Give me your belongings!

I think the whole point is that anybody can make of it anything they want. If a religious document is too specific, then facts start to come into play, and facts don't work well with religion.

curious said:

I think the whole point is that anybody can make of it anything they want. If a religious document is too specific, then facts start to come into play, and facts don't work well with religion.

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It is all about faith, not facts. Many people get hung up on facts.

Ah, the eternal question of complexities of the Bible. There will never be any answer any one of us can give to convince others what we think. The thing about religion is that everyone fancies themselves as right, while others are completely wrong. As if only God talks to them, and no one else. That no alternative exists. But, if you don't mind, I'll give my view on this scripture from Luke.

Jesus' main goals he stressed over and over can all come to two simple things. "Love God" and "Love others." In a time of Roman occupation, Jesus was preaching peace. To understand this, you've got to understand Arabic thinking. Most people in the region take the belief "If someone insults you, then God wills you to repay the injustice". You can see this philosophy in the Old Testament and the Qur'an. But Jesus knew that in this time of occupation, cool heads needed to prevail. The Romans could literally stomp them all out of existence. So messages of "Turn the other cheek" and this passage of Luke "if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again." In other words "Don't provoke violence." These lessons apply today. It's always good to keep a cool head and not go off on someone. Thinking things through is always a good idea. Also in this same lesson, Jesus also says "Give to everyone who begs from you." This is pretty straight forward and can be applied to today. But in the Historical context Jesus is telling the Jews the help each other out in this time of crisis. To stay together, comfort, and love each other. Kindness goes along way. So, by being polite to the occupying force, and by helping your neighbor, Jesus was hoping to improve the community moral. This would also show the Romans their true character, and their treatment may have improved. (well if they didn't murder him later.)

In later years when Jesus' speeches are analyzed people often take the scriptures and apply it to today. Which is find if you want to derive something from them. Jesus was a very intelligent man. But one can't forget the historical context the words were spoken in.

Anyway, that's what I believe.