04-21-2011, 02:29 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-21-2011, 02:31 PM by Director Michael.)
I hope this will clear up your confusion. The answer I gave was
When Rambam specified those particular punishments in the Mishneh Torah, he was referring to the *law of the land* that would be in place under a Torah-based monarchy, as was the monarchy of King David that ruled over a Jewish kingdom in the Land of Israel. In that situation, the law would be that if a Gentile refused to promise that he would not murder, steal, commit incest or adultery, cut meat off from a living mammal and eat the meat before the mammal dies, bribe judges or give false testimony, worship idols, or blaspheme the unique holy Hebrew Name of G-d - with all of those prohibited for Gentiles as capital crimes according to the *law of the land* - then that person would be considered such a threat to the society that the established (Torah-based) *law of the land* would specify that action.
But since many years before the destruction of the Second Holy Temple in 70 C.E., there have been no such Torah-based governments, with the possible exception of the Kazar kingdom in Asia that collapsed in 970 C.E. Therefore, a Gentile's rejection of G-d's Noahide Commandments is between him and G-d, except to the extent that violation of any of those prohibitions is illegal within the law of the land (as we see that there are laws in the U.S. that specify punishment for some of those crimes).
Note that none of these punishments will be an issue in the Messianic Era which will begin very soon, because in that time, all Gentiles will be willing and happy righteous observers of the Noahide Code, since G-d will remove the influence of the Evil Inclination from the world.
In the meantime, in a spirit of good will and sincere concern, we should try to communicate to Gentiles the many "compelling" reasons for why they should accept and observe G-d's Noahide Commandments.
(04-10-2011, 02:43 PM)Director Michael Wrote: So ultimately, until a person harms someone else and/or *violates some law of the land*, his rejection of G-d's commandments is between him and G-d.
When Rambam specified those particular punishments in the Mishneh Torah, he was referring to the *law of the land* that would be in place under a Torah-based monarchy, as was the monarchy of King David that ruled over a Jewish kingdom in the Land of Israel. In that situation, the law would be that if a Gentile refused to promise that he would not murder, steal, commit incest or adultery, cut meat off from a living mammal and eat the meat before the mammal dies, bribe judges or give false testimony, worship idols, or blaspheme the unique holy Hebrew Name of G-d - with all of those prohibited for Gentiles as capital crimes according to the *law of the land* - then that person would be considered such a threat to the society that the established (Torah-based) *law of the land* would specify that action.
But since many years before the destruction of the Second Holy Temple in 70 C.E., there have been no such Torah-based governments, with the possible exception of the Kazar kingdom in Asia that collapsed in 970 C.E. Therefore, a Gentile's rejection of G-d's Noahide Commandments is between him and G-d, except to the extent that violation of any of those prohibitions is illegal within the law of the land (as we see that there are laws in the U.S. that specify punishment for some of those crimes).
Note that none of these punishments will be an issue in the Messianic Era which will begin very soon, because in that time, all Gentiles will be willing and happy righteous observers of the Noahide Code, since G-d will remove the influence of the Evil Inclination from the world.
In the meantime, in a spirit of good will and sincere concern, we should try to communicate to Gentiles the many "compelling" reasons for why they should accept and observe G-d's Noahide Commandments.