words. If we are to confess, are we not obligated to "say the same thing" about it as GOD and if we are to repent, are we not obligated to "turn from it"?

Our biblically illiterate culture loves to quote the 'judge not' verse, but clearly Jesus wasn't against judging in general. He was against judging in the wrong ways. We shouldn't judge on mere appearances. We shouldn't judge with hypocrisy. We should focus our judgments inward (the church) instead of outward (the culture). In my reading, I found that every passage that talks about NOT judging also includes valid judging in the same context. And really it is common sense, we all make judgments every day. it's a part of life.

It seems to me that the verb "judge" has two distinct meanings: 1) assess and 2) strongly disapprove or condemn.
I don't think there is any passage in the Bible which asks people not to assess. Rather people are asked to do quite the opposite:

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh [literally "judge through"] what is said. (1 Corinthians 14:29)

Am I the only one that sees a trend in society (it seems in overdrive in the last year) that if you do not accept someone's behavior, your "judgemental"?










Yes i agree and it's not necessarily a bad trend since a lot of judging has been hypocritical. However Jesus went on to say after "judge not" that we will be judged by the same measurement we judge others. Not really a warning to never judge but rather to judge wisely and righteously.

I Cor 2:15 says "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man."

Why does Paul say "he himself is judged by no man"? This clause doesn't seem to make sense as one spiritual man would surely involve himself in judging something about another spiritual man (e.g. I Cor 14:29 as Paidion pointed out). What is Paul trying to communicate by this last clause?

...but he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. (I Cor. 2:15 NKJV)

The NKJV translators have eliminated the problem by inserting the word "rightly" before "judged".

Is this insertion of "rightly" justified by the original language? Would I be correct to understand "rightly" as equivalent to "correctly"? One spiritual man would presumably judge another spiritual man correctly, the NKJV would not seem to resolve this problem. On the other hand, if Paul is saying non-spiritual men do not correctly or rightly judge spiritual men, then there is no problem.

Is this insertion of "rightly" justified by the original language?

No. There is nothing in the Greek which indicates that it ought to be inserted. In my opinion, the NKJV translators were simply trying to get the text to affirm what they interpreted it to mean.

I can find no other translation (and I mean "translation" not "paraphrase") which adds a modifier to the verb "is judged".

The RSV and the ESV turn it into a command:

"...but is himself to be judged by no one." There is no justification for doing this, either.

The Greek verb is a present passive indicative, and should be translated either as "is judged" or "is being judged", or perhaps better "is assessed".
I can't make sense of it. For clearly others, both Christians and non-Christians, assess spiritual people.

Thanks, I always appreciate your replies. I do not understand this phrase either.

thrombomodulin wrote: On the other hand, if Paul is saying non-spiritual men do not correctly or rightly judge spiritual men, then there is no problem.

I think this is what Paul is saying. Verse 14 contrasts the natural person with the spiritual person, and verse 16 says, "we have the mind of Christ," implying that the natural person does not. Lacking this, the natural person would be unfit to judge the spiritual person.