Quote:
But the listener who stops there may miss Jesus real point. Such a listener has overlooked the If. This instruction is not the nemesis of any eye or hand. The man who blames his eye or hand for his sins is deceiving himself. The problem does not reside in his eye or his hand; it resides in his character and nature. /If/ the problem of sin could be solved by amputating a hand or removing an eye, it would be beneficial to do so, but everyone knows that the act of sin is not caused by ones eye or hand. This passage is not a call for amputation or eye-gouging, but for contemplation of where the causes of sin truly reside. The solution to the problem of sin requires a more drastic operation, upon the spiritual heart of the individual.
I think your explanation here misses the mark as well. The hand and the eye form a metaphor for how drastic the measures need to be to avoid "sin", but represent ANY thing which causes one to stumble. The point here is that a follower of Christ should do anything and everything no matter how drastic to avoid sin.
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If God inspired men to write the Bible without error, why did He not inspire men to copy it without error? If God miraculously inspired writers to perfection, not inspiring copyists renders the whole point moot.